Systems and methods for design and manufacture of a modified bone model including an accurate soft tissue model

1. A method comprising:

receiving medical imaging data representing facial anatomy of a patient while the patient is wearing a scan prosthesis against the patient's soft tissue;

receiving medical imaging data representing the scan prosthesis;

processing the medical imaging data representing the facial anatomy of the patient and the medical imaging data representing the scan prosthesis to generate a three-dimensional model of the facial anatomy and a three-dimensional model of the scan prosthesis;

creating a modified hard tissue model of the facial anatomy by adding one or more support structures to the three-dimensional model of the facial anatomy; and

molding a model of the patient's soft tissue between the three-dimensional model of the scan prosthesis and the modified hard tissue model by pressing the three-dimensional model of the scan prosthesis against the one or more support structures.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying pressure to the scan prosthesis while the patient is wearing the scan prosthesis to reduce or eliminate any trapped air between the facial anatomy and the scan prosthesis.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more support structures include one or more ridges.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein creating the modified hard tissue model comprises creating the modified hard tissue model with a solid freeform fabrication method.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scan prosthesis is a copy of a provisional denture.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the scan prosthesis includes one or more fiducial markers, the method further comprising using the fiducial markers to align the received medical imaging data representing facial anatomy and the received medical imaging data representing the scan prosthesis during the processing of the received medical imaging data.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modified hard tissue model includes a representation of an inferior alveolar nerve canal and of a mental foramen.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the medical image data representing the facial anatomy comprises computed tomography scan data.

9. A system for creating a bone model including an accurate representation of surrounding soft tissue, the system comprising:

a scan prosthesis including a recess, the recess fitting closely on soft tissue of a patient;

a bone model created from medical imaging data of the patient;

one or more support structures added to the bone model or the scan prosthesis, the one or more support structures configured to contact the bone model and the scan prosthesis to position the scan prosthesis in a position with respect to the bone model such that a space formed between the recess and the bone model corresponds with a shape of the soft tissue; and

a formable substrate disposed between the bone model and the scan prosthesis.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the scan prosthesis is a polymer copy of an item selected from the group consisting of: an existing denture, a provisional denture prosthesis, and a bite registration mold.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the formable substrate is a fast curing moldable material selected from the group consisting of: silicone putty and urethane putty.

12. A method for creating a soft tissue model, the method comprising:

receiving a first set of medical imaging data representing hard tissue facial anatomy of a patient and a scan prosthesis while the patient is wearing the scan prosthesis against soft tissue;

receiving a second set of medical imaging data representing the scan prosthesis;

processing the second set of medical imaging data to create a virtual three-dimensional model of the scan prosthesis;

processing the first and second sets of medical imaging data to create a virtual three-dimensional model of the hard tissue facial anatomy;

creating a modified hard tissue model by adding support structures to the virtual three-dimensional model of the hard tissue facial anatomy such that placing the virtual three-dimensional model of the scan prosthesis against the support structures results in a space between the modified hard tissue model and the virtual three-dimensional model of the scan prosthesis that is representative of the soft tissue; and

forming a solid modified hard tissue model by forming the modified hard tissue model in a solid material.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

forming a solid representation of the virtual three-dimensional model of the scan prosthesis;

applying a moldable material between the solid modified hard tissue model and the solid representation of the virtual three-dimensional model of the scan prosthesis; and

pressing the solid representation of the virtual three-dimensional model of the scan prosthesis onto the solid modified hard tissue model to form the moldable material into a shape of the soft tissue.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein forming the solid representation of the virtual three-dimensional model of the scan prosthesis comprises forming the solid representation of the virtual three-dimensional model of the scan prosthesis with a solid freeform fabrication process.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

applying a moldable material between the solid modified hard tissue model and the scan prosthesis; and

pressing the scan prosthesis onto the solid modified hard tissue model to form the moldable material into a shape of the soft tissue.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the scan prosthesis includes a fiducial marker, and wherein processing the first and second sets of medical imaging data to create the virtual three-dimensional model of the hard tissue facial anatomy comprises:

aligning the first set of medical imaging data with the second set of medical imaging data using the fiducial marker; and

subtracting the second set of medical imaging data from the first set of medical imaging data.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the fiducial marker is a radiographic marker.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein the scan prosthesis is a denture.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein forming the solid modified hard tissue model comprises forming the modified hard tissue model with a solid freeform fabrication process.

20. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first set of medical imaging data comprises computed tomography scan data.