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Method and apparatus for determining the color of a translucent object such as a tooth

  • US 5,383,020 A
  • Filed: 12/15/1992
  • Issued: 01/17/1995
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/23/1991
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. Apparatus for determining the color of a translucent object, the apparatus comprising a source of polychromatic light associated with an optical system for illuminating the object, an optical system for picking up light diffused by the object, a spectrometer receiving said light, photodetectors disposed at the output from the spectrometer, and an analog-to-digital converter connecting the photodetectors to a data processor system, wherein the spectrometer and the photodetectors are designed to obtain reflectance measurements of the object at wavelengths corresponding essentially to the maxima in the sensitivity of the human eye to hue and to saturation, and wherein the data processor system is programmed to determine, on the basis of said reflectance measurements, a transparency restitution indicator for the object together with a saturation percentage of its color as seen by the human eye and the pigmentations of said color relative to white over predetermined wavelength ranges.

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