The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 08, 2003
Filed:
Jul. 18, 2001
Daniel A. Tingley, Corvallis, OR (US);
Kenneth Johnson, Corvallis, OR (US);
Other;
Abstract
A method and device using stress waves for dental examination. According to the method, the dental structure (such as a tooth) under examination is subjected to a stress (acoustic) wave. The stress wave propagates through the dental structure and is received on the other side. From the analysis of the transmission time and/or the resulting waveform, diagnostic information results as to the presence of dental disease such as dental caries that may be present on the tooth surface under dental restorations such as fillings or metal crowns. According to the invention, the stress wave is generated by a suitable transducer, coupled to the dental structure through a transmission medium, propagates through the dental structure, coupled through another transmission medium, received by a acousto-electric transducer, and analyzed by suitable electronic means.