Dental x-ray film positioning instrument
OwnerPhillip E. Cochraninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An instrument for aligning an x-ray beam relative to an x-ray film and a target tooth of an animal patient. The instrument orients the beam relative to the film, to produce dental radiographs of the target tooth in accordance with the bisecting-angle technique. More specifically, the instrument includes an alignment tool configured to align a longitudinal axis of the x-ray beam orthogonal to a bisecting plane lying approximately midway between a target plane defined by the target tooth, and an x-ray film plane defined by the x-ray film. In some embodiments, the instrument may also include an x-ray film holder and an x-ray film holder support, allowing the film to be conveniently positioned and held in proper alignment during an x-ray procedure.
Claims15
An instrument for aligning a collimated x-ray beam relative to an x-ray film and a target tooth of an animal patient to produce dental radiographs in accordance with the bisecting-angle technique, wherein the instrument is configured to align a longitudinal axis of the x-ray beam orthogonal to a bisecting plane lying approximately midway between a target plane defined by the target tooth and an x-ray film plane defined by the x-ray film, comprising:
- a first handle selectively orientable at a first known angle relative to the x-ray film plane;
- a second handle selectively orientable at a second known angle relative to the target plane, wherein orientation of the handles is correlated to alignment of the longitudinal axis of the x-ray beam, wherein the first handle is orientable parallel to the x-ray film plane and the second handle is orientable parallel to the target plane, and wherein the second handle is pivotally attached to the first handle to form a variable angle between the handles to selectively orient the second handle parallel to the target plane;
- and
- a bisecting member attached to the handles, wherein the bisecting member is oriented substantially parallel to the bisecting plane when the first handle is oriented parallel to the x-ray film plane and the second handle is oriented parallel to the target plane.
An instrument for aligning a collimated x-ray beam relative to an x-ray film and a target tooth of an animal patient to produce dental radiographs in accordance with the bisecting-angle technigue, wherein the instrument is configured to align a longitudinal axis of the x-ray beam orthogonal to a bisecting plane lying approximately midway between a target plane defined by the target tooth and an x-ray film plane defined by the x-ray film, comprising:
- a first handle selectively orientable at a first known angle relative to the x-ray film plane;
- a second handle selectively orientable at a second known angle relative to the target plane, and wherein orientation of the handles is correlated to alignment of the longitudinal axis of the x-ray beam, wherein the first handle is attachable to a film holder configured to selectively hold the x-ray film against the target tooth;
- and
- a film holder support including a first support member for selectively engaging and supporting the film holder, a second support member spaced apart from the first support member for engaging one or more non-target teeth, and a connecting member coupling the support members and allowing distance between the support members to be selectively varied and held fixed.
A method of aligning an x-ray beam to produce dental radiographs of a target tooth of an animal patient in accordance with the bisecting-angle technigue, wherein an alignment instrument is configured to align a longitudinal axis of the x-ray beam orthogonal to a bisecting plane lying approximately midway between a target plane defined by the target tooth and an x-ray film plane defined by the x-ray film, comprising:
- placing an x-ray film into the patient's mouth;
- attaching the alignment instrument to the x-ray film;
- orienting a first handle of the alignment instrument at a first known angle relative to the x-ray film plane;
- and
- orienting a second handle of the alignment instrument at a second known angle relative to the target plane
- wherein the steps of orienting the first handle and second handle further orient a reference portion of the alignment instrument at a known reference angle relative to the bisecting plane, and wherein the reference portion is configured to align the longitudinal axis of the x-ray beam at an alignment angle relative to the reference portion and correlated to the reference angle, wherein the first and second angles are both substantially zero, so that the first handle of the instrument is oriented substantially parallel to the x-ray film plane and the second handle of the instrument is oriented substantially parallel to the target plane, and
- wherein the reference portion is a bisecting member attached to the handles, and wherein the bisecting member is oriented substantially parallel to the bisecting plane when the first handle is oriented substantially parallel to the x-ray film plane and the second handle is oriented substantially parallel to the target plane.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.