METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VERIFYING COMPLIANCE WITH DENTAL APPLIANCE THERAPY
A method and an apparatus for verifying compliance with a dental appliance therapy for a human patient is described. At least one parameter of a dental appliance worn by the human patient is periodically measured and compliance with the dental appliance therapy is determined by performing a spectral analysis of the measured parameter.
1 . (canceled)
2 . (canceled)
3 . (canceled)
4 . (canceled)
5 . (canceled)
6 . (canceled)
7 . (canceled)
8 . (canceled)
9 . (canceled)
10 . (canceled)
11 . (canceled)
12 . (canceled)
13 . (canceled)
14 . A dental appliance therapy compliance monitoring apparatus for use with a compliance verification processor, the apparatus comprising:
a battery to power the apparatus;
a temperature sensor to measure an ambient temperature of the apparatus;
a spatial orientation sensor to measure a spatial orientation of the apparatus;
a processor configured to control the temperature sensor and the spatial orientation sensor to periodically measure the ambient temperature and the spatial orientation to obtain a time-domain series of ambient temperature measurements and a time-domain series of spatial orientation measurements, respectively;
a memory operatively coupled to the processor to record the time-domain series of ambient temperature measurements and the time-domain series of spatial orientation measurements; and
a communication module operatively coupled to the processor to communicate the recorded time-domain series of ambient temperature measurements and the recorded time-domain series of spatial orientation measurements to the compliance verification processor for determining compliance with a dental appliance therapy.
15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the temperature sensor is a thermistor.
16 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the spatial orientation sensor is an accelerometer.
17 . The apparatus of claim 14 , further comprising:
a clock to provide an on/off signal to a power switch, the power switch being operatively coupled to the clock and the processor and configured to periodically toggle the processor between an on-state and an off-state based on the on/off signal; and
the processor configured to control the temperature sensor and the spatial orientation sensor during the on-state.
18 . (canceled)
19 . (canceled)
20 . (canceled)
21 . (canceled)
22 . (canceled)
23 . (canceled)
24 . (canceled)
25 . (canceled)
26 . (canceled)
27 . (canceled)
28 . (canceled)
29 . (canceled)
30 . (canceled)
31 . (canceled)
32 . (canceled)
33 . (canceled)
34 . (canceled)
35 . (canceled)
36 . (canceled)