System and method for imaging in laser dental treatment

1. An integrated device for both determining a contour of a dental treatment area and ablating at least a portion of the dental treatment area, the integrated device comprising:

a laser source for generating an ablation laser beam;

a laser beam guidance system for guiding, via a handpiece held by an operator, the ablation laser beam to the dental treatment area to ablate at least a portion of the dental treatment area;

an imaging system to obtain, via the handpiece held by the operator, an image of the dental treatment area based on light rays reflected therefrom;

a control system to perform operations comprising:

(a) generating a first contour of the dental treatment area based on a first image received at the imaging system;

(b) generating a second contour of the dental treatment area based on a second image received at the imaging system after ablation of at least a portion of the dental treatment area; and

(c) repeating steps (a) and (b) to generate additional contours until treatment is completed; and

a processor to generate a three dimensional (3D) model of portions of tissue removed from the dental treatment area using the generated contours.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the imaging system comprises an adjustable focus lens.

3. The device of claim 2 , further comprising at least one of a joystick and a foot pedal for adjusting a focal length of the adjustable focus lens.

4. The device of claim 2 , wherein the adjustable focus lens comprises at least one of a motorized lens stack and a liquid lens.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the control system is adapted for determining an in-focus portion of the image.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the control system is adapted for determining the first contour and the second contour based at least in part on a geometry of at least one of a component of the laser beam guidance system and the imaging system.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein both the ablation laser beam and the light rays reflected from the dental treatment area travel along a common optical axis.

8. The device of claim 7 , further comprising a splitter for directing the light rays reflected from the dental treatment area to the imaging system.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the imaging system is located within the handpiece.

10. The device of claim 1 , wherein the ablation laser beam is guided to the dental treatment area along a first axis and light rays reflected from the dental treatment area travel along a second axis that is at an angle with respect to the first axis.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an illumination system for providing light to the dental treatment area.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the illumination system is adapted for providing light having a pattern.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the pattern comprises at least one of a spot, a one-dimensional pattern, and a two-dimensional pattern.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the laser beam guidance system is adapted to scan the dental treatment area by directing light from the illumination system.

15. A method of determining a contour of a dental treatment area and ablating at least a portion of the dental treatment area, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving at an imaging system a first image based on a first set of light rays reflected from a dental treatment area and traveling via a handpiece;

(b) generating a first contour of the dental treatment area based on the first image;

(c) directing via the handpiece an ablation laser beam to the dental treatment area using a laser beam guidance system, to remove at least a portion of tissue from the dental treatment area;

(d) after removing at least a portion of tissue from the dental treatment area, receiving at the imaging system a second image based on a second set of light rays reflected from the dental treatment area and traveling via the handpiece;

(e) generating a second contour of the dental treatment area based on the second image;

(f) repeating steps (c) through (e) to generate additional contours until treatment is completed; and

(g) using the generated contours to generate a three dimensional (3D) model of portions of tissue removed from the dental treatment area.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein at least one of the first contour and the second contour is a two-dimensional (2D) contour.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein:

receiving the first image comprises adjusting a focal length associated with the imaging system; and

generating the first contour comprises determining an in-focus portion of the first image.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the focal length is adjusted using at least one of a joy stick and a foot pedal.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein both the ablation laser beam and the first and second sets of light rays reflected from the dental treatment area and received by the imaging system travel along a common optical axis.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein receiving the first image comprises scanning the dental treatment area according to a pattern of light obtained from an illumination system.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the ablation laser beam is guided to the dental treatment area along a first axis and the first and second sets of light rays reflected from the dental treatment area and received by the imaging system travel along a second axis that is at an angle with respect to the first axis.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein the pattern comprises at least one of a spot, a one-dimensional pattern, and a two-dimensional pattern.

23. The method of claim 20 , further comprising controlling the laser beam guidance system to scan the dental treatment area according to the pattern of light.

24. The method of claim 15 , further comprising creating a restoration using the 3D model.

25. The method of claim 24 , further comprising modifying the 3D model prior to creating the restoration.

26. The method of claim 24 , further comprising applying the restoration to the dental treatment area.