Patent ID: 8430563

Claim:
A fluoroscopic imaging method performed during a dental procedure for providing real-time video display of the dental procedure, comprising the steps of: (a) causing a beam of electromagnetic radiation to travel, (1) from an emitter, (2) through an area in which the dental procedure is being performed on a patient, (3) to a flat panel detector; (b) within the flat panel detector, performing the steps of, (1) generating digital data representative of digital images based on the electromagnetic radiation of the beam that is received by the flat panel detector, and (2) transmitting the digital data representative of digital images from the flat panel detector; and (c) at a computer, performing the steps of, (1) receiving the digital data representative of digital images transmitted from the flat panel detector, and (2) processing the digital data representative of digital images transmitted from the flat panel detector for display of digital images in the form of real-time video of the dental procedure; (d) using the processed data of said step (c)(2), displaying the real-time video of the dental procedure to a person at the location of the digital procedure; (e) wherein during said steps (a) through (d) the emitter and the flat panel detector do not concurrently rotate about the area in which the dental procedure is being performed; (f) wherein said steps (a) through (d) are performed such that the real-time video has a video frame rate of between 1 and 100 images per second; and (g) wherein the emitter is operated at voltage peaks within the range from 35 to 95 kVp and at current peaks between 0.0001 to 10 mA, and provides a beam with a continuous rate from 1 to 50 ms or with a pulse width range from 1 to 100 pulses/second, whereby low dose electromagnetic radiation is emitted during performance of said step (a).