Method and apparatus for ear canal surface modeling using optical coherence tomography imaging

An apparatus for creating a representation of a three-dimensional contour of an ear canal comprising:

• an optical coherence tomography sensor configured to image said ear canal by
• generating a plurality of signals at a plurality of positions in said ear canal;
• detecting reflected signals corresponding to the respective signals;
• and
• creating a plurality of cross section images of said ear canal based on the reflected signals;
• a processor configured to:
• record the position of said sensor at each position in said plurality of positions;
• identify a boundary of an interior of said ear canal for each cross section in said plurality of cross section images, the identifying comprising:
• setting a contour line as a zero-level of points of a two-dimensional function;
• and
• using a region-based algorithm and a level-set coordinate system to control an evolution of the contour line to identify the boundary;
• combine said plurality of cross section images as a function of said identified boundaries and said recorded positions to create a three dimensional representation of at least a portion of said ear canal;
• and
• edit said three dimensional representation of at least the portion of said ear canal by reshaping said three dimensional representation.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer program instructions which, when executed by a processor, perform the steps of a method for creating a representation of a three-dimensional contour of an ear canal, said steps comprising:

• imaging said ear canal, the imaging comprising performing the following steps:
• generating a plurality of signals at a plurality of positions in said ear canal;
• detecting reflected signals corresponding to the respective signals;
• and
• creating a plurality of cross section images based on the reflected signals;
• recording the position of said sensor at each position in said plurality of positions;
• identifying a boundary of an interior of said ear canal for each cross section in said plurality of cross section images, the identifying comprising:
• setting a contour line as a zero-level set of points of a two-dimensional function;
• and
• using a region-based algorithm and a level-set coordinate system to control an evolution of the contour line to identify the boundary;
• combining said plurality of cross section images as a function of said identified boundaries and said recorded positions to create a three dimensional representation of at least a portion of said ear canal;
• and
• receiving from a user instructions for editing said three dimensional representation of at least the portion of said ear canal by reshaping said three dimensional representation.