Methods and apparatus for jaw motion analysis

An apparatus for imaging the head of a patient, comprising:

• a transport apparatus that moves an x-ray source and an x-ray detector in at least partial orbit about a head supporting position for the patient and configured for acquiring, at each of a plurality of angles about the supporting position, a 2-D radiographic projection image of the patient's head;
• one or more head marker retaining elements that hold a first plurality of markers in position relative to the skull of the patient;
• one or more jaw marker retaining elements that hold a second plurality of markers in position relative to the jaw bone of the patient;
• at least one camera that is disposed and energizable to acquire a jaw motion study comprising a set of a plurality of reflectance images from the head supporting position;
• a control logic processor that is in signal communication with the x-ray source, x-ray detector, and the at least one camera and that is configured by programmed instructions to reconstruct volume image content using the 2-D radiographic projection images acquired, to segment the jaw bone structure from the skull bone structure, to register the reconstructed volume image content to the first and second plurality of markers, and to generate animated display content according to jaw bone structure motion acquired from the acquired set of reflectance images;
• and
• a display that is in signal communication with the control logic processor and is energizable to display the generated animated display content.