Aligner material, cleanliness, and quality detection via aligner case
AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorsJun Sato, Bruce Cam, Yaser Shanjani
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embedded sensors and onboard or off-board processing in an aligner case can detect aligner material and/or quality. Material detection can be used for counterfeit detection, or to trigger material specific events. Quality detection can include detection of common aligner failures or defects. A case for a dental appliance may include a tray for supporting the dental appliance, a cover coupled to the tray, and at least one sensor to detect a deformation of the dental appliance. A case for a dental appliance may include a tray for housing the dental appliance, a cover coupled to the tray, and at least one sensor configured to detect a change in material of the dental appliance.
Claims24
A case for a dental appliance, comprising:
- a housing comprising:
- a tray for receiving the dental appliance thereon;
- a cover coupled to the tray and configured to cover the tray with the dental appliance thereon;
- a light source, wherein the light source is located on the housing at a first position configured to direct light toward a first side of a tooth receiving cavity of the dental appliance when the dental appliance is received on the tray;
- and
- at least one sensor in the housing located at a second position to receive light from a second side of the tooth receiving cavity of the dental appliance when the dental appliance is received on the tray and configured to measure a first value of a material property of the dental appliance to determine a change in material of the dental appliance over time, the sensor couplable in electronic communication to a processor configured to determine a difference between the first value and a reference value and determine the change in material of the dental appliance.
A system for detecting changes in appliances comprising:
- a housing comprising:
- a tray for receiving the dental appliance thereon;
- a cover coupled to the tray and configured to cover the tray with the dental appliance thereon;
- a light source, wherein the light source is located on the housing at a first position configured to direct light toward a first side of a tooth receiving cavity of the dental appliance when the dental appliance is received on the tray;
- at least one sensor in the housing located at a second position to receive light from a second side of the tooth receiving cavity of the dental appliance when the dental appliance is received on the tray and configured to measure a material property of the dental appliance;
- and
- a processor operatively coupled to the at least one sensor to determine a first value of a material property of the appliance at a first time and a second value of the material property of the appliance at a second time and to detect the change in the material property based on a difference between the first value and the second value.
A method for detecting changes in an appliance comprising:
- receiving a dental appliance in a case;
- emitting light from a light source located on the case at a first position, the light being emitted toward a first side of a tooth receiving cavity of the dental appliance received in the case;
- measuring a first value of a material property of the dental appliance received in the case using a sensor located at a second position in the case to receive light from a second side of the tooth receiving cavity of the dental appliance received in the case;
- determining a difference between the first value of the material property and a reference value of the material property;
- and
- determining there is a change in material based on the difference.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.