Patent ID: 7573583

Claim:
An intra-oral laser digitizer system comprising: a first light source having collimating optics configured to generate a collimated beam of light; a scanner optically coupled to the first light source and configured to scan the collimated beam along at least two axes to generate a pattern; an optics relay coupled to the scanner and configured to relay the pattern towards a remote object to be imaged; an image optics system having an optical axis configured to detect a reflection of the pattern from the remote object at an angle θ with respect to the optics relay and to generate data representative of a surface of the object based on the reflection of the pattern, wherein the image optics system comprises an image sensor, a reflecting surface configured to capture a reflection of the pattern, and an optics relay coupled to the reflecting surface and configured to relay the reflection of the pattern from the reflecting surface to the image sensor; a processor coupled to the scanner and the image optics system configured to generate a three-dimensional image of the object based on the data; and a second light source located adjacent the optical axis to provide a background light.