Determining condyle displacement utilizing electronic models of dental impressions having a common coordinate system

• US 7,824,346 B2
• Filed: 09/19/2005
• Issued: 11/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Dentex Corporation (GDC Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Geodigm Corporation (GDC Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Marshall, Michael Craig
• Primary Examiner(s): HOEKSTRA, JEFFREY GERBEN
• Application Number:
  US11/231,064
• Publication Number:
  US 20060095242A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,870 Days
• Field of Search: 600/300, 600/587, 600/589, 600/590, 600/595, 433/2, 433/24, 433/68, 433/69, 433/70, 433/71, 702/19, 702/150, 702/151, 702/152, 702/153, 128/920, 128/922, 128/923, 382/100, 382/110, 382/128, 382/130, 382/131, 382/132
• US Class Current: 600/590
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/50 for simulation or modelling of medical disorders

Abstract

A system and method for determining condyle displacement during jaw articulation includes a physical model with corresponding reference points. The physical model is positioned and scanned to obtain positional data representing a first and second bite position. This positional data is used to generate a transformation matrix. The position of at least one condyle is determined in reference to positional data scanned from the physical model. The transformation matrix is used to map the position of the condyle with respect to the second bite position.

Claims

1. A method for determining condyle displacement for a patient, the method comprising:

mounting a first physical model onto a first scanning plate module to form a first mounting arrangement, the first physical model being representative of a first set of teeth of the patient;

mounting a second physical model onto a second scanning plate module to form a second mounting arrangement, the second physical model being representative of a second set of teeth of the patient;

positioning the first and second mounting arrangements on a base plate module to arrange the first physical model relative to the second physical model within a coordinate system of a scanning device according to a first bite record;

scanning three or more reference sites on at least one of the mounting arrangements with the scanning device to obtain a first set of positional data;

positioning the first and second mounting arrangements on the base plate module to arrange the first and second physical models within the coordinate system of the scanning device according to a second bite record;

scanning the three or more reference sites with the scanning device to obtain a second set of positional data;

determining a transformation matrix from the first and second sets of positional data with a data processing system;

determining a first location of a point corresponding to a condyle of the patient in relation to the first set of positional data;

determining with the data processing system a second location of the point corresponding to the condyle in relation to the second set of positional data based on the transformation matrix; and

generating a manipulable electronic model based on the first and second sets of positional data and the transformation matrix to assess condyle displacement of the patient.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first location of the point corresponding to the condyle includes measuring a distance between the condyle of the patient and at least one point on one of the mandible and the maxilla of the patient using a face bow.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first location of the point corresponding to the condyle includes:

displaying a medical record image showing at least one condyle of the patient;

superimposing an electronic model corresponding to one of the mandible and the maxilla of the patient over the medical record image; and

selecting a point on the medical record image, wherein the selected point corresponds to the position of the condyle.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein a computer software program selects the condyle point on the medical record image.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein positioning the first and second mounting arrangements on the base plate module further comprises:

mounting the first mounting arrangement to the base plate module of the scanning device, the base plate module positioning the first mounting arrangement at a known position within the coordinate system of the scanning device; and

mounting the second mounting arrangement to the first mounting arrangement on the base plate module of the scanning device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first physical model represents teeth of a mandible of the patient and the second physical model represents teeth of a maxilla of the patient.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein mounting the second mounting arrangement to the first mounting arrangement comprises:

positioning a bite wax impression on the first physical model of the first mounting arrangement; and

positioning the physical model of the second mounting arrangement in accordance with the bite wax impression.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each bite position includes one selected from the group consisting of a centric occlusion position, a centric relation position, a protrusive position, and a lateral excursion position.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a third condyle position point corresponding to a third bite position by interpolating points between the first set of positional data and the second set of positional data.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first physical model is a cast of teeth of a maxilla of the patient.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the second physical model is a cast of teeth of a mandible of the patient.