Method and apparatus for imaging three-dimensional structure
DCFirst Claim
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1. An apparatus for imaging at least a portion of a patient'"'"'s dentition, the apparatus comprising:
- an illumination unit configured to transmit a parent light beam comprising a first wavelength component and a second wavelength component;
an optical system configured to generate an illuminated region on a portion of a patient'"'"'s dentition, wherein the first wavelength component is focused at a first focal plane and the second wavelength component is focused at a second focal plane;
a translation mechanism configured to move the position of the first focal plane and the second focal plane at the same time over a range of focal plane positions;
a detector unit configured to measure intensity of returned light beams of the first wavelength component and the second wavelength component; and
a processor coupled to the detector unit and configured to determine a surface topology of the patient'"'"'s dentition based at least in part on a first intensity of a first returned light beam of the first wavelength component and a second intensity of a second returned light beam of the second wavelength component.
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Abstract
An apparatus for determining surface topology of a portion of a three-dimensional structure is provided, that includes a probing member, an illumination unit, a light focusing optics, a translation mechanism, a detector and a processor.
93 Citations
25 Claims
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1. An apparatus for imaging at least a portion of a patient'"'"'s dentition, the apparatus comprising:
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an illumination unit configured to transmit a parent light beam comprising a first wavelength component and a second wavelength component; an optical system configured to generate an illuminated region on a portion of a patient'"'"'s dentition, wherein the first wavelength component is focused at a first focal plane and the second wavelength component is focused at a second focal plane; a translation mechanism configured to move the position of the first focal plane and the second focal plane at the same time over a range of focal plane positions; a detector unit configured to measure intensity of returned light beams of the first wavelength component and the second wavelength component; and a processor coupled to the detector unit and configured to determine a surface topology of the patient'"'"'s dentition based at least in part on a first intensity of a first returned light beam of the first wavelength component and a second intensity of a second returned light beam of the second wavelength component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus for determining surface topology of at least a portion of a three-dimensional structure, the apparatus comprising:
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a probing member having a sensing face; an illumination unit configured to transmit a parent light beam along an optical path in the hand-held probe; a module positioned in the optical path and configured to generate a plurality of incident light beams; an optical system configured to focus the plurality of incident light beams at a focal plane forward of the sensing face; a detector unit configured to measure intensities of a plurality of returned light beams that are generated from illuminating the portion of the three-dimensional structure with the plurality of incident light beams; and a processor coupled to the detector unit and configured to determine a surface topology of the three-dimensional structure based at least in part on the measured intensities of the plurality of returned light beams. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification