Align Technology, Inc.

Other

Andrew Jang

Jun Sato

Reza Shirazi Aghjari

Allen R Boronkay

Yuxiang Wang

Avi Kopelman

Eric E Kuo

Chunhua Li

Jihua Cheng

Yaser Shanjani

Bastien Pesenti

Rohit Tanugula

Luyao Cai

Vladimir Shelbakh

Kangning Su

John Y Morton

Bruce Cam

Andrey Cherkas

Anna Akopova

Viktoria Medvinskaya

Arno Kukk

Michael Christopher Cole

Pavel Pokotilov

Huizhong Li

Nai-Yuan Nicholas Chang

A system comprises an image capture device, a processing device, and a display. The image capture device captures a stream of images of a face of a person showing a current dentition of the person and soft facial tissues of the person. The processing device processes the stream of images to generate a modified stream of images showing a modified dentition of the person and modified soft facial tissues of the person associated with the modified dentition. The display displays the modified stream of images.

Synthetic video generation showing modified face

An imaging system is described. The imaging system accesses first imaging data of a specimen using a first sensor device. The first imaging data comprising volumetric data. The imaging system accesses second imaging data of the specimen using a second sensor device. The second imaging data comprising surface data. The imaging system registers a common anatomical region of the specimen in the first imaging data and the second imaging data and generates a composite image based on the registered common anatomical region. The composite image indicates the volumetric data and the surface data of the specimen.

Dental imaging mixed reality system

Methods and systems for imaging removable dental appliances. Image data taken while a removable dental appliance was worn on a patient's teeth may be used to identify one or more locations of undesirable contact between the removable dental appliance and the patient's teeth and/or one or more attachments on the patient's teeth. The one or more locations of undesirable contact can correlate with undesirable tooth movement compared to expected tooth movement according to a treatment plan. A three-dimensional (3D) model of the removable dental appliance and the patient's teeth may be displayed on a user interface, with the identified one or more locations of undesirable contact highlighted in the 3D model. An alert of the identified one or more locations of undesirable contact may be emitted via the user interface.

Methods and systems for imaging removable dental appliances

Methods for designing orthodontic appliances are provided. In some embodiments, a method includes receiving a treatment plan for a patient's dentition and generating an aligner model representing an aligner configured to implement a treatment stage of the treatment plan. The aligner model can include a thickness map having a thickness parameter for each location of the aligner model. The method can include adjusting the thickness map by using the aligner model to evaluate an outcome when the aligner is applied to the patient's dentition, and iteratively reducing the value of each thickness parameter of the thickness map based on the evaluation until a resulting thickness is determined for each thickness parameter. The method can also include providing instructions to manufacture the aligner based on the aligner model with the resulting thickness for each thickness parameter of the thickness map.

Methods for aligner design using thickness maps

A processing device receives a pre-treatment model of upper and lower dental arches of a person, the pre-treatment model comprising first positions of teeth, and further receives a post-treatment model of the upper and lower dental arches, the post-treatment model comprising second positions of the teeth. The processing device determines a first mapping between first positions of first landmarks in the pre-treatment model and second positions of the first landmarks in the post-treatment model, and receives an image of a face of the person, comprising at least the teeth and soft facial tissues. The processing device generates a second mapping between the first landmarks and second landmarks associated with the soft facial tissues from the image, and generates a facial model comprising the first mapping and the second mapping, wherein the facial model generates post-treatment images of the teeth and the soft facial tissues based on pre-treatment images.

Facial model for generation of post-treatment images of teeth and soft facial tissues

According to the techniques herein, one or more sensors coupled to an aligner are used to sense one or more physical qualities of the aligner to determine whether the physical qualities indicate that the aligner material has relaxed and has, e.g., reduced the force systems applied to teeth and/or that the teeth movement for the stage has slowed down. The sensors may provide a signal that represents whether or not the physical qualities fall below a threshold value. A treatment plan may be modified if needed. These techniques have the potential to make treatment plans faster and more effective by speeding up some stages while making sure some, perhaps other, stages are implemented only after the teeth are near the appropriate position.

Customized aligner change indicator

Methods and systems for producing orthodontic appliances are provided herein utilizing iterative modeling techniques to increase the efficiency and efficacy of said appliances. Further disclosed herein are the orthodontic appliances fabricated from such methods.

Automatic aligner design with robust parametric optimization method

Embodiments relate to an aligner breakage solution that tests damage to an aligner using machine learning. A method includes processing data from a digital design for an orthodontic aligner by a trained machine learning model and outputting, by the trained machine learning model, a probability that the orthodontic aligner associated with the digital design will be damaged during manufacturing of the orthodontic aligner. The method further includes making a comparison of the probability that the orthodontic aligner associated with the digital design will be damaged during manufacturing of the orthodontic aligner to a probability threshold and determining whether the orthodontic aligner is a high risk orthodontic aligner based on a result of the comparison. Responsive to determining that the orthodontic aligner is a high risk orthodontic aligner, the method includes performing at least one of a) a corrective action or b) selecting a manufacturing flow for high risk orthodontic aligners.

Aligner damage prediction using machine learning

An imaging system comprises multiple light sources, a beam combiner, an optical array sensor, and a computing device. A first light source forms a first beam of light at a first wavelength. A second light source forms a second beam of light at a second wavelength. The beam combiner combines the first beam of light and the second beam of light into a single beam of light and illuminates a specimen with the single beam of light. The optical array sensor detects reflected light that is reflected from the specimen. The computing device accesses sensor data from the optical array sensor, forms a first image based on the first wavelength and a second image based on the second wavelength, and forms a composite image from the first image and the second image.

Multiwave dental imaging system

Embodiments relate to an aligner breakage solution. A method includes obtaining a digital design of a polymeric aligner for a dental arch of a patient. The polymeric aligner is shaped to apply forces to teeth of the dental arch. The method also includes performing an analysis on the digital design of the polymeric aligner using at least one of a) a trained machine learning model, b) a numerical simulation, c) a geometry evaluator or d) a rules engine. The method may also include determining, based on the analysis, whether the digital design of the polymeric aligner includes probable points of damage, wherein for a probable point of damage there is a threshold probability that breakage, deformation, or warpage will occur. The method may also include, responsive to determining that the digital design of the polymeric aligner comprises probable points of damage, performing corrective actions based on the probable points of damage.

Aligner damage prediction and mitigation

Methods and apparatuses for 3D imaging to measure the shape of orthodontic aligners, teeth, and other oral structures simultaneously, in-vivo or in-vitro. These methods and apparatuses may be used to determine contact locations of aligners with teeth and/or teeth with other teeth with very high precision, including determining the size of gaps where they are not in contact. These measurements may be used design, modify or replace an aligner and/or to verify aligner fit. 3D models of the whole aligner and teeth may be generated.

Methods and systems for imaging orthodontic aligners

In an example embodiment, a processing device receives a 3D image of a face of a person. The processing device identifies a first plurality of visible landmarks and a second plurality of visible landmarks on the face from the 3D image, wherein the second plurality of visible landmarks are associated with soft facial tissues. The processing device determines a post-treatment arrangement of the first plurality of visible landmarks based on a first mapping between a current dentition of the person and a post-treatment dentition of the person. The processing device determines, based on applying the post-treatment arrangement of the first plurality of visible landmarks to a second mapping between the first plurality of visible landmarks and the second plurality of visible landmarks, a post-treatment shape of the soft facial tissues. The processing device generates a modified version of the 3D image, wherein the soft facial tissues have the post-treatment shape in the modified version of the 3D image.

Face tracking and reproduction with post-treatment smile

Methods and apparatuses for 3D imaging (including 3D optical coherence tomography imaging) to measure the shape of orthodontic aligners, teeth, and other oral structures simultaneously, in-vivo or in-vitro. These methods and apparatuses may be used to determine contact locations of aligners with teeth and/or teeth with other teeth with very high precision, including determining the size of gaps where they are not in contact. These measurements may be used design, modify or replace an aligner and/or to verify aligner fit. 3D models of the whole aligner and teeth may be generated.

Growing community of inventors

San Mateo, CA, United States of America

Andrew Jang