×

Intraoral tomosynthesis systems, methods, and computer readable media for dental imaging

  • US 9,782,136 B2
  • Filed: 06/16/2015
  • Issued: 10/10/2017
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2014
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
Patent Images

1. An intraoral tomosynthesis system for three dimensional imaging, the system comprising:

  • an x-ray source array containing multiple x-ray focal spots spatially distributed on one or multiple anodes in an evacuated chamber;

    a high frame rate x-ray detector for positioning inside a mouth of a patient;

    a mechanical fixture for attaching the x-ray source to the x-ray detector in a known and fixed position;

    an x-ray collimator to confine x-ray radiation from all of the x-ray focal spots in the x-ray source array to a common region of interest and to a surface of the x-ray detector without mechanical movement;

    an electronic controller configured to sequentially activate x-ray exposure from individual x-ray focal spots and to synchronize onset and duration of the exposure with a detector integration time to produce a series of projection images of a region of interest from a range of viewing angles without moving the x-ray source, the detector, or the patient;

    wherein each projection image corresponds to one specific x-ray focal spot and a specific viewing angle; and

    a computer processor for tomosynthesis image reconstruction using specific imaging geometries of projection images determined from a position of the x-ray source array with respect to the detector, and prior knowledge of positions of the individual x-ray focal spots with respect to the x-ray source array.

View all claims
  • 2 Assignments
Timeline View
Assignment View
    ×
    ×