Dynamic three-dimensional imaging of ear canals
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsDouglas P. Hart, Federico Frigerio, Douglas M. Johnston, Manas C. Menon, Daniel Vlasic
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Abstract
The attenuation and other optical properties of a medium are exploited to measure a thickness of the medium between a sensor and a target surface. Disclosed herein are various mediums, arrangements of hardware, and processing techniques that can be used to capture these thickness measurements and obtain dynamic three-dimensional images of the target surface in a variety of imaging contexts. This includes general techniques for imaging interior/concave surfaces as well as exterior/convex surfaces, as well as specific adaptations of these techniques to imaging ear canals, human dentition, and so forth.
Claims20
A method comprising:
- inserting an inflatable membrane into a cavity;
- pressurizing the inflatable membrane within the cavity with a fluid to a predetermined pressure, thereby providing an inflated membrane;
- obtaining a three-dimensional image of a surface of the inflated membrane at the predetermined pressure;
- changing a pressure within the inflated membrane to a second predetermined pressure different from the predetermined pressure;
- obtaining a second three-dimensional image of the surface of the inflated membrane at the second predetermined pressure;
- and
- storing a representation of a change from the three-dimensional image to the second three-dimensional image as compliance data for the cavity.
A device comprising:
- an inflatable membrane;
- an imaging system configured to capture a three-dimensional image of a surface of the inflatable membrane;
- a fluid delivery system coupled to the inflatable membrane to deliver a fluid to an interior of the inflatable membrane at a controlled pressure in response to a control signal;
- and
- circuitry including a processor and memory configured to provide the control signal to the fluid delivery system to inflate the inflatable membrane with the fluid, and further configured to obtain three-dimensional images of the surface at two or more predetermined pressures of the fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.