METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR EMPLOYING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN AUTOMATED ORTHODONTIC DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENT PLANNING

• US 20150351870A1
• Filed: 08/20/2015
• Published: 12/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ClearCorrect Holdings LLC (ClearCorrect Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: ClearCorrect Holdings LLC (ClearCorrect Incorporated)
• Inventors: Mah, James
• Granted Patent: US 9,517,111 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0088 for oral or dental tissue
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4547 Evaluating teeth
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4552 Evaluating soft tissue within the mouth, e.g. gums or tongue
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7264 Classification of physiological signals or data, e.g. using neural networks, statistical classifiers, expert systems or fuzzy systems neural networks per se G06N3/00; expert systems per se G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7475 User input or interface means, e.g. keyboard, pointing device, joystick
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 19/05 for determining occlusion
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 7/002 Orthodontic computer assisted systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24 Querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/24 Classification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 Machine learning
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/01 Dynamic search techniques; Heuristics; Dynamic trees; Branch-and-bound
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/02 Knowledge representation; Symbolic representation
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/048 Fuzzy inferencing
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 7/01 Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems

Abstract

A method for treating an orthodontic condition can include receiving patient data, such as through a website, accessing a database having information derived from patient treatments, generating a model of an orthodontic condition defining one or more anatomic features of a set of teeth, identifying a diagnosis of an orthodontic condition and identifying a treatment regimen for the diagnosis. A method can include tagging an anatomic feature with an electronic identifier and automatically generating a tooth setup. A system can include a server and a database, which can include information relating to patient treatments, and a website for receiving patient data. A system can include an electronic model representing anatomic features of a patient'"'"'s teeth and an application adapted to identify a diagnosis and a treatment regimen for an orthodontic condition, which can include executing artificial intelligence and/or other algorithms.

Claims

1. A method for diagnosing and identifying a treatment for an orthodontic condition, comprising:

receiving patient data regarding the orthodontic condition onto a server;

accessing a database that comprises or has access to information derived from patient treatments;

generating an electronic treatment model of the orthodontic condition by defining at least two anatomic features of a set of teeth;

instructing at least one computer program to analyze the patient data and identify at least one diagnosis of the orthodontic condition based on the information derived from patient treatments;

executing an artificial intelligence algorithm based on one or more inputs derived from the information derived from patient treatments; and

instructing the computer program to identify at least one treatment regimen for the at least one diagnosis, the at least one treatment regimen including at least one of a treatment approach, a corrective appliance and a combination thereof.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising tagging one or more of the at least two anatomic features with an electronic identifier, the electronic identifier being at least one of an identifier generated by an algorithm, an identifier defined by a user and a combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising wherein the at least two anatomic features are selected from the group consisting of incisal edges, cusp tips, occlusal fossa, points of maximum crown convexity, marginal ridges, interproximal contact points, interocclusal contact points, interdental papilla heights, marginal gingival lines, zones of attached gingiva and a combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising aligning the at least two anatomic features.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising aligning the at least two anatomic features based on a pattern representing a target orthodontic condition, wherein the target orthodontic condition is at least one of an ideal condition, an acceptable condition based on a consensus of previously successful patient treatments and a combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising aligning the at least two anatomic features along a curve.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising aligning the at least two anatomic features along a spline.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising aligning the at least two anatomic features relative to one or more additional anatomic features defined in the model.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a first of the at least two anatomic features is on a first arch and a second of the at least two anatomic features is on a second arch, the method further comprising aligning the first anatomic feature on the first arch relative to the second anatomic feature on the second arch.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving patient data on the server through a website.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising wherein the database comprises or has access to patient treatment information derived from at least one of textbooks, scientific literature, results derived from ongoing patient treatments, results derived from completed patient treatments and a combination thereof.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising assigning a probability value to the at least one diagnosis, wherein the probability value represents a likelihood that the diagnosis is accurate.

13. A system for diagnosing and identifying a treatment for an orthodontic condition, comprising:

a server configured to receive patient data;

a database that comprises or has access to information derived from patient treatments;

an electronic treatment model of the orthodontic condition that defines at least two anatomic features of a set of teeth;

at least one computer program housed within or accessible by the server and configured to;

analyze the patient data;

analyze the information derived from patient treatments;

identify at least one diagnosis of the orthodontic condition;

execute an artificial intelligence algorithm based on one or more inputs derived from the information derived from patient treatments; and

identify at least one treatment regimen for the at least one diagnosis, wherein the at least one treatment regimen includes at least one of a treatment approach, a corrective appliance and a combination thereof.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising wherein the at least two anatomic features are each defined by an electronic identifier that is at least one of an identifier generated by an algorithm, an identifier defined by a user and a combination thereof.

15. The system of claim 13, further comprising wherein the at least two anatomic features are selected from the group consisting of incisal edges, cusp tips, occlusal fossa, points of maximum crown convexity, marginal ridges, interproximal contact points, interocclusal contact points, interdental papilla heights, marginal gingival lines, zones of attached gingiva and a combination thereof.

16. The system of claim 13, further comprising wherein the at least one computer program is configured to align the at least two anatomic features at least one of relative to one another, based on a pattern representing a target orthodontic condition, along a curve, along a spline, relative to one or more additional anatomic features defined in the model, and a combination thereof.

17. The system of claim 13, further comprising a website and wherein the server is configured to receive patient data through the website.

18. The system of claim 13, further comprising wherein the database comprises or has access to patient treatment information derived from at least one of textbooks, scientific literature, results derived from ongoing patient treatments, results derived from completed patient treatments and a combination thereof.

19. The system of claim 13, further comprising wherein the at least one computer program is configured to assign a probability value to the at least one diagnosis, wherein the probability value represents a likelihood that the diagnosis is accurate.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

receiving patient data regarding an orthodontic condition onto a server;

accessing a database that comprises or has access to information derived from patient treatments;

generating an electronic treatment model of the orthodontic condition by defining at least two anatomic features of a set of teeth;

analyzing the patient data and identifying at least one diagnosis of the orthodontic condition based on the information derived from patient treatments;

executing an artificial intelligence algorithm based on one or more inputs derived from the information derived from patient treatments; and

identifying at least one treatment regimen for the at least one diagnosis, the at least one treatment regimen including at least one of a treatment approach, a corrective appliance and a combination thereof.