Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US10143541B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 14:35:52
Document Index: 389918799

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 60', 'art 510', 'art 520', 'art 510', 'arts 510', 'arts 510', 'art.\n3', 'Application No. 06766123']

US10143541B2 - Method for manipulating a dental virtual model, method for creating physical entities based on a dental virtual model thus manipulated, and dental models thus created - Google Patents
US10143541B2
US10143541B2 US15/388,580 US201615388580A US10143541B2 US 10143541 B2 US10143541 B2 US 10143541B2 US 201615388580 A US201615388580 A US 201615388580A US 10143541 B2 US10143541 B2 US 10143541B2
US15/388,580
US20170100220A1 (en
2016-12-22 Priority to US15/388,580 priority patent/US10143541B2/en
2016-12-22 Application filed by Align Technology Inc filed Critical Align Technology Inc
2017-04-13 Publication of US20170100220A1 publication Critical patent/US20170100220A1/en
2018-12-04 Publication of US10143541B2 publication Critical patent/US10143541B2/en
2018-12-11 First worldwide family litigation filed litigation Critical https://patents.darts-ip.com/?family=37662029&utm_source=google_patent&utm_medium=platform_link&utm_campaign=public_patent_search&patent=US10143541(B2) "Global patent litigation dataset” by Darts-ip is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/882,312, filed Oct. 13, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,549,794, issued Jan. 24, 2017, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/324,784, filed Jul. 7, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,186,228, issued Nov. 17, 2015, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/716,008, filed Dec. 14, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,805,563, issued Aug. 12, 2014, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/227,435, filed Sep. 7, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,359,115, issued Jan. 22, 2013, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/654,762, filed Dec. 31, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,041,439, issued Oct. 18, 2011, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/222,287, filed Aug. 6, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,734,368, issued Jun. 8, 2010, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/349,124, filed Feb. 8, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,555,403, issued Jun. 30, 2009, which claims the benefit of prior U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/699,499, filed Jul. 15, 2005, the contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
(b) preparing computer instructions for controlling operation of a computer controlled manufacturing machine for creating physical models corresponding to said trimmed first and second virtual model parts respectively including said virtual model base and said virtual model well; and (c) executing said computer instructions on said computer controlled manufacturing machine and creating a set of physical models comprising a trimmed first physical model part and a trimmed second physical model part corresponding to said trimmed first and second virtual model parts respectively including said virtual model base and said virtual model well.
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, in step 120 the virtual model 500 is manipulated by means of a suitable computer in order to separate a first part 510 of the virtual model representing the dental site 250, in particular the hard tissues thereof, from a second part 520 of the virtual model, typically the remainder of the model 500, and including at least the data representing the soft tissues and possibly foreign matter such as retraction wires, etc, that surround the first part 510. Thus, this step isolates the surface data corresponding to the parts of the emerging profile M, the portion 51 of finish line S and preparation P that are not obscured by soft tissue or foreign objects including, for example, saliva, blood, lubrication fluid, debris and so on. This step may be performed manually with a computer, typically interactively, by a user, by means of suitable graphics software, for example, that display model 500, and an interface such as a mouse, keyboard, and so on, for example. The user may visually identify a demarcation profile D (FIGS. 4 and 5) that separates model parts 510 and 520, and for this purpose the model 500 as displayed may be manipulated and viewed at any attitude, rotational angle, magnification etc. as desired. Suitable software for manipulating a virtual model in this manner are well known in the art and will not be described further herein. Then, the user virtually marks a number of points on the displayed model 500 which are converted by the computer into corresponding 3-dimensional coordinates of the demarcation profile, and suitable interpolation between points completes the definition of the demarcation profile D. Then, the computer can divide the model 500 along profile D into model parts 510 and 520.
1. A method for manufacturing a physical dental model, the method comprising:
receiving, at a computer, a virtual model of a dental site comprising dental surfaces, wherein a portion of the dental site is obscured by a material,
manipulating, with the computer, the virtual model to create an auxiliary virtual model that includes a virtual representation of the portion of the dental site in which the portion is not obscured by the material; and
outputting, by the computer, instructions to a manufacturing machine for creating a physical dental model of the dental site, wherein the physical dental model comprises a representation corresponding to the virtual representation of the portion of the dental site in which the portion is not obscured by the material.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the manipulating step comprises separating the virtual model into a first virtual model part representing a tooth preparation and a second virtual model part representing soft tissues proximate the tooth preparation of the first virtual model part.
3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the second virtual model part comprises an obscured portion of a finish line.
4. A method according to claim 2, wherein the manipulating step further comprises:
5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the portion of the dental site obscured by the material comprises a finish line of a tooth preparation and an emerging tooth profile obscured with a gum, and wherein the representation of the portion corresponds to an extrapolated gum line, an extrapolated emerging tooth profile, and an extrapolated finish line.
6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the representation not obscured by the material corresponds to trimming of the material away from the dental site.
7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the dental site comprises a dental site of a patient, and wherein the dental site obscured by the material comprises a finish line of a tooth preparation and an emerging tooth profile obscured with a gum, and wherein the representation comprises a gum line having a shape corresponding to trimming of the gum, a representation of the emerging tooth profile and a representation of the finish line.
8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the representation of the portion not obscured by the material corresponds to extrapolated interpolated data of a finish line of a tooth preparation.
9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the representation of the portion not obscured by the material comprises a representation of a finish line not visible to an optical scanner.
10. A method according to claim 1, further comprising manufacturing the physical dental model with a computer controlled manufacturing machine according to the instructions.
11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the physical dental model further comprises:
12. A method according to claim 11, wherein the base comprises a perimeter corresponding to a finish line or demarcation line of the representation.
13. A method according to claim 10, wherein said manufacturing the physical dental model comprises carrying out a material removal operation on at least one material blank to create the physical dental model.
14. A method according to claim 13, wherein the material removal operation comprises CNC machining of at least one material blank.
15. A method according to claim 10, wherein said manufacturing the physical dental model comprises rapid prototyping.
US15/388,580 2005-07-15 2016-12-22 Method for manipulating a dental virtual model, method for creating physical entities based on a dental virtual model thus manipulated, and dental models thus created Active 2026-03-22 US10143541B2 (en)
US14/882,312 Continuation US9549794B2 (en) 2005-07-15 2015-10-13 Method for manipulating a dental virtual model, method for creating physical entities based on a dental virtual model thus manipulated, and dental models thus created
US20170100220A1 US20170100220A1 (en) 2017-04-13
US10143541B2 true US10143541B2 (en) 2018-12-04
European search report dated Jun. 15, 2015 for EP Application No. 06766123.1.
Futterling et a/., "Automated Finite Element Modeling of a Human Mandible with Dental Implants," JS WSCG '98 -Conference Program, retrieved from the Internet< http://wscg.zcu.cz/wscg98/papers98/Strasser 98.pdf>, 8 pages.
Futterling et a/., "Automated Finite Element Modeling of a Human Mandible with Dental Implants," JS WSCG '98 —Conference Program, retrieved from the Internet< http://wscg.zcu.cz/wscg98/papers98/Strasser 98.pdf>, 8 pages.
Nash, "CAREC CAD/CAM Inlays: Aesthetics and Durability in a Single Appointment," Dent. Today, 9(8):20, 22-23 (Oct. 1990).
US9549794B2 (en) 2017-01-24