Estimating a surface texture of a tooth
AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorAdi Levin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Embodiments for estimating a surface texture of a tooth are described herein. One method embodiment includes collecting a sequence of images utilizing multiple light conditions using an intra-oral imaging device and estimating the surface texture of the tooth based on the sequence of images.
Claims32
A computing device implemented method for estimating a surface texture of a tooth, comprising:
- collecting a sequence of images utilizing multiple light conditions using an intra-oral imaging device, wherein the multiple light conditions include different light sources and captures different pixel intensities;
- comparing the pixel intensities from at least two of the images within the sequence of images to one another;
- and
- estimating the surface texture of the tooth based on the comparison of the pixel intensities from the at least two images within the sequence of images.
A non-transitory computing device readable medium having executable instructions that can be executed by a processor to cause a computing device to perform a method for estimating a surface texture of a tooth, comprising:
- receiving a sequence of scanned images of a tooth from a dental device, the sequence including a number of individual images, each individual image collected under a different light condition, wherein the different light condition includes different light sources and captures different pixel intensities;
- comparing the pixel intensities from at least two of the individual images within the sequence to one another;
- and
- estimating the surface texture of the tooth based on the comparison of the pixel intensities from the at least two individual images within the sequence of images.
A dental device, comprising:
- an array of individual light sources, each individual light source capable of being turned on and off independently to move an illumination site of the array of individual light sources along a path;
- and
- an optics device capable of capturing an image of a number of teeth,
- wherein a first image of one of the number of teeth is captured using a first individual light source, and a second image of the one of the number of teeth is captured using a second individual light source.
A computing device implemented method for estimating a surface texture of a tooth, comprising:
- collecting a sequence of images utilizing multiple light conditions including different light sources using an intra-oral imaging device;
- turning the different light sources on and off independently to move an illumination site of the different light sources along a path while continuously collecting the sequence of images;
- comparing pixel intensities from at least two of the images within the sequence of images to one another;
- and
- estimating the surface texture of the tooth based on the comparison of the pixel intensities from the at least two images within the sequence of images.
A computing device implemented method for estimating a surface texture of a tooth, comprising:
- collecting a sequence of images utilizing multiple light conditions using an intra-oral imaging device, wherein collecting the sequence of images utilizing multiple light conditions includes utilizing a different light source to capture each image within the sequence;
- comparing pixel intensities from at least two of the images within the sequence to one another;
- and
- estimating the surface texture of the tooth based on the comparison of the pixel intensities from the at least two images within the sequence of images.
A computing device implemented method for estimating a surface texture of a tooth, comprising:
- collecting a sequence of images utilizing multiple light conditions using an intra-oral imaging device;
- comparing the collected sequence of images to a dental model of the tooth, wherein comparing the collected sequence of images includes converting the sequence of images to normal vector information per pixel of each of the images within the sequence;
- comparing pixel intensities from at least two of the images within the sequence of images to one another;
- and
- estimating the surface texture of the tooth based on the comparison of the pixel intensities from the at least two images within the sequence of images.
A computing device implemented method for estimating a surface texture of a tooth, comprising:
- collecting a sequence of images utilizing multiple light conditions using an intra-oral imaging device;
- comparing the collected sequence of images to a dental model of the tooth, wherein comparing the collected sequence of images includes automatically computing a three-dimensional alignment between the sequence of images and the dental model;
- comparing pixel intensities from at least two of the images within the sequence of images to one another;
- and
- estimating the surface texture of the tooth based on the comparison of the pixel intensities from the at least two images within the sequence of images.
A computing device implemented method for estimating a surface texture of a tooth, comprising:
- collecting a sequence of images utilizing multiple light conditions using an intra-oral imaging device;
- comparing pixel intensities from at least two of the images within the sequence to one another;
- estimating the surface texture of the tooth based on the comparison of the pixel intensities from the at least two images within the sequence of images;
- and
- adding a dental detail to a dental model based on the estimated surface texture, wherein the dental model includes a three-dimensional dental model.
A computing device implemented method for estimating a surface texture of a tooth, comprising:
- collecting a sequence of images utilizing multiple light conditions using an intra-oral imaging device, wherein collecting the sequence of images includes collecting a sequence of images of a same area of a same tooth under multiple light conditions as an illumination site is moved along a path;
- comparing pixel intensities from at least two of the images within the sequence of images to one another;
- and
- estimating the surface texture of the tooth based on the comparison of the pixel intensities from the at least two images within the sequence of images, wherein the estimated surface texture includes a surface gradient of the tooth.
A non-transitory computing device readable medium having executable instructions that can be executed by a processor to cause a computing device to perform a method for estimating a surface texture of a tooth, comprising:
- receiving a sequence of scanned images of a tooth from a dental device, the sequence including a number of individual images, each individual image collected under a different light condition;
- comparing pixel intensities from at least two of the individual images within the sequence to one another;
- estimating the surface texture of the tooth based on the comparison of the pixel intensities from the at least two individual images within the sequence of images;
- and
- estimating a surface texture of a neighboring tooth, based on the estimated surface texture of the tooth.
A non-transitory computing device readable medium having executable instructions that can be executed by a processor to cause a computing device to perform a method for estimating a surface texture of a tooth, comprising:
- receiving a sequence of scanned images of a tooth from a dental device, the sequence including a number of individual images, each individual image collected under a different light condition;
- comparing pixel intensities from at least two of the individual images within the sequence to one another;
- estimating the surface texture of the tooth based on the comparison of the pixel intensities from the at least two individual images within the sequence of images;
- and
- converting the estimated surface texture of the tooth into a surface normal vector for each pixel of each individual image.
A non-transitory computing device readable medium having executable instructions that can be executed by a processor to cause a computing device to perform a method for estimating a surface texture of a tooth, comprising:
- receiving a sequence of scanned images of a tooth from a dental device, the sequence including a number of individual images, each individual image collected under a different light condition;
- comparing pixel intensities from at least two of the individual images within the sequence to one another;
- computing a three-dimensional alignment between each individual image and a three-dimensional dental model;
- and
- estimating the surface texture of the tooth based on the comparison of the pixel intensities from the at least two individual images within the sequence of images.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.