Laser digitizer system for dental applications
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An intra-oral laser digitizer system comprising:
- a light source having collimating optics configured to generate a collimated beam of light;
a scanner optically coupled to the light source and configured to scan the collimated beam along at least two axes to generate a pattern;
an optics relay coupled to the scanner and configured to relay the pattern towards a remote object to be imaged;
an image optics system having an optical axis configured to detect a reflection of the pattern from the remote object at an angle θ
with respect to the optics relay and to generate data representative of a surface of the object based on the reflection of the pattern; and
a processor coupled to the scanner and the image optics system configured to generate a three-dimensional image of the object based on the data.
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Abstract
A intra-oral laser digitizer system provides a three-dimensional visual image of a real-world object such as a dental item through a laser digitization. The laser digitizer captures an image of the object by scanning multiple portions of the object in an exposure period. The intra-oral digitizer may be inserted into an oral cavity (in vivo) to capture an image of a dental item such as a tooth, multiple teeth or dentition. The captured image is processed to generate the three-dimension visual image.
347 Citations
23 Claims
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1. An intra-oral laser digitizer system comprising:
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a light source having collimating optics configured to generate a collimated beam of light; a scanner optically coupled to the light source and configured to scan the collimated beam along at least two axes to generate a pattern; an optics relay coupled to the scanner and configured to relay the pattern towards a remote object to be imaged; an image optics system having an optical axis configured to detect a reflection of the pattern from the remote object at an angle θ
with respect to the optics relay and to generate data representative of a surface of the object based on the reflection of the pattern; anda processor coupled to the scanner and the image optics system configured to generate a three-dimensional image of the object based on the data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An intra-oral laser digitizer, comprising:
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a light source having collimating optics configured to generate a collimated beam of light; a scanner optically coupled to the light source and configured to scan the collimated beam along at least two axes to generate a pattern comprising a set of segments; a first optics relay coupled to the scanner and configured to relay the pattern towards a remote object to be imaged; a reflecting surface configured to capture a reflection of the pattern from the object at an angle θ
with respect to the first optics relay; anda second optics relay, co-linear to the first optics relay, the second optics relay coupled to the reflecting surface and configured to relay the reflection of the pattern toward an image sensor. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. An intra-oral laser digitizer, comprising:
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a light source having collimating optics configured to generate a collimated beam of light; a scanner optically coupled to the light source and configured to scan the collimated beam along at least two axes; a first optics relay coupled to the scanner and configured to relay the scanned collimated beam of light towards a remote object to be imaged, wherein over a given scanning period the scanned collimated beam of light generates a pattern comprising a set of segments; an image sensor; a reflecting surface configured to capture a reflection of the scanned collimated beam from the object at a given triangulation angle θ
; anda second optics relay, co-linear to the first optics relay, the second optics relay coupled to the reflecting surface and configured to relay the reflection of the scanned collimated beam toward the image sensor, wherein over the given scanning period the reflection of the scanned collimated beam on the image sensor comprises a modified pattern. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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Specification