Focus scanning apparatus
DCFirst Claim
1. An intraoral scanner for determining the 3D geometry and color of at least a part of the surface of an object in an oral cavity, the intraoral scanner comprising:
- at least one camera accommodating an array of sensor elements;
a pattern generator configured to generate, using a light source, a probe light with a plurality of configurations in the form of a time-varying illumination pattern;
an optical system for transmitting the probe light towards the object along an optical path thereby illuminating at least a part of the object with the time-varying illumination pattern, and for transmitting at least a part of the light returned from the object to the at least one camera to form a plurality of 2D images, wherein the 3D geometry is determined based on the plurality of 2D images and the time-varying illumination pattern;
a tip configured to be inserted into the oral cavity; and
a hardware processor configured to;
selectively switch a color of the probe light, thereby illuminating the object with different colors at different times;
record different images by the at least one camera at the different times, thereby recording images of the object with the different colors; and
combine the different colors from the different images, thereby obtaining the color of the surface of the object,wherein the intraoral scanner is wireless, and wherein the at least one camera is a high-speed camera.
1 Assignment
Litigations
2 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A scanner includes a camera, a light source for generating a probe light incorporating a spatial pattern, an optical system for transmitting the probe light towards the object and for transmitting at least a part of the light returned from the object to the camera, a focus element within the optical system for varying a position of a focus plane of the spatial pattern on the object, unit for obtaining at least one image from said array of sensor elements, unit for evaluating a correlation measure at each focus plane position between at least one image pixel and a weight function, a processor for determining the in-focus position(s) of each of a plurality of image pixels for a range of focus plane positions, or each of a plurality of groups of image pixels for a range of focus plane positions, and transforming in-focus data into 3D real world coordinates.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. An intraoral scanner for determining the 3D geometry and color of at least a part of the surface of an object in an oral cavity, the intraoral scanner comprising:
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at least one camera accommodating an array of sensor elements; a pattern generator configured to generate, using a light source, a probe light with a plurality of configurations in the form of a time-varying illumination pattern; an optical system for transmitting the probe light towards the object along an optical path thereby illuminating at least a part of the object with the time-varying illumination pattern, and for transmitting at least a part of the light returned from the object to the at least one camera to form a plurality of 2D images, wherein the 3D geometry is determined based on the plurality of 2D images and the time-varying illumination pattern; a tip configured to be inserted into the oral cavity; and a hardware processor configured to; selectively switch a color of the probe light, thereby illuminating the object with different colors at different times; record different images by the at least one camera at the different times, thereby recording images of the object with the different colors; and combine the different colors from the different images, thereby obtaining the color of the surface of the object, wherein the intraoral scanner is wireless, and wherein the at least one camera is a high-speed camera. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for determining the 3D geometry and color of at least a part of the surface of an object in an oral cavity, said method comprising the steps of:
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using a light source and a pattern generator to generate a probe light with a plurality of configurations in the form of a time-varying illumination pattern; transmitting the probe light, through a tip of intraoral scanner inserted into the oral cavity, towards the object along an optical path, thereby illuminating at least a part of the object with the time-varying illumination pattern; transmitting at least a part of the light returned from the object to at least one camera accommodating an array of sensor elements to form a plurality of 2D images, wherein the 3D geometry is determined based on the plurality of 2D images and the time-varying illumination pattern; selectively switching a color of the probe light, thereby illuminating the object with different colors at different times; recording different images by the at least one camera at the different times, thereby recording images of the object with the different colors; combining the different colors from the different images to obtain the color of the surface of the object; and wirelessly transmitting the data for the 3D geometry. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification