| US 7,362,890 B2 | ||
| Registration of 3-D imaging of 3-D objects | ||
| Ronald S. Scharlack, Brookline, Mass. (US); Bethany Grant, Scituate, Mass. (US); and Alexander Yarmarkovich, Swampscott, Mass. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Astra Tech Inc., Waltham, Mass. (US) | ||
| Filed on Jul. 18, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/184,396. | ||
| Application 11/184396 is a continuation in part of application No. 10/154717, filed on May 24, 2002, granted, now 6,925,198. | ||
| Claims priority of provisional application 60/293299, filed on May 24, 2001. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2006/0072810 A1, Apr. 06, 2006 | ||
| Int. Cl. G06K 9/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 382—128 | 14 Claims |
| 1. A method for constructing a 3-D model incorporating and aligning 3-D scan image data of a maxillar dental arch and of an
opposing mandibular dental arch, said method comprising:
(a) disposing a number of recognition features adjacent the surfaces of each of the maxillar and mandibular dental arches
sufficient to permit determination of the respective positions and orientations of those dental arches thereby associating
recognition features with each of said dental arches;
(b) individually 3-dimensionally scanning said arches to obtain 3-D image data encompassing and representing topographical
features of said dental arches and to capture the recognition features associated with each of said dental arches;
(c) placing said maxillar dental arch and said mandibular dental arch in an occlusal relationship and 3-dimensionally scanning
said dental arches to obtain 3-D image data encompassing, for each of said arches, the recognition features also captured
in said individual scans and associated with each of said dental arches; and
(d) processing said 3-D image data and constructing a 3-D model wherein a corresponding maxillar dental arch representation
is accurately aligned with a corresponding mandibular dental arch representation.
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