IP Library Granted Patent US 11,033,362
Granted Patent B2
US 11,033,362 · App. 16/741,624 · Granted Jun 15, 2021

Generating a dynamic three-dimensional occlusogram

Inventors: Vadim Matov (San Jose, CA); Jihua Cheng (San Jose, CA); Fuming Wu (Pleasanton, CA); Kenji Tan (Mountain House, CA)
Assignee: Align Technology, Inc.
A61C7/002G06F17/11G06F30/20G06T17/20G06T2210/12G06T2210/41
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,033,362
App. No.
16/741,624
Granted
Jun 15, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods and systems for generating a three-dimensional occlusogram are disclosed. One method includes determining a virtual three dimensional (3D) mesh model object of at least one tooth of a patient and displaying the determined virtual 3D mesh model object of at least one tooth of a patient wherein the 3D mesh model object includes a plurality of data sets associated with a set of occlusal information for the at least one tooth of the patient.

Claims (54)

1. A non-transitory computing device readable medium having executable instructions which can be executed by a processor to cause a computing device to perform a method, comprising:

obtaining a virtual three-dimensional (3D) model of an upper jaw and a lower jaw, the virtual 3D model including a surface grid constructed of polygons and grid nodes corresponding to points at which lines forming the polygons of the surface grid intersect;

determining a height of each of the grid nodes of a height map of a current tooth of the virtual 3D model;

determining an occlusal distance value of each of the grid nodes of the current tooth based on a space or a contact depth between the current tooth and one or more other teeth of the upper jaw or the lower jaw; and

constructing a virtual 3D occlusogram based on heights and occlusal distance values of the current tooth.

2. The medium of claim 1 , wherein determining the occlusal distance value of each of the grid nodes comprises:

initializing the occlusal distance value as a positive infinite quantity;

choosing a potential occlusion tooth;

determining a height of each of the grid nodes of a height map of the potential occlusion tooth, the height map of the potential occlusion tooth indicating one or more teeth determined to potentially interact with the potential occlusion tooth; and

determining the occlusal distance value based on a difference between a first height of a first grid node of the height map of the current tooth and a second height of a second grid node of the height map of the potential occlusion tooth.

3. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the method includes calculating the height map of the current tooth by calculating a two-dimensional (2D) array data structure that stores a vertical height of a crown surface of the current tooth.

4. The medium of claim 3 , wherein calculating the height map comprises:

scanning triangles from a list of polygon surfaces of the surface grid corresponding to the current tooth to determine height values for the current tooth; and

inputting the determined height values in the height map.

5. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the method includes calculating a distance field of the current tooth corresponding to a 3D grid with generators defined by a bounding box of the current tooth.

6. The medium of claim 5 , wherein the method further includes:

using the height map of the current tooth to determine occlusal distance values for posterior teeth; and

using the distance field of the current tooth to determine occlusal distance values for anterior teeth.

7. The medium of claim 5 , wherein calculating the distance field of the current tooth comprises:

initializing a closest distance component to a value of a height of a corresponding node of the 3D grid for all elements of a 3D array; and

scanning each polygon of the current tooth of the virtual 3D model.

8. The medium of claim 1 , wherein the method includes constructing a potential occlusal tooth list for each tooth on the upper jaw and the lower jaw.

9. The medium of claim 8 , wherein the potential occlusion tooth list for a particular tooth comprises a listing of other teeth other than the particular tooth that affect occlusion data of the particular tooth.

10. A method, comprising:

obtaining a virtual three-dimensional (3D) model of an upper jaw and a lower jaw, the virtual 3D model including a surface grid constructed of polygons and grid nodes corresponding to points at which lines forming the polygons of the surface grid intersect;

determining a height of each of the grid nodes of a height map of a current tooth of the virtual 3D model;

determining an occlusal distance value of each of the grid nodes of the current tooth based on a space or a contact depth between the current tooth and one or more other teeth of the upper jaw or the lower jaw; and

constructing a virtual 3D occlusogram based on heights and occlusal distance values of the current tooth.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the method includes calculating the height map of the current tooth by calculating a two-dimensional (2D) array data structure that stores a vertical height of a crown surface of the current tooth.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein calculating the height map comprises:

scanning triangles from a list of polygon surfaces of the surface grid corresponding to the current tooth to determine height values for the current tooth; and

inputting the determined height values in the height map.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the method includes calculating a distance field of the current tooth corresponding to a 3D grid with generators defined by a bounding box of the current tooth.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining the occlusal distance value of each of the grid nodes comprises:

initializing the occlusal distance value as a positive infinite quantity;

choosing a potential occlusion tooth;

determining a height of each of the grid nodes of a potential tooth height map, the potential tooth height map indicating one or more teeth determined to potentially interact with the potential occlusion tooth; and

determining the occlusal distance value based on a difference between a first height of a first grid node of the height map of the current tooth and a second height of a second grid node of the potential tooth height map.

15. A computing system, comprising:

a memory having executable instructions stored thereon; and

a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the instructions to:

obtain a virtual three-dimensional (3D) model of an upper jaw and a lower jaw, the virtual 3D model including a surface grid constructed of polygons and grid nodes corresponding to points at which lines forming the polygons of the surface grid intersect;

determine a height of each of the grid nodes of a height map of a current tooth of the virtual 3D model;

determine an occlusal distance values of each of the grid nodes of the current tooth based on a space or a contact depth between the current tooth and one or more other teeth of the upper jaw or the lower jaw; and

construct a virtual 3D occlusogram based on heights and occlusal distance values of the current tooth.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are executable to calculate a distance field of the current tooth corresponding to a 3D grid with generators defined by a bounding box of the current tooth.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are executable to:

use the height map of the current tooth to determine occlusal distance values for posterior teeth; and

use the distance field of the current tooth to determine occlusal distance values for anterior teeth.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein calculating the distance field of the current tooth comprises:

initializing a closest distance component to a value of a height of a corresponding node of the 3D grid for all elements of a 3D array; and

scanning each polygon of the current tooth of the virtual 3D model.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the instructions are executable to construct a potential occlusal tooth list for each tooth on the upper jaw and the lower jaw.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the potential occlusion tooth list for a particular tooth comprises a listing of other teeth other than the particular tooth that affect occlusion data of the particular tooth.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 8, 2020
From: MATOV, VADIM; CHENG, JIHUA; WU, FUMING; TAN, KENJI
To: ALIGN TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Reel/Frame 054013/0191 →
Continuity (4)
Continuation 15392729 · Dec 28, 2016
Continuation 14084407 · Nov 19, 2013
Continuation In Part 12610663 · Nov 2, 2009
Related Publication 20200146776A1 · May 14, 2020