Using immersive photographs to guide placement of orthodontic brackets, and applications thereof

Abstract

In an embodiment, an input indicating a location selected by a health care professional on an image rendered with respect to a viewport mapped onto an immersive photographic model of a patient's mouth to indicate a position to place an orthodontic bracket on a patient's tooth is received. A ray is extended from a focal point of the viewport at a direction determined based on the input. An intersection of the ray in a three-dimensional space is determined. The intersection indicates a position to place the orthodontic bracket on the patient's tooth.

1 .- 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . A system for positioning orthodontic brackets, comprising:
 a processor;   an image viewer module configured to receive an input indicating a location selected by a health care professional on an image to indicate a position to place an orthodontic bracket on a patient's tooth, wherein the image is rendered to a viewport mapped onto an immersive photographic model; and   a bracket positioner module, implemented on the processor, configured to: (i) extend a ray from a focal point of the viewport at a direction determined based on the input and (ii) determine an intersection of the ray in a three-dimensional space, the intersection indicating the position to place the orthodontic bracket on the patient's tooth.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the image viewer module is configured to superimpose a mark onto the immersive view photographic model to illustrate to the health care professional the location selected for placement of the orthodontic bracket on the patient's tooth. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , further comprising a bracket renderer module, wherein said mark is a three-dimensional model of the orthodontic bracket, wherein the bracket renderer module is configured to render an image with respect to the viewport of the immersive view photographic model superimposed with the three-dimensional model of the orthodontic bracket. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the bracket positioner module is configured to position the three-dimensional model of the orthodontic bracket for a spacer between the three-dimensional model of the orthodontic bracket and the perceived position of the patient's tooth. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the bracket renderer module is configured to render the spacer for display. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 19 , further comprising a bracket selector module configured to select the orthodontic bracket from a plurality of different types of orthodontic brackets, each type of orthodontic bracket designed for a different tooth anatomy or designed to achieve a different desired orthodontic goal. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the bracket positioner module is configured to scale the mark to fit the dimensions of the patient's tooth based on dental measurements. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein said dental measurements are determined by one or more of the following:
 (i) analyzing an image that includes a measurement reading from a measurement tool;   (ii) analyzing a size of the overlapping portions of images captured by nearby image sensors; and   (iii) calculating the three-dimensional distance between the intersection and another intersection determined from another ray extended from another focal point of another viewport, the other ray directed based on another input.   
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 a placement guide module configured to, when the health care professional is placing the orthodontic bracket, superimpose a marking indicating the position determined by the bracket positioner module on an image of the patient's tooth to guide the health care professional in placing the orthodontic bracket on the patient's tooth.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24 , further comprising:
 a video capture module configured to capture video of the patient's tooth, the video including the image used to superimpose the marking.   
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein the placement guide module, when the health care professional is placing the orthodontic bracket, selects a viewport mapped onto the immersive photographic model of the patient's mouth corresponding to a perspective chosen by the health care professional, and renders to the viewport the image of the patient's tooth superimposing the marking. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 a capture module configured to, once the health care professional has placed the orthodontic bracket on the patient's tooth, capture an assessment image of the patient's tooth;   an assessment module configured to: (i) determine where, in the assessment image, the orthodontic bracket is located, (ii) compare the orthodontic bracket's determined location to the position to place the orthodontic bracket on the patient's tooth determined by the bracket positioner module, and (iii) when the orthodontic bracket's determined location is determined not to correspond to the position determined by the bracket positioner module, send a message to alert the health care professional.   
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 17 , further comprising a replacement module configured to, after the orthodontic bracket has become detached and the patient's tooth has moved, determine a shift for selecting a perspective for rendering the viewport to compensate for the tooth movement so that the position of the marking corresponds to the position of the patient's tooth, to place the orthodontic bracket such that the orthodontic bracket is replaced in a similar location with respect to the patient's tooth. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 a server configured to receive: (i) a plurality of photographs of the interior of a patient's mouth, (ii) associated position information for respective photographs of the plurality of photographs and (iii) for the respective photographs, illumination information indicating a direction of light projected into an image sensor's field of view when the respective photograph was taken; and   a dental impression generator configured to, for the respective photographs, determine where in the respective photograph a shadow for an object appearing in the image sensor's field of view is located, and based on the illumination information for the respective photograph and where the shadow is determined to be located, determine a three-dimensional model of the interior of the patient's mouth,   wherein bracket positioner module is configured to determine the intersection of the ray and the three-dimensional model of the interior of the patient's mouth.   
     
     
         30 . (canceled)