Granted Patent B2

US 7,545,909 · App. 11/437,526 · Granted Jun 9, 2009

Assignee: Imaging Sciences International LLC

Abstract

Claims (61)

1. A method of generating a view of a jaw, the method comprising:

obtaining a tomographic dataset of a volume including at least part of the jaw;

identifying, in the tomographic dataset, inner and outer surfaces of the jaw without requiring input from a human operator;

selecting data for a region with boundaries related to the identified inner and outer surfaces;

generating from the selected data a panoramic image in which one element of the panoramic image represents a generally radial line through the slice parallel to a predetermined plane; and

displaying the panoramic image,

wherein the selected data from which the panoramic image is generated are the data for a region between the inner and outer generated surfaces excluding data in layers along the inner and outer surfaces, and

the thickness of the excluded layers along the inner and outer surfaces is a constant proportion of the distance between the identified inner and outer surfaces, measured along generally radial lines.

2. A method of generating a view of a jaw, the method of comprising:

obtaining a tomographic dataset of a volume including at least part of the jaw;

identifying, in the tomographic dataset, inner and outer surfaces of the jaw without requiring input from a human operator;

selecting data from a region with boundaries related to the identified inner and outer surfaces;

generating from the selected data a panoramic view in which one element of the panoramic view represents a generally radial line through the slice parallel to a predetermined plane; and

displaying the panoramic view, wherein the inner and outer surfaces are identified by: selecting rays generally radially of the jaw; locating crossing points where the rays cross the boundaries of the jaw; and determining the position of the jaw from the positions of the located crossing points.

3. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the selected data from which the panoramic view is generated are the data for the region bounded by the identified inner and outer surfaces.

4. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the inner and outer surfaces are identified by segmentation.

5. A method according to claim 2 , wherein the dataset comprises data representing a density of the material in the volume, and the inner and outer surfaces are identified by recognizing changes in density at boundaries between the jaw and surrounding soft tissue.

6. A method according to claim 5 , wherein the dataset comprises x-ray absorption data.

7. A method according to claim 2 , further comprising carrying out the identifying, selecting, and generating in a computer, and carrying out the displaying on a display unit under control of the computer.

8. A method according to claim 2 , wherein obtaining the tomographic dataset further comprises scanning at least a part of the jaw of a human or animal using a tomographic scanner.

9. A computer program product generating a view of a jaw from a tomographic dataset of a volume including at least part of the jaw, comprising a machine-readable medium containing instructions to cause a computer to:

identify, in the tomographic dataset, inner and outer surfaces of the jaw without requiring input from a human operator;

select data for a region with boundaries related to the identified inner and outer surfaces;

generate from the selected data a panoramic image in which one element of the image represents a generally radial line through the slice parallel to predetermined plane; and

to exclude layers along the inner and outer surfaces having a thickness that is a constant proportion of the distance between the identified inner and outer surfaces, measured along generally radial lines.

10. A computer program product for generating a view of a jaw from a tomographic dataset of a volume including at least part of the jaw, comprising a machine-readable medium containing instructions to cause a computer to:

identify, the tomographic dataset, inner and outer surfaces of the jaw without requiring input from a human operator;

select data for a region with boundaries related to the identified inner and outer surfaces;

generate from the selected data a panoramic view in which one element of the image represents generally radial line through the slice parallel to a predetermined plane; and

identify the inner and outer surfaces at least in part by: selecting rays generally radially of the jaw; locating crossing points where the rays cross the boundaries of the jaw; and determining the position of the jaw from the positions of the located crossing points.

11. A computer program according to claim 10 , further comprising instructions to cause a computer to generate the panoramic view from the data for the region bounded by the identified inner and outer surfaces.

12. A computer program according to claim 10 , further comprising instructions to cause a computer to generate the panoramic view from the data for a region between the inner and outer generated surfaces excluding data in layers along the inner and outer surfaces.

13. A computer program according to claim 10 , further comprising instructions to cause a computer to identify the inner and outer surfaces at least in part by segmentation.

14. A computer program product according to claim 10 , further comprising instructions to cause a computer to identify the inner and outer surfaces at least in part by recognizing abrupt changes in a data value at boundaries between the jaw and surrounding soft tissue.

15. A computer program product according to claim 10 , further comprising instructions to display the generated panoramic view on display unit.

16. Apparatus for generating a view of a jaw, the apparatus comprising;

a tomographic scanner, and

a computer arranged to generate a dataset from data generated by the scanner so as to represent an object scanned by the scanner, the computer executing instructions to

obtain a tomographic dataset of a volume including at least part of the jaw;

identify in the tomographic dataset inner and outer surfaces of the jaw without requiring input from a human operator;

select data for a region with boundaries related to the identified inner and outer surfaces;

generate from the selected data a panoramic image in which one element of the image represents a generally radial line through the slice parallel to a predetermined plane; and

display the panoramic view,

wherein the selected data from which the panoramic image is generated are the data for a region between the inner and outer generated surfaces excluding data in layers along the inner and outer surfaces, and the thickness of the excluded layers along the inner and outer surfaces is a constant proportion of the distance between the identified inner and outer surfaces, measured along the generally radial lines.

17. Apparatus for generating a view of a jaw, the apparatus comprising;

a tomographic scanner, and

a computer arranged to generate a dataset from data generated by the scanner so as to represent an object scanned by the scanner, the computer executing instructions to

obtain a tomographic dataset of a volume including at least part of the jaw;

identify in the tomographic dataset inner and outer surfaces of the jaw without requiring input from a human operator;

select data for a region with boundaries related to the identified inner and outer surfaces;

generate from the selected data a panoramic image in which one element of the image represents a generally radial line through the slice parallel to a predetermined plane; and

display the panoramic view,

wherein the inner and outer surfaces are identified by:

selecting rays generally radially of the jaw;

locating crossing points where the rays cross the boundaries of the jaw; and

determining the position of the jaw from the positions of the located crossing points.

18. Apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the selected data from which the panoramic view is generated are the data for the region bounded by the identified inner and outer surfaces.

19. Apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the inner and outer surfaces are identified by segmentation.

20. Apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the dataset comprises data representing a density of the material in the volume, and the inner and outer surfaces are identified by recognizing changes in density at boundaries between the jaw and surrounding soft tissue.

21. Apparatus according to claim 20 , wherein the dataset comprises x-ray absorption data.

22. Apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein obtaining the tomographic dataset further comprises scanning at least a part of the jaw of a human or animal using said tomographic scanner.

Assignments (8)

Continuity (2)