Patent ID: 9111372
Filing Date: 2015-08-18
Classification: A61B,G06K,G06T

Abstract:
1. A method for visualizing a dental image, comprising: providing a database having a plurality of data fields related to location for a plurality of teeth, a plurality of locations for each section of tooth, a plurality of standard shapes associated with the teeth, a plurality of standard shapes associated with each of the sections of tooth, and a plurality of bone density data for each section of tooth; receiving a plurality of high resolution 3-D dental data associated with a patient's mouth that is generated using computed tomography; converting the high resolution dental data into an image comprised of a plurality of cubic voxels; identifying a location for each cubic voxel; identifying a degree of attenuation for each voxel with a standard having a particular density that is associated with a bone density for a tooth, wherein the degree of attenuation is associated with reducing an amplitude and an intensity that corresponds to each voxel; combining voxels having a common bone density; determining an initial shape of the combined voxels; associating the initial shape of combined voxels with at least one of a plurality of common bone densities by associating the degree of attenuation of the standard having the particular density; generating a plurality of tooth objects selected from the group consisting of an enamel object, a dentin object, a pulp object, a root object, and a nerve object, wherein each tooth object is generated based on combining voxels having the common bone density and the initial shape of the combined voxels; determining a boundary for each tooth object based on the initial shape of the combined voxels; comparing the initial shape of the combined voxels and each tooth object boundary to a shape in the database and to the tooth bone density to confirm identification of each tooth object; tagging each of the tooth objects to identify the corresponding tooth object; providing at least one threshold to detect at least one problem tooth; identifying the at least one problem tooth associated with a tagged tooth object, in which the tagged tooth object is compared to the one or more thresholds in the database; detecting the at least one problem tooth; mathematically modeling growth of the at least one tooth object or bone decay for the tooth object; and determining the effect the problem tooth has on surrounding tooth objects.