Method and system for providing dynamic orthodontic assessment and treatment profiles

• US 7,970,627 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2006
• Issued: 06/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Align Technology Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Align Technology Incorporated
• Inventors: Zakharevich, Michael, Matov, Vadim, Kuo, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilligan; Luke
• Assistant Examiner(s): SEREBOFF, NEAL
• Application Number:
  US11/549,633
• Publication Number:
  US 20070141527A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,719 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2, 705/3, 433/24
• US Class Current: 705/2
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 7/00 Orthodontics, i.e. obtaining or maintaining the desired position of teeth, e.g. by straightening, evening, regulating, separating, or by correcting malocclusions
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 7/002 Orthodontic computer assisted systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 7/08 Mouthpiece-type retainers or positioners, e.g. for both the lower and upper arch arch-shaped medicament applicators for teeth or gums A61C19/063; mouthguards for protecting the teeth of sportsmen A63B71/085
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/00 Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/40 relating to mechanical, radiation or invasive therapies, e.g. surgery, laser therapy, dialysis or acupuncture
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/20 relating to practices or guidelines

Abstract

Method and system for providing dynamically generated orthodontic profile and associated treatment information including receiving an orthodontic condition and one or more related treatment goal options, retrieving a predetermined set of parameters associated with the orthodontic condition and the one or more related treatment goal options, determining a weighted parameter associated with each of the one or more treatment goal options for the orthodontic condition, and generating treatment plan information for the orthodontic condition based on the determined weighted parameter are provided.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving an orthodontic condition of a patient;

providing one or more treatment goal options from a database query of previous treatment goals for similar orthodontic conditions;

receiving a selection of one of the options;

providing a predetermined set of one or more orthodontic treatment goal parameters;

receiving an importance rating from a user for at least one of the treatment goal parameters based on a predetermined scale, wherein the at least one importance rating represents an importance of a particular treatment goal parameter to the selected option;

parsing the orthodontic condition into one or more predetermined diagnostic parameters;

weighting each of the diagnostic parameters according to a corresponding weighted function based on similarity of the diagnostic parameters to past treatment information; and

generating a treatment plan based on the weighted diagnostic parameters, the selected treatment goal option, and the at least one importance rated treatment goal parameter.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the one or more orthodontic treatment goal parameters include at least one of a treatment difficulty assessment, a type of appliance available for treatment, or a treatment duration.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the importance rating is associated with the orthodontic condition.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein determining the weighted parameter further includes:

associating a difficulty rating with each of the one or more treatment goal options for the orthodontic condition; and

increasing the weighting for each one of the diagnostic parameters when the difficulty rating transcends a predetermined value in a first direction, and reducing the weighting when the difficulty rating transcends a predetermined value in a second direction.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 further including correlating each difficulty rating with one or more visual indicators.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 wherein the one or more visual indicators are associated with one or more of a color indicator, a alphanumeric indicator, a symbol indicator, or combinations thereof.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 further including displaying the one or more of the visual indicators correlated with each difficulty rating for the one or more treatment goal options.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein weighting each of the diagnostic parameters includes determining a distance function associated with each of the predetermined set of one or more orthodontic treatment goal parameters for the selected orthodontic condition and the one or more related treatment goal options.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 wherein determining the distance function includes:

retrieving historical treatment information associated with the orthodontic condition;

comparing the historical treatment information to the predetermined set of one or more orthodontic treatment goal parameters associated with the orthodontic condition; and

increasing the weighting for each of the diagnostic parameters when a deviation between the historical treatment information and the predetermined set of parameters transcends a predetermined value in a first direction and reducing the weighting when the difference transcends the predetermined value in a second direction.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 wherein the first direction and the second direction are in substantially opposing directions.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the orthodontic condition includes one of a crowding condition, a spacing condition, an overjet condition, an underbite condition or an overbite condition.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the one or more treatment goal options include one of a pre-restorative set-up state, an esthetic alignment state, an anterior function improvement state, or an optimal set-up state.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further including storing one or more of the predetermined set of one or more orthodontic treatment goal parameters, the orthodontic condition, the one or more treatment goal options, the weighted diagnostic parameters, or the treatment plan.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the treatment plan includes one or more of a treatment difficulty rating, a treatment duration period, a treatment appliance type, a treatment skill level, or a treatment precaution.

15. An apparatus for providing dental case assessment, comprising:

a data storage unit configured to store orthodontic treatment information including previous treatment goals associated with orthodontic conditions; and

a data processing unit operatively coupled to the data storage unit, the data processing unit configured to;

receive an orthodontic condition;

provide one or more treatment goal options for orthodontic conditions similar to the received orthodontic condition from the data storage unit

receive a selection of one of the options;

provide a predetermined set of one or more orthodontic treatment goal parameters;

receive an importance rating from a user for at least one of the treatment goal parameters based on a predetermined scale, wherein the at least one importance rating represents an importance of an particular treatment goal parameter to the selected option;

parse the orthodontic condition into one or more predetermined diagnostic parameters;

weight each of the diagnostic parameters according to a corresponding weighted function based on similarity of the diagnostic parameters to past treatment information; and

generate a treatment plan based on the weighted diagnostic parameters, the selected treatment goal option, and the at least one importance rated treatment goal parameter.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the one or more orthodontic treatment goal parameters include at least one of a treatment difficulty assessment, a type of appliance available for treatment, or a treatment duration.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the importance rating is associated with the orthodontic condition.

18. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the data processing unit is further configured to associate a difficulty rating with each of the one or more treatment goal options for the orthodontic condition, and to increase the weight for each one of the diagnostic parameters when the difficulty rating transcends a predetermined value in a first direction, and reduce the weight when the difficulty rating transcends a predetermined value in a second direction.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the data processing unit is further configured to correlate each difficulty rating with one or more visual indicators.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the data processing unit is further configured to associate the one or more visual indicators with one or more of a color indicator, a alphanumeric indicator, a symbol indicator, or combinations thereof.

21. The apparatus of claim 19 further including a display unit operatively coupled to the data processing unit, the display unit configured to display the one or more of the visual indicators correlated with each difficulty rating for the one or more treatment goal options.

22. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the data processing unit is further configured to determine a distance function associated with each of the predetermined set of one or more orthodontic treatment goal parameters for the selected orthodontic condition and the one or more related treatment goal options.

23. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the data processing unit is further configured to retrieve historical treatment information associated with the orthodontic condition from the data storage unit, to compare the historical treatment information to the predetermined set of one or more orthodontic treatment goal parameters associated with the orthodontic condition, and to increase the weight for each of the diagnostic parameters when a deviation between the historical treatment information and the predetermined set of parameters transcends a predetermined value in a first direction and reduce the weight when the difference transcends the predetermined value in a second direction.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein the first direction and the second direction are in substantially opposing directions.

25. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the orthodontic condition includes one of a crowding condition, a spacing condition, an overjet condition, an underbite condition or an overbite condition.

26. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the one or more treatment goal options include one of a pre-restorative set-up state, an esthetic alignment state, an anterior function improvement state, or an optimal set-up state.

27. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the data processing unit is further configured to store in the data storage unit one or more of the predetermined set of one or more orthodontic treatment goal parameters, the orthodontic condition, the one or more treatment goal options, the weighted diagnostic parameters, or the treatment plan.

28. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the treatment plan includes one or more of a treatment difficulty rating, a treatment duration period, a treatment appliance type, a treatment skill level, or a treatment precaution.