Ultraminiature pattern projector

An apparatus for intraoral scanning, the apparatus comprising:

• an elongate wand comprising a probe at a distal end of the elongate wand;
• and
• one or more structured light projectors disposed within the probe, each structured light projector comprising:
• (a) a housing;
• (b) a light source disposed within the housing and comprising:
• a semiconductor laser die;
• and
• a beam shaping optical element;
• and
• (c) a pattern generating optical element,
• wherein:
• the pattern generating optical element is disposed within the probe outside of the housing,
• a distance D between an emission point of the semiconductor laser die and an input face of the beam shaping optical element is 50-250 microns,
• a distance the light travels from exiting the beam shaping optical element to entering the pattern generating optical element is 2-8 mm, and
• each structured light projector is configured to project a pattern of light onto an intraoral surface when the light source of the structured light projector is activated to emit light through the pattern generating optical element of the structured light projector.

An apparatus for intraoral scanning, the apparatus comprising:

• an elongate wand comprising a probe at a distal end of the elongate wand;
• and
• one or more structured light projectors disposed within the probe, each structured light projector comprising:
• (a) a housing;
• (b) a light source disposed within the housing and comprising:
• a semiconductor laser die;
• and
• a beam shaping optical element;
• and
• (c) a pattern generating optical element,
• wherein;
• the pattern generating optical element is disposed within the probe outside of the housing,
• a distance D between an emission point of the semiconductor laser die and an input face of the beam shaping optical element is 50-250 microns,
• a distance the light travels from exiting the beam shaping optical element to entering the pattern generating optical element is 8-25 mm, and
• each structured light projector is configured to project a pattern of light onto an intraoral surface when the light source of the structured light projector is activated to emit light through the pattern generating optical element of the structured light projector.

An apparatus for intraoral scanning, the apparatus comprising:

• an elongate wand comprising a probe at a distal end of the elongate wand;
• and
• one or more structured light projectors disposed within the probe, each structured light projector comprising:
• (a) a housing;
• (b) a light source disposed within the housing and comprising:
• a semiconductor laser die;
• and
• a beam shaping optical element;
• and
• (c) a pattern generating optical element,
• wherein:
• the pattern generating optical element is disposed within the probe outside of the housing such that an angle between an optical axis of the beam shaping optical element and an optical axis of the pattern generating optical element is 50-100 degrees,
• the apparatus further comprises a mirror disposed within the probe and positioned so as to reflect the light exiting the beam shaping optical element toward the pattern generating optical element,
• a distance D between an emission point of the semiconductor laser die and an input face of the beam shaping optical element is 50-250 microns,
• a distance the light travels from exiting the beam shaping optical element to entering the pattern generating optical element is 8-25 mm;
• and
• each structured light projector is configured to project a pattern of light onto an intraoral surface when the light source of the structured light projector is activated to emit light through the pattern generating optical element of the structured light projector.

An apparatus for intraoral scanning, the apparatus comprising:

• an elongate wand comprising a probe at a distal end of the elongate wand;
• at least one structured light projector disposed within the probe, each structured light projector comprising:
• (a) a housing;
• (b) a light source disposed within the housing and comprising:
• a first semiconductor laser die;
• a second semiconductor laser die, wherein the first and second semiconductor laser dies are mounted within the housing such that the first and second semiconductor laser dies emit laser light in respective first and second directions that are opposite to each other;
• and
• a first beam shaping optical element and a second beam shaping optical element;
• and
• (c) a first pattern generating optical element and a second pattern generating optical element;
• and
• a computer processor configured to activate the first and second semiconductor laser dies such that the at least one structured light projector projects a first pattern of light in the first direction and a second pattern of light in the second direction,
• wherein:
• a distance D between an emission point of the first semiconductor laser die and an input face of the first beam shaping optical element, or between an emission point of the second semiconductor laser die and an input face of the beam shaping optical element, is 50-250 microns, and
• each structured light projector is configured to project at least one of the first pattern of light or the second pattern of light onto an intraoral surface when the light source of the structured light projector is activated to emit light through at least one of the first pattern generating optical element or the second pattern generating optical element of the structured light projector.

An apparatus for intraoral scanning, the apparatus comprising:

• an elongate wand comprising a probe at a distal end of the elongate wand;
• and
• one or more structured light projectors disposed within the probe, each structured light projector comprising:
• (a) a housing;
• (b) a light source disposed within the housing and comprising:
• a semiconductor laser die;
• and
• a beam shaping optical element;
• (c) a first pattern generating optical element;
• and
• (d) a second pattern generating optical element,
• wherein:
• a distance D between an emission point of the semiconductor laser die and an input face of the beam shaping optical element is 50-250 microns,
• each structured light projector is configured to project a pattern of light onto an intraoral surface when the light source of the structured light projector is activated to emit light through at least one of the first pattern generating optical element or the second pattern generating optical element of the structured light projector,
• the first and second pattern generating optical elements are two respective areas on a common substrate that comprises a beam splitter and a reflector disposed within the common substrate, and
• the apparatus further comprises a computer processor configured to activate the semiconductor laser die such that:
• laser light exiting the light source is split by the beam splitter into a first beam and a second beam within the common substrate, and
• the first beam enters the first pattern generating optical element and the second beam is reflected by the reflector toward the second pattern generating optical element to yield two separate projected patterns that are translationally shifted with respect to each other.

An apparatus for intraoral scanning, the apparatus comprising:

• an elongate wand comprising a probe at a distal end of the elongate wand;
• and
• one or more structured light projectors disposed within the probe, each structured light projector comprising:
• (a) a housing comprising a transparent window through which light exits the housing;
• (b) a light source disposed within the housing and comprising:
• a semiconductor laser die;
• and
• a beam shaping optical element;
• and
• (c) a pattern generating optical element,
• wherein:
• the transparent window comprises the pattern generating optical element,
• the semiconductor laser die and the beam shaping optical element are disposed within a common chamber of the housing, and
• each structured light projector is configured to project a pattern of light onto an intraoral surface when the light source of the structured light projector is activated to emit light through the pattern generating optical element of the structured light projector.