IMAGING DEVICE FOR DENTAL INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS FOR INTRA-ORAL VIEWING
First Claim
1. An imaging device for dental instruments comprising:
- a chamber adapted to be secured to a head of a dental instrument and for receiving and removing an imaging device;
said chamber also adapted for isolating said imaging device from said dental instrument such that a non-sterile imaging device can be used with a sterile dental instrument without compromising sterility of said dental instrument;
said chamber comprising an optical window; and
a removable imaging device wherein electronic image detection occurs at the instrument head.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present application relates to an apparatus and method in the field of dentistry and in particular to optical tools for diagnosis and imaging. It is a problem of the prior art that the use of fibre optic components yield a bulky dental camera with poor resolution. It is an object of the present invention to provide an imaging device (55) for dental instruments comprising a chamber adapted to be secured to the head of a dental instrument and for receiving and removing an imaging device (1), the chamber also adapted for isolating said imaging device from said dental instrument without compromising sterility of the dental instrument, comprising an optical window (53). The imaging device is easily removable from the dental instrument and electronic image detection occurs at the instrument head.
212 Citations
27 Claims
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1. An imaging device for dental instruments comprising:
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a chamber adapted to be secured to a head of a dental instrument and for receiving and removing an imaging device;
said chamber also adapted for isolating said imaging device from said dental instrument such that a non-sterile imaging device can be used with a sterile dental instrument without compromising sterility of said dental instrument;
said chamber comprising an optical window; anda removable imaging device wherein electronic image detection occurs at the instrument head. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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8. (canceled)
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16. (canceled)
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17. An intraoral camera comprising:
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an image sensor and at least one illumination light source encapsulated together; a removable mounting for attaching the encapsulated image sensor and light source to an external surface of a distal end of a dental instrument to illuminate and image a working tip of a dental instrument; a proximal unit for delivering power to said image sensor and said light source, and for processing, transmitting and/or displaying images from said image sensor; a cable connected between said encapsulated image sensor and light source and said proximal unit; and a relaying device for relaying images from a said proximal unit to an image viewer. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 23)
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18. (canceled)
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22. (canceled)
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24. (canceled)
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25. (canceled)
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26. A method of viewing an intra-oral space while working with a standard dental instrument comprising:
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attaching an encapsulated miniature optical device to said dental instrument; positioning said encapsulated miniature camera at the distal tip of said dental instrument adjusting said encapsulated miniature camera in such a way as to minimize the angle with the long axis of instrument
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27. (canceled)
Specification