Patent ID: 9036881
Filing Date: 2015-05-19
Classification: A61B,G06T

Abstract:
1. A system for removing artifacts caused by x-ray reflective materials from an x-ray image of a patient's teeth, the system comprising: an x-ray source; an x-ray detector that captures x-ray images; a surface scanner that captures a surface scan of the patient's teeth; and an image processor that constructs a three-dimensional CT model of the patient's teeth from the x-ray images and a three-dimensional surface model of the patient's teeth from the surface scan, the image processor resizing and orienting at least one of the surface model and the CT model so that the surface model and the CT model are of a same scale and orientation, overlaying the surface model on the CT model, detecting data points in the combined data set that extend beyond a surface of the patient's teeth in the surface model, wherein the detected data points represent artifacts in the CT model, removing the detected data points from the CT model by interpolation of the detected data points to create an artifact-reduced CT model, and displaying the artifact-reduced CT model.