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US 2004/0201856 A1Published application
Laser digitizer system for dental applications
AssigneeD4D Technologies, LLC
InventorsHenley Quadling, Mark Quadling, Alan Blair
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A laser digitizer system provides a visual three-dimensional image of a real-world object such as a dental item through a laser digitization. The laser digitizer captures an image of the object by scanning multiple portions of the object in an exposure period.
Claims20
A laser digitizer comprising:
- a light source having collimating optics configured to generate a collimated beam of light;
- a scanner optically coupled to the light source and configured to scan the collimated beam along at least two axes towards an object to be imaged;
- an image capture instrument having an optical axis at an angle θ with respect to the scanner and configured to detect a reflection of the scanned beam from the object and to generate data representative of a surface of the object based on the reflected beam;
- a processor coupled to the scanner and the image capture system configured to generate a three-dimensional image of the object based on the data.
1 more element
The laser digitizer of claim 8 where the object comprises any one of a dental model, a dental mold, or a dental casting.
A dental imaging system, comprising:
- means for generating a collimated laser beam of light;
- scanner means for generating a multi-axis collimated light beam;
- beam focusing means for focusing the collimated light beam to a point on an object to be images;
- image capturing means for detecting reflections of the a focused beam projected on an object;
- and
- processor means coupled to the scanner means and the image capturing means for generating a three-dimensional image of the object.
3 more elements
A method that generates a three-dimensional visual image of a physical object comprising:
- generating a multi-axis collimated beam of light;
- positioning the object in a first position;
- scanning the multi-axis collimated beam of light in a predetermined pattern, where the pattern includes a plurality of substantially parallel curves;
- focusing the scanned collimated beam of light on the physical object;
- capturing an image of the focused collimated beam of light on the object during an exposure period;
- and
- determining a map of the surface of the object based on the captured image.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.