Patent Description:
Various orthodontic methods are used to correct malocclusion. Malocclusion refers to an occlusion with an esthetic or functional problem when the teeth are not aligned or the occlusion between the upper and lower teeth is out of the normal range. In the case of malocclusion, in addition to aesthetic and functional problems, food debris is likely to remain between the teeth because the teeth are not evenly aligned, and thus, it is difficult to keep the teeth clean even with brushing. Accordingly, various dental or gum diseases may be caused due to malocclusion. Orthodontic treatment is to treat such malocclusion. Orthodontic treatment uses the movable property of teeth when subjected to continuous external force. Among the appliance for orthodontic treatment, the most used in these days includes brackets attached to the teeth and a wire connecting the brackets. This appliance corrects malocclusion by continuously moving the teeth using the pulling force of the wire connecting the brackets. However, since the bracket and the wire in this appliance are mounted on the teeth throughout a long treatment time, patients experience discomfort. In addition, since the bracket and the wire are visible to others, it is also a disadvantage in view of aesthetic.

In order to solve such drawbacks, an orthodontic method using a clear aligner has been proposed. The transparent orthodontic method using the clear aligner corrects the teeth by sequentially using the clear aligners corresponding to the teeth's arrangements that change in stages from the state of the teeth before orthodontic treatment to the state after orthodontic treatment. Since the clear aligner can be easily removed by the patient, there is relatively less discomfort compared to other devices, and since the clear aligner is made of transparent plastic, it has an advantage of having an excellent aesthetic property.

However, the method of orthodontic treatment using the removable clear aligner is often ineffective because in many cases, patients do not follow a doctor's instruction for the wearing time of the clear aligner. For example, if a doctor has instructed that the clear aligner be worn for <NUM> hours or more per day, the patient wears the clear aligner only for a shorter period, and thus, the orthodontic effect is reduced. <CIT> discloses an orthodontic appliance including a plurality of teeth receiving cavities shaped to reposition the patient's teeth from an initial arrangement towards a target arrangement, and one or more sensors configured to determine tooth movement (based on position and/or orientation) and/or forces applied to the teeth. <CIT> discloses systems, devices, and methods for tracking compliance of orthodontic appliance usage using a compliance device and/or a light therapy apparatus.

The object of the present invention is to provide a system capable of solving the problem of poor or delayed orthodontic results caused by the patient's non-compliance with a doctor's instruction for the wearing time of the clear aligner.

A transparent orthodontic appliance remote monitoring system according to one perspective of the present invention, comprises: a clear aligner worn on teeth for orthodontic treatment; a contact sensor module installed inside the clear aligner to detect wearing of the clear aligner on teeth through contact therewith; a user terminal that receives a signal from the contact sensor module and calculates a wearing time of the clear aligner from the received signal using an application, and a server computer for sharing information calculated in the user terminal to a clinic in charge, wherein the clear aligner has a tooth insertion groove into which the teeth are inserted, wherein a mounting groove for mounting the contact sensor module is formed on an inner surface of the tooth insertion groove , wherein the mounting groove is formed to correspond to the height of contour of a tooth of the teeth with no displacement or the least displacement between before and after the orthodontic treatment based on orthodontic treatment plan, wherein the clear aligner includes a first wall and a second wall facing each other to define the tooth insertion groove, and the mounting groove for mounting the contact sensor module is formed on the inner surface of the second wall, and characterized in that the clear aligner comprises a pinhole formed in the second wall to be connected to the mounting groove from the outside of the tooth insertion groove, and wherein the clear aligner further comprises a blocking member of soft resin material blocking the pinhole.

According to one embodiment, the contact sensor module includes a sensor detecting a mechanical stimulus and a flexible encapsulation unit molded to encapsulate the sensor with material having greater elasticity than that of the clear aligner , wherein the encapsulation unit is pressed against the teeth to deform the sensor , and the sensor detects wearing of the clear aligner by the deformation.

Furthermore, disclosed is a non-claimed method of applying the transparent orthodontic appliance remote monitoring system comprises: counting the wearing time of the clear aligner when the contact sensor module detects wearing of the clear aligner ; calculating a time for which the clear aligner is worn once when the clear aligner is separated from the mouth; calculating a daily wearing time of the clear aligner when a day has elapsed from a prestored setting time, and comparing the calculated actual daily wearing time of the clear aligner with a predetermined standard wearing time, and if the actual daily wearing time is less than the standard wearing time, generating an alarm and counting a wearing time of the clear aligner for the next day.

According to the present invention, it is possible to solve the problem of poor or delayed orthodontic results caused by the patient's non-compliance with a doctor's instruction for the wearing time of the clear aligner.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, so that one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains can easily implement them. The present invention may be embodied in several different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

In order to clearly explain the present invention, components or elements irrelevant to the present invention are omitted, and the same reference numbers are used to denote the same or similar components or elements throughout the specification.

In addition, in various embodiments, the same components or elements are denoted by using the same reference numbers and described only in the representative embodiment, and in other embodiments, only certain configurations that is different from those in the representative embodiment will be described.

Throughout the specification, when a part, component, or element is described to be "connected" to another part, component, or element, it includes not only configurations where they are "directly connected," but also where they are "indirectly connected" with another member interposed therebetween. In addition, when it is described that a part "includes" a certain component or element, this may mean that the part further includes other components or elements rather than excluding other components or elements unless otherwise stated.

<FIG> is a diagram for explaining a transparent orthodontic appliance remote monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. <FIG> is a cross-sectional view illustrating a clear aligner provided in the transparent orthodontic appliance remote monitoring system of <FIG>.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, a transparent orthodontic appliance remote monitoring system according to an embodiment comprises a clear aligner <NUM> worn on teeth for orthodontic treatment; a contact sensor module <NUM> installed inside the clear aligner <NUM> to detect wearing of the clear aligner <NUM> on teeth through contact therewith; a user terminal <NUM> that receives a signal from the contact sensor module <NUM> and calculates a wearing time of the clear aligner <NUM> based on the received signal using an application, and a server computer <NUM> for sharing information calculated in the user terminal <NUM> to a clinic in charge.

The clear aligner <NUM> is formed by molding a transparent resin material to include a shape corresponding to each of the teeth. The clear aligner <NUM> has a tooth insertion groove <NUM> into which the patient's upper or lower teeth are inserted. In addition, a mounting groove <NUM> for mounting the contact sensor module <NUM> is formed on the inner surface of the tooth insertion groove <NUM> of the clear aligner <NUM>. The mounting groove <NUM> is formed to correspond to the height of contour of a tooth that has no displacement or the least displacement between before and after orthodontic treatment based on orthodontic treatment plan. By installing the contact sensor module <NUM> to correspond to the tooth with little displacement between before and after orthodontic treatment, it is possible to solve the problem that the contact sensor module <NUM> cannot detect the teeth due to the displacement of the tooth being in contact with the contact sensor module <NUM>.

The contact sensor module <NUM> includes a sensor <NUM> detecting a mechanical stimulus and a flexible encapsulation unit <NUM> molded to encapsulate the sensor <NUM>. It is desired that the sensor <NUM> is a thin film sensor with minimal external change. In addition, the sensor <NUM> may include a wireless communication unit for wireless communication with the user terminal <NUM>. The wireless communication unit may use, for example, a method of a short-range wireless communication or a near-field communication (NFC). In addition, the sensor <NUM> may include a wirelessly rechargeable battery. The encapsulation unit <NUM> may be formed of a material, such as silicone material, that is softer and has greater viscosity and elasticity compared to the material of the clear aligner <NUM>. The encapsulation unit <NUM> has a front convex surface <NUM>, and other portions other than the front convex surface <NUM> are completely accommodated in the mounting groove <NUM>. When the patient's teeth are inserted into the tooth insertion groove <NUM> of the clear aligner <NUM>, the front convex surface <NUM> is pressed and retracted backward. Accordingly, the front convex surface <NUM> is deformed, and thus, the sensor <NUM> is pressed backward. The sensor <NUM> detects this pressing force and provides a signal indicating that the clear aligner <NUM> is mounted on the patient's teeth, to the user terminal <NUM>. As mentioned above, the mounting groove <NUM> is formed to correspond to the height of contour of the tooth that has no displacement or the least displacement between before and after orthodontic treatment based on orthodontic treatment plan. The contact sensor module <NUM> is inserted and installed in the mounting groove <NUM> and is pressed by the height of contour of the most stable tooth. More preferably, the mounting groove <NUM> is formed to correspond to the lingual side of the height of contour, and the contact sensor module <NUM> is arranged to contact the lingual side of the height of contour of the most stable tooth.

In this embodiment, the clear aligner <NUM> may be applied together with a lingual wire orthodontic appliance in which a bracket and an orthodontic wire are installed on the lingual side of the teeth. An orthodontic appliance including such wire orthodontic appliance and the clear aligner <NUM> is defined as a "Power Cligner. " When the power cligner is applied, since the wire orthodontic appliance is applied to the lingual side, it is advantageous to form a mounting groove to correspond to the tip of the tooth and to install the contact sensor module <NUM> in the mounting groove as shown in <FIG>.

It is desired that the user terminal <NUM> is a mobile communication terminal such as a smartphone or tablet PC. The user terminal <NUM> receives a signal from the contact sensor module <NUM> and calculates the patient's wearing time of the clear aligner <NUM>. The calculation of the wearing time includes a daily wearing time and a cumulative wearing time from the patient's visit to the clinic to the next visit.

The patient's wearing time of the clear aligner <NUM> is calculated and stored through the application of the user terminal <NUM> and transmitted to the computer <NUM> of the clinic. The doctor in the clinic compares a minimum wearing time, which is a standard cumulative wearing time, of the clear aligner <NUM> instructed by the doctor with an actual cumulative wearing time that the patient wears the clear aligner <NUM>. The doctor provides the information to the patient and utilizes the information for orthodontic treatment. In addition, the user terminal <NUM> compares an actual daily wearing time of the patient with a standard daily wearing time instructed by the doctor through the application, and when the actual daily wearing time is less than the standard daily wearing time, the user terminal <NUM> generates a visual or auditory alarm sound.

In addition, the user terminal <NUM> compares and shows the daily wearing time of the previous day and the standard daily wearing time instructed by the doctor on one screen through the display unit. In addition, the user terminal <NUM> compares the cumulative wearing time up to now with the standard cumulative wearing time through the display unit and displays it on one screen. The user terminal <NUM> shares the wearing time information, which is processed, stored, and displayed in the user terminal <NUM>, with the external computer <NUM> of the clinic. Accordingly, the external computer <NUM> displays the daily wearing time and the cumulative wearing time of the patient through a display unit. In this case, the standard daily wearing time and the standard cumulative wearing time instructed to the patient are also displayed.

The contact sensor module <NUM> and the user terminal <NUM> may exchange signals through wireless communication such as Bluetooth communication. Accordingly, sensor displacement information, information on whether the clear aligner <NUM> is worn, measured by the contact sensor module <NUM> is provided to the user terminal <NUM> in real time. The user terminal <NUM> calculates the daily wearing time and the cumulative wearing time of the clear aligner <NUM> based on the information provided by the contact sensor module <NUM>, and stores and displays the calculated information. The information is transmitted to the computer <NUM> of the clinic in a remote location.

A non-claimed method of applying the transparent orthodontic appliance remote monitoring system described above is as shown in <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG> together, while the contact sensor module <NUM> is in operation, when the clear aligner <NUM> is worn on the teeth, the contact sensor module <NUM> detects wearing of the clear aligner <NUM>, and the user terminal <NUM>, which can communicate with the contact sensor module <NUM> through wireless communication, counts the wearing time of the clear aligner <NUM>. When the patient separates the clear aligner <NUM> from the mouth, the user terminal <NUM> receives a signal from the contact sensor module <NUM> to determine the separation and calculates a time for which the patient wears the clear aligner <NUM> once. In this way, each time the patient puts on and separates the clear aligner <NUM>, the wearing time is calculated. In addition, the user terminal <NUM> determines whether a day has elapsed from a setting time prestored through the application. When a day has elapsed, the user terminal <NUM> calculates a daily wearing time of the clear aligner <NUM>, which is a total cumulative wearing time for which the patient has worn the clear aligner <NUM> during the day. The calculated actual wearing time of the clear aligner <NUM> is compared with the standard wearing time. When the actual daily wearing time is less than the standard daily wearing time, an alarm is generated, and the wearing time for the second day is counted with the alarm. In this case, the display unit of the user terminal <NUM> displays the comparison between the actual daily wearing time and the standard daily wearing time. On the other hand, if the actual daily wearing time day is equal to or greater than the standard daily wearing time, the wearing time for the second day is counted without generating an alarm. Alarms may be provided by periodically generating sounds and/or vibrations. In addition, in the next visit to the clinic, the user terminal <NUM> compares the actual total cumulative wearing time with the standard cumulative wearing time, and the comparison result is displayed through the monitor of the computer <NUM> in the clinic.

<FIG> is a drawing for explaining an example of a clear aligner and a contact sensor module, this example being according to the claimed invention.

Referring to <FIG>, a clear aligner <NUM> includes a first wall <NUM>, or an anterior wall, and a second wall <NUM>, or a posterior wall, facing each other to define a tooth insertion groove <NUM>. A mounting groove <NUM> for mounting a sensor module is formed on the inner surface of the second wall <NUM>.

The contact sensor module <NUM> includes a sensor <NUM> detecting a mechanical stimulus and a flexible encapsulation unit <NUM> molded to encapsulate the sensor <NUM>. It is desired that the sensor <NUM> is a thin film sensor with minimal external change. In addition, the sensor <NUM> may include a wireless communication unit for wireless communication with the user terminal <NUM>. The wireless communication unit may use, for example, a method of a short-range wireless communication or a near-field communication (NFC). In addition, the sensor <NUM> may include a wirelessly rechargeable battery. The encapsulation unit <NUM> may be formed of a material, such as silicone material, that is softer and has greater viscosity and elasticity compared to the material of the clear aligner <NUM>. The encapsulation unit <NUM> has a front convex surface <NUM>, and other portions other than the front convex surface <NUM> are completely accommodated in the mounting groove <NUM>. When the patient's teeth are inserted into the tooth insertion groove <NUM> of the clear aligner <NUM>, the front convex surface <NUM> is pressed and retracted backward. Accordingly, the front convex surface <NUM> is deformed, and thus, the sensor <NUM> is pressed backward. The sensor <NUM> detects this pressing force and provides a signal indicating that the clear aligner <NUM> is mounted on the patient's teeth, to the user terminal <NUM>. As mentioned above, the mounting groove <NUM> is formed to correspond to the height of contour of the tooth that has no displacement or the least displacement between before and after orthodontic treatment based on orthodontic treatment plan. The contact sensor module <NUM> is inserted and installed in the mounting groove <NUM> and is pressed by the height of contour of the most stable tooth.

Meanwhile, a pinhole <NUM> is formed in the second wall <NUM> of the clear aligner <NUM> to be connected to the mounting groove <NUM> from the outside of the tooth insertion groove <NUM>. The pinhole <NUM> is blocked by a blocking member <NUM> of soft resin material that is easily removed by inserting a pin. For replacement or wireless charging of the contact sensor module <NUM>, it is necessary to separate the contact sensor module <NUM> from the clear aligner <NUM>. In this case, by inserting a rigid pin capable of penetrating the blocking member <NUM> into the pinhole <NUM>, the blocking member <NUM> is penetrated and the pin is further advanced to push the contact sensor module <NUM> out of the mounting groove <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram for explaining a transparent orthodontic appliance remote monitoring system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in <FIG>, a transparent orthodontic appliance remote monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a clear aligner <NUM> worn on teeth for orthodontic treatment; a contact sensor module <NUM> installed inside the clear aligner <NUM> to detect wearing of the clear aligner <NUM> on teeth through contact therewith; a displacement measuring sensor module <NUM>' detecting displacement of a specific tooth among the teeth on which the clear aligner <NUM> is mounted; a user terminal <NUM> that receives a signal from the contact sensor module <NUM> and a signal from the displacement measuring sensor module <NUM>' and calculates a wearing time of the clear aligner <NUM> and displacement of the specific tooth based on the received signals using an application, and a server computer <NUM> for sharing information calculated in the user terminal <NUM> to a clinic in charge.

As described in the previous embodiment, the clear aligner <NUM> is formed to include a shape corresponding to the upper or lower teeth to be corrected. The clear aligner <NUM> is molded with a transparent resin material to include a shape corresponding to each of the teeth therein. The clear aligner <NUM> includes a tooth insertion groove into which the patient's upper or lower teeth are inserted. A first mounting groove and a second mounting groove are formed on the inner surface of the clear aligner <NUM>. The contact sensor module <NUM> is inserted and mounted in the first mounting groove, and the displacement measuring sensor module <NUM>' is inserted and mounted in the second mounting groove. The displacement measuring sensor module <NUM>' is installed at a position corresponding to a tooth that has the largest displacement between before and after orthodontic treatment. The user terminal <NUM> can calculate a tooth displacement amount per wearing time of the clear aligner <NUM> through the application.

Claim 1:
A transparent orthodontic appliance remote monitoring system comprising:
a clear aligner (<NUM>) configured to be worn on teeth for orthodontic treatment;
a contact sensor module (<NUM>) installed inside the clear aligner (<NUM>) to detect wearing of the clear aligner (<NUM>) on teeth through contact therewith;
a user terminal (<NUM>) that receives a signal from the contact sensor module (<NUM>) and calculates a wearing time of the clear aligner (<NUM>) from the received signal using an application, and
a server computer (<NUM>) for sharing information calculated in the user terminal (<NUM>) to a clinic in charge,
wherein the clear aligner (<NUM>) has a tooth insertion groove (<NUM>) into which the teeth are inserted,
wherein a mounting groove (<NUM>) for mounting the contact sensor module (<NUM>) is formed on an inner surface of the tooth insertion groove (<NUM>),
wherein the mounting groove (<NUM>) is formed to correspond to the height of contour of a tooth of the teeth with no displacement or the least displacement between before and after the orthodontic treatment based on orthodontic treatment plan,
wherein the clear aligner (<NUM>) includes a first wall (<NUM>) and a second wall (<NUM>) facing each other to define the tooth insertion groove (<NUM>), and the mounting groove (<NUM>) for mounting the contact sensor module (<NUM>) is formed on the inner surface of the second wall (<NUM>), and
characterized in that the clear aligner (<NUM>) comprises a pinhole (<NUM>) formed in the second wall (<NUM>) to be connected to the mounting groove (<NUM>) from the outside of the tooth insertion groove (<NUM>), and
wherein the clear aligner (<NUM>) further comprises a blocking member (<NUM>) of soft resin material blocking the pinhole (<NUM>).