Optical measurement device and related process

A device for measuring the optical characteristics of an object comprising:

• means for illuminating the object with a searchlight illumination source;
• means for collecting color information reflected from said object;
• and
• means for processing the collected color information to produce an image of the object including the optical characteristics of the object.

An instrument for acquiring an image of a tooth located within a field of view, said instrument comprising:

• a handheld housing defining an aperture for receiving light reflected from the tooth;
• image sensor means within said housing and aligned with said aperture for acquiring an image of the tooth;
• and
• illumination means for illuminating the field of view with light that is substantially uniform in three dimensions.

A method for measuring the optical characteristics of an object comprising the steps of:

• illuminating the object with searchlight illumination so that light is reflected from the object;
• transmitting a plurality of time separated bandwidths of the reflected light;
• collecting the time separated bandwidths;
• and
• combining the time separated bandwidths into a single image including a plurality of points, each of the points having data representative of each of the time separated bandwidths.

An apparatus for creating an image of an object comprising:

• means for illuminating the object with illumination rays so that the object reflects reflected rays;
• a monochromatic image sensor;
• means for transmitting selected bandwidths included in one chosen from the illumination rays and the reflected rays;
• means for disposing said transmitting means adjacent one chosen from said illuminating means and said image sensor whereby the image sensor collects a plurality of time separated frames, each frame associated with one of the bandwidths;
• and
• means for combining said plurality of frames to create an image of the object.

An apparatus for measuring the optical characteristics of an object illuminated with incident light and reflecting reflected light from the object comprising:

• means for transmitting separated bandwidths of light chosen from incident light and the reflected light;
• an image sensor for collecting said separated bandwidths of the reflected light;
• and
• a processor to combine and align said separated bandwidths into a single image representative of the optical characteristics of the object.

An instrument for acquiring a color image of a tooth comprising:

• a handheld housing;
• a light source within said housing providing illumination of the tooth;
• an image sensor within said housing for acquiring an image of the tooth;
• and
• filter means within said housing for selectively filtering the image of the tooth, said filter means including a plurality of filters at different bandwidths, said filter means further including means for moving said filters sequentially in alignment with said image sensor so that said image sensor acquires time-separated images of the tooth at different filtered bandwidths;
• and
• processor means for combining the time-separated images into a single color image.

A method for determining the optical characteristics of an object comprising the steps of:

• illuminating the object with incident light reflected so that light is reflected from the object;
• transmitting pre-selected time-separated bandwidths included in light chosen from the incident light and the reflected light;
• sensing the pre-selected time-separated bandwidths in a plurality of frames, each frame associated with a single bandwidth and time separated;
• aligning the plurality of frames;
• and
• combining the plurality of frames to create an image of the object including optical characteristic data.

A method for creating an image of an illuminated object comprising the steps of:

• transmitting a plurality of time separated bandwidths of light that illuminates the object;
• collecting the time separated bandwidths;
• and
• combining the time separated bandwidths into a single image including a plurality of points, each of the points having data representative of each of the time separated bandwidths.

A shield for a device for measuring optical characteristics of an object having an illumination source comprising:

• a body including a first end and a second end distal from said first end, said first end defining an aperture, said body establishing a predetermined distance between the illumination source and the object when said aperture is placed in a position chosen from the object and adjacent object;
• means for engaging said second end against the measuring device whereby ambient light is restricted from entering said body portion;
• and
• a reference color disposed proximate said first end.

A shield for a color measuring device used in dental applications comprising:

• a body defining a cavity and including first and second end in illuminatory communication with one another, said first end separated from said second end a pre-selected distance;
• a first aperture defined by said first end, said aperture for disposing in a position chosen from against and adjacent an object to be color measured;
• a second aperture defined by said second end for disposing proximate an illumination source;
• and
• a reference color associated with said body proximate said first aperture whereby said reference color is measured by the color-measuring device during color measurements.

An instrument for acquiring a color image of a tooth within a field of view, said instrument comprising:

• a handheld housing;
• an illumination source within said housing for illuminating the field of view;
• an image sensing device within said housing for sensing an image of the tooth;
• and
• a disposable shield including a first end removably connected to said housing and a second end defining an aperture within the field of view, the shield providing a desired spacing between the tooth and the image sensing device when the second end is placed against a portion of a patient's mouth, at least a portion of the second end also being within the field of view, said portion being of a desired uniform color so that said portion provides a reference color within the field of view to said image sensing device.

An instrument for acquiring a color image of a tooth comprising:

• a handheld housing;
• an image sensing device within said housing for sensing light reflected in a first direction;
• and
• a dynamic image display device within said housing for displaying an image of the tooth as sensed by said image sensing device, said image display device being generally perpendicular to the first direction and generally aligned with the first direction.

An instrument for acquiring a color image of a tooth comprising:

• a handheld housing defining a sensing aperture and a display aperture;
• at least one of a communication connection and a power connection within said housing and accessible from outside said housing;
• a window sealed within said sensing aperture;
• a display sealed within said display aperture;
• and
• said instrument being substantially moisture-proof with the possible exception of said at least one connection, whereby said instrument with the possible exception of said at least one connection can be wiped down for sanitation purposes without moisture entering said housing.

A system for measuring the optical characteristics of teeth comprising:

• a housing defining an aperture and including a portal;
• means for illuminating a tooth through said aperture disposed in said housing;
• means for sensing an image of the tooth through said aperture disposed in said housing;
• and
• means for sealably covering said aperture whereby pollutants are prevented from entering said housing, except for the possible entrance of pollutants through said portal.

A housing for an intraoral optical measurement device comprising:

• a body defining an interior for containing optical sensor, said body further defining a measurement aperture and a connection aperture;
• a transparent window disposed over said aperture so that optical measurements can be taken through said window;
• a seal disposed between said housing and said window so that body prevents pollutants from entering said interior, with the exception of pollutants possibly entering said interior through said connection aperture, when the body is wiped down for purposes chosen from cleaning purposes and sanitizing purposes;
• and
• a display window sealably mounted in said body.

A method for creating dental prosthesis comprising the steps of:

• measuring the optical characteristics of a tooth;
• creating tooth data from the measured tooth optical characteristics;
• manufacturing a dental prosthesis from the tooth data;
• measuring the optical characteristics of the dental prosthesis;
• creating prosthesis data from the measured prosthesis optical characteristics;
• and
• comparing the prosthesis data to the tooth data to insure the data match.

A process for matching the optical characteristics of objects chosen from a tooth and its surrounding teeth with a prosthetic replacement for a tooth comprising the steps of:

• collecting first data for objects chosen from a tooth and surrounding teeth;
• creating a dental prosthesis from the first object data to replace the tooth;
• collecting second prosthesis data from the dental prosthesis;
• and
• comparing the first data to the second prosthesis data to insure the dental prosthesis accurately duplicates the tooth for which it was created to replace.

A process for creating a dental prosthesis comprising the steps of:

• creating tooth data from an image of a tooth;
• manufacturing a prosthesis from the tooth color data;
• creating prosthesis data from an image of the prosthesis;
• comparing the tooth data to the prosthesis color data;
• and
• taking corrective action if the tooth color data and the prosthesis color data do not match, wherein the corrective action is chosen from altering the prosthesis and creating a substitute prosthesis.

A method of displaying information regarding a dental prosthesis comprising:

• creating a color image of a tooth at a first location;
• sending the tooth color image to a second location;
• making a prosthesis at the second location having a desired visual relationship with respect to the tooth color image;
• creating a color image of the prosthesis at the second location;
• sending the prosthesis color image to the first location;
• and
• simultaneously displaying at the first location the tooth color image and the prosthesis color image for evaluation of the actual visual relationship between the tooth color image and the prosthesis color image.