U.S. patent application number 17/556501 was filed with the patent office on 2022-07-07 for systems and methods for determining an updated target orthodontic force.
The applicant listed for this patent is Ortho Future Technologies (Pty) Ltd. Invention is credited to Alfred Meyer Dippenaar, Martin Wucher, Tim Wucher.
Application Number | 20220211469 17/556501 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | |
Filed Date | 2022-07-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220211469 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wucher; Tim ; et
al. |
July 7, 2022 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETERMINING AN UPDATED TARGET ORTHODONTIC
FORCE
Abstract
Systems and methods for determining an updated target
orthodontic force are provided. A method includes receiving
feedback data obtained during use of an orthodontic appliance
configured to apply a target orthodontic force to a tooth of a
patient. The feedback data includes one or both of patient feedback
data points and treatment feedback data points. A value of the
target orthodontic force having been determined by inputting
periodontal ligament (PDL) behavior data into an algorithm. The
method includes updating the algorithm using the feedback data and
using the updated algorithm to determine an updated value
corresponding to an updated target orthodontic force for use in
reconfiguring or replacing the orthodontic appliance so as to apply
the updated target orthodontic force.
Inventors: |
Wucher; Tim; (Windhoek,
NA) ; Wucher; Martin; (Windhoek, NA) ;
Dippenaar; Alfred Meyer; (Windhoek, NA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Ortho Future Technologies (Pty) Ltd |
Windhoek |
|
NA |
|
|
Appl. No.: |
17/556501 |
Filed: |
December 20, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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17143901 |
Jan 7, 2021 |
11229504 |
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17556501 |
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International
Class: |
A61C 7/00 20060101
A61C007/00; A61C 7/02 20060101 A61C007/02 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method comprising, when executed by a
processor: receiving feedback data obtained during use of an
orthodontic appliance configured to apply a target orthodontic
force to a tooth of a patient, the feedback data including one or
both of patient feedback data points and treatment feedback data
points, a value of the target orthodontic force having been
determined by inputting periodontal ligament (PDL) behavior data
into an algorithm; updating the algorithm using the feedback data;
and, using the updated algorithm to determine an updated value
corresponding to an updated target orthodontic force for use in
reconfiguring or replacing the orthodontic appliance so as to apply
the updated target orthodontic force.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the algorithm
determines the value of the target orthodontic force based on the
PDL behavior data.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, including determining whether
the feedback data is optimized, and wherein updating the algorithm
is in response to determining that the feedback data is not
optimized.
4. The method as claimed in claim 3, including, in response to
determining that the feedback data is optimized, storing the
algorithm as an optimal algorithm.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the feedback data is
based on or includes rate of change data points measured while
using the orthodontic appliance.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein updating the algorithm
iteratively updates the algorithm to optimize the feedback
data.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the algorithm includes
one or more of time, magnitude, patient characteristic and patient
treatment components.
8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the patient treatment
component includes one or more variables for values representing
one or both of desired patient treatment outcome and patient
treatment objective.
9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein updating the algorithm
includes adjusting weights of one or more components or variables
of the algorithm.
10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein updating the
algorithm includes updating the algorithm so that the value of the
target orthodontic force is lower during a certain time during
treatment and is higher at another time during treatment.
11. The method as claimed in claim 1, including iteratively
updating the algorithm to maximize feedback metrics for one or more
of improved comfort, rate of treatment and treatment outcome.
12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the PDL behavior data
is associated patient data, wherein the patient data includes
patient characteristic data and patient treatment data.
13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the patient
characteristic data includes data points relating to one or more of
physiological, biological and genetic characteristics of the
patient.
14. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the patient
treatment data includes data points relating to patient condition
and treatment requirements.
15. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the patient
treatment data includes one or both of a tooth type indicator and a
tooth position indicator associated with the tooth of the patient
to be corrected.
16. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the PDL behavior data
includes or is based on force measurement data points and
corresponding displacement measurement data points having been
measured in-vivo while applying a force to a tooth of a human or
animal subject.
17. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the PDL behavior
data includes one or more determinate points obtained from a PDL
curve associated with the patient data or a subset thereof, wherein
the one or more determinate points include a critical force value,
and wherein each of the one or more determinate points includes a
component for each of six degrees of freedom of movement.
18. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the value of the
updated target orthodontic force is output for retrieval by one or
more of: a point of care system; a treatment plan engine; and, an
appliance configuration engine for use in effecting correction of
the tooth of the patient.
19. A system comprising: a processor and a memory configured to
provide computer program instructions to the processor to execute
functions of modules; a feedback receiving module for receiving
feedback data obtained during use of an orthodontic appliance
configured to apply a target orthodontic force to a tooth of a
patient, the feedback data including one or both of patient
feedback data points and treatment feedback data points, a value of
the target orthodontic force having been determined by inputting
periodontal ligament (PDL) behavior data into an algorithm; an
algorithm updating module for updating the algorithm using the
feedback data; and, a target orthodontic force determining module
for using the updated algorithm to determine an updated value
corresponding to an updated target orthodontic force for use in
reconfiguring or replacing the orthodontic appliance so as to apply
the updated target orthodontic force.
20. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory
computer-readable medium having stored computer-readable program
code for performing the steps of: receiving feedback data obtained
during use of an orthodontic appliance configured to apply a target
orthodontic force to a tooth of a patient, the feedback data
including one or both of patient feedback data points and treatment
feedback data points, a value of the target orthodontic force
having been determined by inputting periodontal ligament (PDL)
behavior data into an algorithm; updating the algorithm using the
feedback data; and, using the updated algorithm to determine an
updated value corresponding to an updated target orthodontic force
for use in reconfiguring or replacing the orthodontic appliance so
as to apply the updated target orthodontic force.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
17/143,901, filed on 7 Jan. 2021, the entire contents of which is
incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to systems and methods for
determining a target orthodontic force, including, but not limited
to, determining an updated target orthodontic force.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
[0003] Orthodontics is the branch of dentistry that deals with the
prevention or correction of irregularities of the teeth and jaws.
These irregularities may affect the oral health, as well as
possibly the physical, aesthetic and/or mental wellbeing of
affected individuals.
[0004] Tooth positioning and orofacial bone structures can be
altered using manual, mechanical systems, generally consisting of a
combination of, for example, wires, brackets, bands, chains,
springs and elastics, a system commonly referred to as "dental
braces" or simply "braces". Similarly, orthodontic treatment and
repositioning of tooth and bone structures can be achieved using
one or more aligners, retainers, or a combination thereof. Braces
or aligners are commonly used to generate, transmit and maintain
forces, force vectors and moments to individual teeth or between
teeth, activating various biomechanical processes within the
affected tissues to facilitate tooth movement.
[0005] It is generally accepted that a force of zero magnitude will
not induce any tooth movement, whereas a force of excessive
magnitude might damage cells surrounding the tooth and may also
cause root resorption and excessive patient discomfort. This gives
rise to the concept that an "optimal force" or "optimal orthodontic
force" exists, between a zero force and a force of excessive
magnitude, which would be capable of inducing the maximum rate of
tooth movement without causing any tissue damage, root resorption,
as little as possible patient discomfort, and a minimum level of
additional, adverse side-effects.
[0006] Conventional orthodontic systems have a number of
shortcomings with regard to this optimal orthodontic force.
Firstly, the majority of orthodontic systems rely purely on
mechanical components, which allow for little or no control once
put in place. The placement of the mechanical components by the
practitioner largely determines the forces exerted on the teeth and
virtually no controlled changes can be made thereto without
manually changing the configuration of the mechanical components.
Furthermore, many of the components used, which as stated above
include, amongst others, springs, wires and elastic bands, do not
accurately generate a constant desired force over a longer period
of time or over a specified distance, largely due to the physical
characteristics of these components. This makes it improbable that
the forces transmitted to the teeth are representative of the
optimal force for any continuous period of time. The result of
other than optimal forces being applied to the orofacial structures
can induce the problems mentioned above.
[0007] Conventionally, the ability to control the forces
transmitted to the teeth by an orthodontic appliance was one of the
biggest challenges. The availability of new technologies and
advanced manufacturing techniques has greatly improved the ability
to control such parameters. However, this gives rise to the next
and perhaps even more critical question in orthodontics--the need
to accurately determine the optimal force that would result in the
most effective treatment. For example, Wu et al., have conducted "A
biomechanical case study on the optimal orthodontic force on the
maxillary canine tooth based on finite element analysis". Liao et
al. present "Biomechanical investigation into the role of the
periodontal ligament in optimizing orthodontic force: a finite
element case study". Such an optimal force is highly patient and
also tooth specific and the ability to accurately determine such an
optimal force is key to provide customized and patient specific
orthodontic treatment. To the applicant's knowledge, however, it
has not yet been possible to quantitatively describe such an
optimal force. Finite element method-based analysis, for example,
requires careful definition of input parameters which, for the case
of the PDL complex, should preferably include parameters detailing
blood pressure, fibrous tissue structure and bone properties and
structures, which naturally vary considerably from one person to
the next. Without proper definition of these parameters, the models
cannot be used to determine an optimal orthodontic force that is
patient- and tooth-specific.
[0008] Based on the data from a number of studies of which the
applicant is aware, it was concluded that the reviewed experimental
results were negatively affected by, amongst others, the inability
to accurately calculate stresses in the periodontal ligament of a
given tooth, the inability to control the type of tooth movement,
the different phases of tooth movement during an applied force and
large inter-individual variations or even variations within
individuals. As a result, no exact ideal force magnitude could be
recommended.
[0009] It has also been found that large individual variations
exist for the mean rate of tooth movement achieved under
application of the same forces. A possible explanation that has
been proposed for this phenomenon is that each individual could
have his or her own optimal force that would produce the maximum
rate of tooth movement.
[0010] Generally, the view has been adopted that the movement of
teeth is a result of externally applied mechanical stimuli and the
subsequent biological reactions that take place within the
periodontium. Inherent to the mechanical stimuli are various
parameters including the force magnitude, direction, point of
application, frequency of application and duration of application.
Still further parameters could play an important role when
non-static forces are considered such as the force profile,
oscillatory frequency and oscillatory amplitude. The above
parameters in combination with the anatomical and physiological
properties inherent to the affected tooth/teeth lead to yet further
factors affecting tooth movement. A certain mechanical stimulus
applied to a specific case will lead to cellular strains, shear
stresses and pressure changes within the affected tissues. Each of
these could further affect the resulting tooth movement thereby
emphasizing the importance of the externally applied stimulus.
[0011] There is accordingly scope for improvement.
[0012] In the remainder of this specification the terms "optimal
orthodontic force" should be interpreted to be such an optimal
force when applied in an orthodontic environment. The term "optimal
force" should in turn be interpreted to have a corresponding
meaning but capable of being applied in any reconstructive or
corrective surgery where relative bone or tissue movement is
achieved by means of the application of a mechanical force or
moment over a period of time. In addition, the terms "force" and
"stimulus" are used interchangeably and should be interpreted
broadly to include any combination of forces and moments or either
individually.
[0013] The preceding discussion of the background to the invention
is intended only to facilitate an understanding of the present
invention. It should be appreciated that the discussion is not an
acknowledgment or admission that any of the material referred to
was part of the common general knowledge in the art as at the
priority date of the application.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0014] In accordance with an aspect of the invention there is
provided a computer-implemented method comprising, when executed by
a processor: receiving feedback data obtained during use of an
orthodontic appliance configured to apply a target orthodontic
force to a tooth of a patient, the feedback data including one or
both of patient feedback data points and treatment feedback data
points, a value of the target orthodontic force having been
determined by inputting periodontal ligament (PDL) behavior data
into an algorithm; updating the algorithm using the feedback data;
and, using the updated algorithm to determine an updated value
corresponding to an updated target orthodontic force for use in
reconfiguring or replacing the orthodontic appliance so as to apply
the updated target orthodontic force.
[0015] The algorithm may determine the value of the target
orthodontic force based on the PDL behavior data. The method may
include determining whether the feedback data is optimized, and
wherein updating the algorithm is in response to determining that
the feedback data is not optimized. The method may include, in
response to determining that the feedback data is optimized,
storing the algorithm as an optimal algorithm. The feedback data
may be based on or include rate of change data points measured
while using the orthodontic appliance. Updating the algorithm may
include iteratively updating the algorithm to optimize the feedback
data.
[0016] The algorithm may include one or more of time, magnitude,
patient characteristic and patient treatment components. The
patient treatment component may include one or more variables for
values representing one or both of desired patient treatment
outcome and patient treatment objective. Updating the algorithm may
include adjusting weights of one or more components or variables of
the algorithm. Updating the algorithm may include updating the
algorithm so that the value of the target orthodontic force is
lower during a certain time during treatment and is higher at
another time during treatment. The method may include iteratively
updating the algorithm to maximize feedback metrics for one or more
of improved comfort, rate of treatment and treatment outcome.
[0017] The PDL behavior data may be associated patient data,
wherein the patient data includes patient characteristic data and
patient treatment data. The patient characteristic data may include
data points relating to one or more of physiological, biological
and genetic characteristics of the patient. The patient treatment
data may include data points relating to patient condition and
treatment requirements. The patient treatment data may include one
or both of a tooth type indicator and a tooth position indicator
associated with the tooth of the patient to be corrected. The PDL
behavior data may include or may be based on force measurement data
points and corresponding displacement measurement data points
having been measured in-vivo while applying a force to a tooth of a
human or animal subject. The PDL behavior data may include one or
more determinate points obtained from a PDL curve associated with
the patient data or a subset thereof, wherein the one or more
determinate points include a critical force value, and wherein each
of the one or more determinate points includes a component for each
of six degrees of freedom of movement.
[0018] The value of the updated target orthodontic force may be
output for retrieval by one or more of: a point of care system; a
treatment plan engine; and, an appliance configuration engine for
use in effecting correction of the tooth of the patient.
[0019] In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is
provided a system comprising: a processor and a memory configured
to provide computer program instructions to the processor to
execute functions of modules; a feedback receiving module for
receiving feedback data obtained during use of an orthodontic
appliance configured to apply a target orthodontic force to a tooth
of a patient, the feedback data including one or both of patient
feedback data points and treatment feedback data points, a value of
the target orthodontic force having been determined by inputting
periodontal ligament (PDL) behavior data into an algorithm; an
algorithm updating module for updating the algorithm using the
feedback data; and, a target orthodontic force determining module
for using the updated algorithm to determine an updated value
corresponding to an updated target orthodontic force for use in
reconfiguring or replacing the orthodontic appliance so as to apply
the updated target orthodontic force.
[0020] In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is
provided a computer program product comprising a non-transitory
computer-readable medium having stored computer-readable program
code for performing the steps of: receiving feedback data obtained
during use of an orthodontic appliance configured to apply a target
orthodontic force to a tooth of a patient, the feedback data
including one or both of patient feedback data points and treatment
feedback data points, a value of the target orthodontic force
having been determined by inputting periodontal ligament (PDL)
behavior data into an algorithm; updating the algorithm using the
feedback data; and, using the updated algorithm to determine an
updated value corresponding to an updated target orthodontic force
for use in reconfiguring or replacing the orthodontic appliance so
as to apply the updated target orthodontic force.
[0021] In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is
provided a method for determining a target orthodontic force
comprising: receiving patient data associated with a patient, the
patient data including patient characteristic data and patient
treatment data, the patient treatment data including one or both of
a tooth type indicator and a tooth position indicator associated
with a tooth of the patient to be corrected; retrieving periodontal
ligament (PDL) behavior data associated with at least a subset of
the patient data, the PDL behavior data including or being based on
force measurement data points and corresponding displacement
measurement data points having been measured in-vivo while applying
a force to a tooth of a human or animal subject; determining a
target orthodontic force value that is specific to the patient data
by inputting the PDL behavior data into an algorithm which
determines the target orthodontic force based on the PDL behavior
data; and, outputting the target orthodontic force value.
[0022] The target orthodontic force value may be output for
retrieval by one or more of: a point of care system; a treatment
plan engine and an appliance configuration engine for use in
effecting correction of the tooth of the patient.
[0023] The PDL behavior data may include one or both of measured
PDL behavior data and modelled PDL behavior data which is based on
force measurement data points and corresponding displacement
measurement data points having been measured in-vivo while applying
a force to a tooth of a human or animal subject. The PDL behavior
data may include or be based on historical PDL behavior curves
determined based on measurements of other humans. Retrieving PDL
behavior data may include retrieving one or more determinate points
obtained from a PDL curve associated with the patient data or a
subset thereof. Retrieving the PDL behavior data may include
retrieving the PDL behavior data from one or more of: a PDL
behavior model, a datastore or an interface module.
[0024] The tooth type indicator may be one of: incisor, canine,
premolar, and molar, and wherein the tooth position indicator
indicates the position of the tooth in the mouth of the
patient.
[0025] The method may include updating the algorithm using feedback
data including one or more of: test rig feedback data points,
patient feedback data points and treatment feedback data points,
the feedback data having been obtained from use of an orthodontic
appliance configured to apply the target orthodontic force. Use of
the orthodontic appliance may include use of the appliance on a
test rig and use of the appliance in treatment of a patient's tooth
or teeth.
[0026] In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is
provided a system for determining a target orthodontic force
comprising: a processor and a memory configured to provide computer
program instructions to the processor to execute functions of
modules; a patient data receiving module for receiving patient data
associated with a patient, the patient data including patient
characteristic data and patient treatment data, the patient
treatment data including one or both of a tooth type indicator and
a tooth position indicator associated with a tooth of the patient
to be corrected; a PDL retrieving module for retrieving periodontal
ligament (PDL) behavior data associated with at least a subset of
the patient data, the PDL behavior data including or being based on
force measurement data points and corresponding displacement
measurement data points having been measured in-vivo while applying
a force to a tooth of a human or animal subject; a target
orthodontic force determining module for determining a target
orthodontic force value that is specific to the patient data by
inputting the PDL behavior data into an algorithm which determines
the target orthodontic force based on the PDL behavior data; and, a
target orthodontic force outputting module for outputting the
target orthodontic force value.
[0027] In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is
provided a computer program product for determining a target
orthodontic force comprising a computer-readable medium having
stored computer-readable program code for performing the steps of:
receiving patient data associated with a patient, the patient data
including patient characteristic data and patient treatment data,
the patient treatment data including one or both of a tooth type
indicator and a tooth position indicator associated with a tooth of
the patient to be corrected; retrieving periodontal ligament (PDL)
behavior data associated with at least a subset of the patient
data, the PDL behavior data including or being based on force
measurement data points and corresponding displacement measurement
data points having been measured in-vivo while applying a force to
a tooth of a human or animal subject; determining a target
orthodontic force value that is specific to the patient data by
inputting the PDL behavior data into an algorithm which determines
the target orthodontic force based on the PDL behavior data; and,
outputting the target orthodontic force value.
[0028] Further features provide for the computer-readable medium to
be a non-transitory computer-readable medium and for the
computer-readable program code to be executable by a processing
circuit.
[0029] Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way
of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0030] In the drawings:
[0031] FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram which illustrates an example
orthodontic treatment system according to aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0032] FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram which illustrates an example
measurement system according to aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0033] FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram which illustrates a first
example embodiment of an attachment mechanism according to aspects
of the present disclosure;
[0034] FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram which illustrates a second
example embodiment of an attachment mechanism according to aspects
of the present disclosure;
[0035] FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram which illustrates a reference
jig including target points for cooperation with a position
measurement module according to aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0036] FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram which illustrates a field of
view of a camera of a position measurement module according to
aspects of the present disclosure;
[0037] FIG. 3C is a schematic diagram which illustrates an example
use of gyroscopes in the measurement system of FIG. 1B;
[0038] FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram which illustrates one example
embodiment of a user interface according to aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0039] FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram which illustrates another
example embodiment of a user interface according to aspects of the
present disclosure;
[0040] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram which illustrates an example
embodiment of a method for measuring data points relating to force
applied to and/or position of a part of a human or animal subject
relative to other parts of the human or animal subject according to
aspects of the present disclosure;
[0041] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram which illustrates elements of
a feedback system according to aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0042] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram which illustrates steps for one
example use-case for determining a biomechanical tissue response
using the measurement device described herein;
[0043] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram which illustrates an example method
for determining the neutral position of a tooth in in biomechanical
response data;
[0044] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram which illustrates the steps
required in one possible scenario to measure the biomechanical
tissue response with the user applying a random stimulus to one or
more teeth;
[0045] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram which illustrates an example
method for providing real-time feedback based on measurement
data;
[0046] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram which illustrates an example
method for determining or calculating a critical force according to
aspects of the present disclosure;
[0047] FIG. 12 shows a possible displacement of a tooth within the
alveolus resulting from an applied force F;
[0048] FIG. 13 show the different locations of the Centre of
Resistance of a tooth depending on the tooth and root
morphology;
[0049] FIG. 14 shows the same force F applied at different points
on the tooth and in different directions;
[0050] FIG. 15 illustrates side profile views of a tooth showing a
non-uniform thickness of the PDL and localized differences in
alveolar bone morphology or tooth root morphology;
[0051] FIG. 16 is a side profile of a tooth in a position before a
stimulus has been applied to the tooth and after a stimulus has
been applied to the same tooth;
[0052] FIG. 17 is a side profile view of a tooth showing different
points of measurement, force application and center of rotation on
the tooth;
[0053] FIG. 18 shows different values of the critical force level
Fc determined at different times during orthodontic treatment for
three tooth types, a molar tooth, a canine tooth, and an incisor
tooth;
[0054] FIG. 19A shows an example of raw data measured from the
biomechanical tissue response resulting from an applied stimulus to
a tooth, as well as an average curve describing the force
displacement relationship for a back-and-forth movement of the same
tooth;
[0055] FIG. 19B shows another example of raw data measured from the
biomechanical tissue response resulting from an applied stimulus to
a tooth;
[0056] FIG. 19C shows yet another example of raw data measured from
the biomechanical tissue response resulting from an applied
stimulus to a tooth;
[0057] FIG. 20 shows an example of the biomechanical tissue
response resulting from an applied stimulus measured at two
different points on the tooth;
[0058] FIG. 21 shows an example of the biomechanical tissue
response resulting from a repeated cyclic stimulus applied to a
tooth, each cycle leading to an increase in tooth displacement for
the same force level;
[0059] FIG. 22 shows an example of the biomechanical tissue
response resulting from a repeated cyclic stimulus applied to a
tooth, each cycle showing a different response due to the viscous
and fluid effects of the PDL;
[0060] FIG. 23 shows an example of the biomechanical tissue
response with a different response for a stimulus in opposing
direction;
[0061] FIG. 24 shows an example of segmented linear regression
being applied to the biomechanical tissue response, each line
segment representing the initial tooth movement (ITM) and secondary
tooth movement (STM), and allowing determinate points on the
biomechanical tissue response curve to be defined;
[0062] FIG. 25 shows an example of the mathematical processing of
the biomechanical tissue response curve allowing the quantitative
description of the behavior of the PDL;
[0063] FIG. 26 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example user
interface for reviewing measurement data obtained using the
systems, methods and devices described herein;
[0064] FIG. 27 illustrates a schematic diagram of another example
user interface for reviewing measurement data obtained using the
systems, methods and devices described herein;
[0065] FIG. 28 illustrates a schematic diagram of yet another
example user interface for reviewing measurement data obtained
using the systems, methods and devices described herein;
[0066] FIG. 29 is a flow diagram which illustrates an example
method for determining a target orthodontic force according to
aspects of the present disclosure;
[0067] FIG. 30 shows time-dependent target orthodontic force values
for each of a series of appliances for two different teeth;
[0068] FIG. 31 shows a continuous definition of target orthodontic
force values according to aspects of the present disclosure;
[0069] FIG. 32 is a flow diagram which illustrates an example
method for updating an algorithm using feedback data according to
aspects of the present disclosure;
[0070] FIG. 33 shows an example embodiment for obtaining patient
feedback data points using a linear scale on which the level of
discomfort is indicated with relation to a target orthodontic force
value;
[0071] FIG. 34 illustrates an example embodiment of a method for
comparing forces according to aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0072] FIG. 35 shows an example embodiment of a method for training
a model for use in determining PDL behavior data points according
to aspects of the present disclosure;
[0073] FIG. 36 shows an example method for using a PDL behavior
model to determine movement data points according to aspects of the
present disclosure;
[0074] FIG. 37A is a flow diagram which illustrates one example
embodiment of a method for orthodontic treatment staging according
to aspects of the present disclosure;
[0075] FIG. 37B is a flow diagram which illustrates a first example
embodiment of a method for determining one or more stage movement
values and corresponding stage force values based on a target
orthodontic force value according to aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0076] FIG. 37C is a flow diagram which illustrates a second
example embodiment of a method for determining one or more stage
movement values and corresponding stage force values based on a
target orthodontic force value according to aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0077] FIG. 38 is a chart which illustrates plots of a stage force
value and associated target orthodontic force value over time for a
plurality of stages of orthodontic treatment according to aspects
of the present disclosure;
[0078] FIG. 39 is a flow diagram which illustrates one example
embodiment of a method for orthodontic appliance configuration
according to aspects of the present disclosure
[0079] FIG. 40 is a schematic cross-section through two example
orthodontic appliances according to aspects of the present
disclosure;
[0080] FIG. 41 is a schematic diagram which illustrates an example
embodiment of an orthodontic apparatus according to aspects of the
present disclosure;
[0081] FIG. 42 is a flow diagram which illustrates an example
method for evaluating configuration parameters according to aspects
of the present disclosure;
[0082] FIG. 43 is a block diagram which illustrates exemplary
components which may be provided by an orthodontic treatment system
according to aspects of the present disclosure; and
[0083] FIG. 44 illustrates an example of a computing device in
which various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS
[0084] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to the
field of orthodontic treatment, such as via orthodontic treatment
plans and orthodontic appliances. In particular, aspects of the
present disclosure relate to an evidence-based approach to the
formulation of orthodontic treatment plans and the configuration of
orthodontic appliances for improved or even optimal orthodontic
treatment outcomes. This evidence-based approach makes use of data
points that are obtained from a large number of human or animal
subjects in-vivo as well as various other data points, such as
metadata relating to the relevant human/animal subject, feedback
data (for example including patient feedback and treatment
progress/outcome feedback) and the like. The data points can be
compiled into a large-scale dataset for processing, optionally
together with feedback data, to output models and/or algorithms for
use in formulating treatment plans and configuring orthodontic
appliances for optimal treatment outcomes. The data points can
include periodontal ligament (PDL) behavior data points which can
be used to model estimated or expected PDL behavior and determine
an optimal orthodontic force (also termed "target orthodontic
force" herein), tooth movement and treatment parameters based on
the estimated or expected behavior of the PDL. Aspects of the
present disclosure aim to build upon existing orthodontic appliance
technology using evidence-based inputs for optimal orthodontic
treatment outcomes that can be patient, tooth and/or
case-specific.
[0085] FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram which illustrates an example
orthodontic treatment system (1) according to aspects of the
present disclosure. The system (1) includes a data processing
subsystem (3), a plurality of point of care subsystems (5) and a
plurality of measurement subsystems (10).
[0086] The measurement subsystems (10) are configured to obtain
measurement data from a large number of human or animal subjects,
including force measurement data and position measurement data
which together describe PDL behavior of the human or animal subject
from which the data is measured. The measurement subsystems (10)
are configured to obtain measurement data describing PDL behavior
when subjected to an applied stimulus. The measurement subsystems
(10) may further be configured to obtain metadata associated with
the measurement data and/or relevant human or animal subject. The
measurement subsystems (10) transmit the measurement data and
metadata to the data processing subsystem (3) for storage,
processing and/or or analysis. Transmission may be direct
transmission or via a communication network (21). It should be
appreciated that the measurement systems may be geographically
distributed over large distances so as to obtain measurement data
from a vast variety of human or animal subjects. As will be
explained in greater detail below, each measurement subsystem is
configured for low-friction, simple and convenient collection of
measurement data to facilitate the compilation of a large-scale
collection of measurement data.
[0087] The data processing subsystem (3) includes a datastore (7)
in which various sets or collections of data may be stored. The
datastore (7) may for example store PDL behavior data (9) including
measurement data (9A), for example received from the measurement
subsystems (10), and/or modelled data, for example in the form of
one or more PDL behavior models (33) having been trained on
measurement data and associated metadata.
[0088] The measurement data (9A) may include a large number of
subsets of measurement data, each subset relating to an individual
tooth of an individual human or animal subject. The measurement
data may for example include timestamped force measurement data
points and corresponding position or displacement measurement data
points. Each data point, or value, may have a component for each of
six degrees of freedom. Each subset of measurement data is
associated with the tooth (e.g., by virtue of tooth type and/or
tooth position indicator) with respect to which the data was
measured. The measurement data (9A) may be stored in association
with the human or animal subject to which it relates (e.g., using
an appropriate identifier, key value or the like) such that it can
be linked to that human or animal subject and/or to metadata (11)
related to that human or animal subject. For example, each subset
of measurement data may be associated with an identifier of the
human or animal subject with respect to which the data was
obtained, for linking with associated metadata relating to
characteristics of the human or animal subject.
[0089] The one or more PDL behavior models (33) may be configured
to accept as input either an applied force value or a required
tooth displacement value and to output the other of a simulated
tooth displacement value resulting from the applied force value or
simulated required force value to achieve the required tooth
displacement value. The one or more PDL behavior models may further
accept as input patient data including patient characteristic data
such that the output simulated values are case, tooth and patient
specific.
[0090] The datastore (7) may further store metadata (11) associated
with the PDL behavior data, which may also be received from the
measurement subsystems. The metadata may include data points,
datasets and/or information relating to one or more of: parameters
affecting the PDL behavior, such as data points relating to one or
more of tooth and root morphology, PDL thickness and shape of the
human or animal subject (including e.g. X-ray data and/or CT scan
data) and the like; health related data such as data points
relating to one or more of blood pressure, body mass index, weight,
oral and tissue health, time in treatment journey (if applicable),
smoker/non-smoker status, dental history (including e.g.
information on root canal history) of the human or animal subject
and the like; data points relating to one or more living standards
measure (LSM) inputs, an LSM output, country, state, city of
residence and/or birth, diet, age, gender, ethnicity and species of
the human or animal subject and the like. The metadata may be
stored in association with the human or animal subject to which it
relates (e.g., using an appropriate identifier, key value or the
like) such that it can be linked to the measurement data obtained
from that human or animal subject. The metadata may therefore
include data points (including e.g., scores or other indicators)
relating to physiological, biological, genetic and situational
characteristics of the human or animal subject from whom
measurement data is obtained.
[0091] In some embodiments, the datastore stores one or more of
patient data (13), feedback data (15), target orthodontic force
data (17) and the like. In other embodiments, other datastores are
provided for the other categories of data needing to be stored.
[0092] Patient data (13) may be stored or otherwise accessible to
the system for each patient to be treated. Patient data may include
patient treatment data and patient characteristic data. The patient
data may be associated with the patient to which it relates (e.g.,
using an appropriate identifier, key value or the like).
[0093] Patient treatment data may include data points relating to
patient condition and treatment requirements, including for example
one or both of a tooth type indicator and a tooth position
indicator associated with a tooth or each tooth of the patient to
be corrected. The tooth type indicator may be one of: incisor,
canine, premolar, and molar, and the tooth position indicator
indicates the position of the tooth in the mouth of the patient
(e.g. using a standardized numbering convention to allow comparison
of like teeth from one person to the next). The patient treatment
data may also include treatment movement data (e.g. including one
or more treatment movement values) which describes the required
tooth movement to effect treatment (or correction) of the tooth.
Each treatment movement value may have a component for each of six
degrees of freedom. A treatment movement value may for example
describe the required translation of the tooth in millimeters along
the x-, y- and z-axis and the required rotation of the tooth in
degrees around each of the x-, y-, and z-axis. Where multiple teeth
are to be corrected, patient treatment data may be provided for
each tooth to be corrected or for one or more groupings of teeth to
be corrected.
[0094] Patient characteristic data may include, for each patient,
data points, datasets and/or information relating to one or more
of: parameters affecting the PDL behavior, such as data points
relating to one or more of tooth and root morphology, PDL thickness
and shape of patient (including e.g. X-ray data and/or CT scan
data) and the like; health related data such as data points
relating to one or more of blood pressure, body mass index, weight,
oral and tissue health, time in treatment journey (if applicable),
smoker/non-smoker status, dental history (including e.g.
information on root canal history) of the patient and the like;
data points relating to one or more living standards measure (LSM)
inputs, an LSM output, country, state, city of residence and/or
birth, diet, age, gender and ethnicity patient and the like.
Patient characteristic data for each patient may therefore include
data points relating to physiological, biological, genetic and
situational characteristics of the patient.
[0095] The data processing system (3) receives data from the one or
more measurement subsystems (10) and optionally from the one or
more point of care subsystems (3). The data processing system (3)
may receive data from the one or more measurement subsystems (10)
via a data input module (19) and optionally a suitable
communication network (21), such as the Internet. The data input
module (19) may perform various data standardization, cleaning and
formatting requirements as may be required before persisting or
storing the received data into the datastore. The data from the one
or more point of care subsystems (3) may be received via one or
more interface modules (23), which may be provided by one or more
suitable APIs, and the communication network (21). The interface
module (23) facilitates interacting and integration with other
subsystems, such as the point of care subsystems. The interface
module may be provided for consumption by the point of care
subsystems for the exchange of commands, instructions, requests and
data between the subsystems.
[0096] In the illustrated embodiment, the data processing subsystem
(3) includes an optimal force engine (25) which has access to the
datastore (7) and is configured to determine a target (also termed
"optimal") orthodontic force based on one or more determinate
points of relevant PDL behavior data (9). The optimal force engine
(25) may access data from the datastore (7), such as PDL behavior
data (9) or one or more determinate points thereof, and process the
data to define a target or optimal orthodontic force based on the
one or more determinate points and a function which is defined by
an algorithm that is maintained and updated by the optimal force
engine (25). The optimal force engine may retrieve data that based
on patient data that the optimal force engine receives, for example
from a point of care subsystem, a treatment plan engine (41), an
appliance configuration engine (43), the interface module (23) or
the like. In some implementations, the optimal force engine (25)
defines the target orthodontic force based on a determinate point
being a critical orthodontic force. The optimal force engine (25)
is configured to determine the target orthodontic force in relation
to a case-specific soft-tissue response of the PDL and the related
critical orthodontic force. In some cases, the target orthodontic
force is defined as a function of the critical orthodontic force,
which is dependent on multiple physiological factors and, as
described in greater detail below, may be determined in-vivo. Other
implementations use other determinate points. Determining the
target orthodontic force may include determining the tissue
response of the periodontal ligament, identifying a determinate
point along a force-displacement curve and determining an optimal
force as a function of said determinate point on the
force-displacement curve (e.g., using an optimized algorithm). The
optimal force engine (25) maintains and updates the algorithm based
on feedback data (15) including one or more of patient feedback
data points, treatment feedback data points and test rig feedback
data points for outputting a target orthodontic force that can be
considered optimal for the given input determinate data.
[0097] In the illustrated embodiment, the data processing subsystem
(3) includes a model training engine (31) which is configured to
train and output one or more models, such as one or more PDL
behavior models (33). The models may be mathematical models. The
model training engine (31) may access data from the datastore (7),
such as PDL behavior data (9) including one or both of measured PDL
behavior data (9A) and modelled PDL behavior data (e.g., previously
trained PDL behavior models and/or synthetic data which can be
generated by other means than in-vivo measurements and could be
used to develop models), and process the data to output one or more
mathematical models including for example one or more PDL behavior
models (33). In some implementations, the model training engine is
configured to model the behavior of the PDL based at least to some
extent on the in-vivo measurements of said PDL behavior data. In
some implementations, as will be explained in greater detail
herein, this includes acquiring for a plurality of teeth of a
number of individuals measurement data describing PDL behavior when
subjected to an applied stimulus; using mathematical models and
machine learning techniques to identify features predictive of the
behavior of the PDL and training a machine learning (or other
suitable) model to produce an estimate of the behavior of the PDL
and the resulting tooth displacement when subject to an applied
stimulus. The model training engine (31) may thus be configured to
output one or more models estimating the behavior of the PDL based
at least to some extent on the in-vivo measurements of said PDL for
use in modelling patient, case and tooth specific PDL behavior and
optionally in determining a target or optimal orthodontic force,
tooth movement and treatment parameter based on the estimated
behavior of the PDL. The model training engine (31) may implement
one or both of a method for modelling periodontal ligament behavior
and a method of assimilating patient- and case-specific values of a
critical orthodontic force.
[0098] In the illustrated embodiment, the data processing subsystem
(3) includes a treatment plan engine (41) and an appliance
configuration engine (43) which are accessible to the point of care
subsystems (5) via the interface module (23) and communication
network (21). The treatment plan engine (41) may be configured to
access the optimal force engine (25) and PDL behavior data,
including the PDL behavior model (33), for implementing a method
for orthodontic staging using critical orthodontic force parameters
or other suitable PDL-based determinate points. The appliance
configuration engine (43) may be configured to access the optimal
force engine (25) and PDL behavior data, including the PDL behavior
model (33), to implement a method for orthodontic appliance
configuration, including designing an orthodontic appliance and
preparing a specification for, designing, and producing an
orthodontic appliance (such as a clear aligner) using critical
orthodontic force parameters or other suitable PDL-based
determinate points. A specification for an orthodontic appliance
may include one or more configuration parameters which define
configuration of the relevant appliance so as to apply a patient,
case and tooth specific force that is optimized for patient
feedback and treatment outcome.
[0099] Each of the point of care subsystems (5) may include any
suitable infrastructure accessible to healthcare professionals for
the purpose of orthodontic treatment planning and orthodontic
appliance configuration, specification and/or design. Each point of
care subsystem may for example include a computing device (tablet,
laptop, desktop computer, etc.) via which a healthcare professional
can interact with the appliance configuration engine (43) and/or
treatment plan engine (41) to generate a treatment plan that is
patient, tooth and case specific and to configure for manufacture
or otherwise specify an orthodontic appliance that applies a target
force based on patient, tooth and case specific factors so as to
achieve optimal orthodontic treatment. The healthcare professional
may for example use the point of care subsystem to input patient
data including for example treatment requirements (such as
parameters describing the required movement of each tooth of the
patient) as well as other required patient data and to receive as
output a treatment plan and/or orthodontic appliance configuration
parameters for orthodontic treatment that is optimal for the
specific patient under consideration.
[0100] The orthodontic treatment system (1) may thus provide a
distributed computing architecture for using optimal orthodontic
forces to produce an optimized appliance design and treatment plan.
The computing architecture can include a device for measuring the
PDL behavior in-vivo and the resulting measurements can be saved to
a storage means or a server for later use. The raw data can be
processed by a computer system and can be analyzed to determine for
example a critical orthodontic force, and a relating optimal
orthodontic force. The system can also include a means for
consuming the measured PDL behavior data to develop mathematical
models such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning
(ML) models describing the behavior of the PDL or the relating
tooth movement resulting from the application of a force to one or
more teeth. Such AI/ML models can be developed once or repeatedly
and can be updated to include newly measured or estimated data
describing the PDL behavior. The system can further include a means
for communicating with external services such as a computer system
or software process, and can receive data from such services and
return data to such services. For example, the system can receive
the planned tooth movement from treatment planning software of a
point of care system, and a ML model can use such planned movement
as an input and return the resulting PDL behavior curve for each
tooth as an output. Said output can be received again by a
treatment planning software or can be received by another service
such as software to design an optimal orthodontic appliance. The
PDL behavior curve can be used to optimize the features of an
orthodontic appliance, such as the appliance geometry, material,
features and parameters defining such features, local placement,
orientation, size or shape.
[0101] Aspects of the orthodontic treatment system (1) are now
described in greater detail below.
Measurement Subsystem and Associated Theory
[0102] Aspects of the present disclosure provide a measurement
device and associated systems and methods. In particular, aspects
of the present disclosure provide a device, system and method for
measuring data points and determining a critical orthodontic force
using the measured data points. Aspects of the present disclosure
may find application in determining and defining the optimal forces
for use in the corrective treatment of malocclusion and other
dentofacial defects using an orthodontic appliance (e.g.,
orthodontic aligners or dental braces). The optimal force may be a
target orthodontic force based on (or a function of) the critical
force.
[0103] The measurement device and associated systems and methods
described herein may be configured for measuring and quantifying
the biomechanical tissue response and relating behavior of the PDL
and surrounding tissue and determining a case-specific critical
orthodontic force or other determinate point (in some cases in-vivo
or at least using measurement data obtained in-vivo). The device
may for example include a position sensor and a force sensor
configured to measure the tissue response of the PDL of a tooth
when subjected to an applied force. The device may include a
user-feedback mechanism (e.g., in the form of a user interface) to
provide the user with a reading of the determined critical force
and/or associated data (such as measurement data). The measurement
device, system and method described herein may enable the
measurement of data points for plotting a curve defining or
quantifying the behavior of the PDL. Such a curve may generally
represent the behavior of the PDL in response to certain,
measurable, stimuli and may therefore generally be termed herein a
"behavior curve", or, in some instances more specifically, a
"non-pathologic tooth mobility curve" or a "force-displacement
curve". The data points measured herein may be used to define a
case-specific critical force level and may be referred to generally
as PDL behavior data or measured PDL behavior data.
[0104] The measurement device may be a handheld device and is
configured for attachment to a part (typically tooth or bone) of a
human or animal subject. Once attached a user can impart forces
onto the part to which the device is attached by urging the device
towards or away from (or generally relative to) the subject. This
handheld configuration may provide for a technologically simpler
(and hence more cost effective), and in some cases a more
convenient or user- and/or subject-friendly, device. The handheld
configuration may be provided by shaping and dimensioning the or
part of the body of the device so as to fit within the hand of the
user.
[0105] FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram which illustrates an example
measurement system (10) according to aspects of the present
disclosure. In the illustrated embodiment, the measurement system
(10) includes a measurement device (102) connected to a computing
device (104) via a communication channel (106). The communication
channel may be provided by a wired or wireless connection between
the computing device and the measurement device. The communication
channel may be provided by a network, such as a local area network
or a wide area network (e.g., including a publicly accessible
communication network, such as the Internet). In the example
embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1B, the computing device (104) is a
laptop computer although in other implementations the computing
device may take on other forms, such as a tablet computer, mobile
phone (or smartphone), personal digital assistant, desktop computer
or the like. In other embodiments, the measurement device may be a
stand-alone device that operates without connection to an external
device but which, for example, communicates with a data processing
system (3) via a communication network (21).
[0106] The measurement device (102) includes a body (110) and an
attachment mechanism (112) fixed to and extending from the
body.
[0107] The body (110) is configured for gripping by a user. In the
illustrated embodiment, the body is configured for gripping by a
user in that it is shaped and dimensioned to fit within the hand of
a user. For example, the body may have an elongate and generally
cylindrical shape. In some embodiments, the body is ergonomically
shaped for example including contours that are shaped and
dimensioned to accommodate individual fingers and a thumb of a user
and/or the shape of a user's closed hand. The body may be shaped as
a handle and may include non-slip formations or features, such as
knurled surfaces, rubberized surfaces or the like. In other
embodiments, a part of the body, such as a handle, is configured
for gripping by a user while another part is not so configured.
[0108] The attachment mechanism (112) is configured for attachment
to a part of a human or animal subject, in this example embodiment
being a tooth (2). The attachment mechanism provides a means for
creating an attachment to a tooth to transfer a stimulus or force
in multiple directions. The attachment mechanism includes a shaft
(114) terminating in an attachment formation configured for
attachment to the intended part of the human or animal subject (in
this case being a tooth). The shaft is attached to the body such
that a force applied to the body is transferred via the shaft to
the attachment formation and, in use, to the part of the human or
animal to which the attachment formation is attached. In some
embodiments, the shaft is rigid and may be rigidly attached to the
body. In some embodiments, the attachment of the attachment
mechanism to the body of the measurement device may be by way of a
shock absorbing or damping mechanism. The mechanism may be
interposed between the shaft (114) and the body (110) so as to
absorb or damp sudden movement applied to the tooth via the
attachment mechanism and body of the measurement device. The force
sensor module (120) may be located on a proximal end of the shaft
(i.e., the end opposite that to which the attachment formation is
fixed) and may be connected to the body via the shock absorbing or
damping mechanism such that force is transferred from the body to
the shock absorbing or damping mechanism and then to the shaft via
the force sensor module. This arrangement may improve subject
comfort and may also improve the quality of the measurements as the
force applied to the tooth (and measured by the sensor module) will
be smoother by virtue of the shock absorbing or damping
mechanism.
[0109] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1B, the attachment
formation includes a clamp (117) secured to the shaft and
configured to clamp onto the tooth.
[0110] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate two further example embodiments
of an attachment formation (116A, 116B) according to aspects of the
present disclosure. In the example embodiment of FIG. 2A, the
attachment formation (116A) includes a head (117A) connected to a
cap (117B) that fits onto the tooth. The cap provides a clamping
mechanism that attaches to and clamps onto the tooth of a patient.
The cap may be releasably fixed in place using a suitable bonding
agent (118). The cap may for example be a silicone cap which can be
removably secured to the tooth or to a plurality of teeth. In the
example embodiment of FIG. 2B, the attachment formation (116B)
includes a bracket connection formation (119A) configured to
connect to a bracket (119B) that is releasably fixed to the tooth.
The bracket may be fixed to the tooth using, for example, a bonding
agent, UV curable resin or other suitable dental materials for
releasably securing the bracket to the tooth. The bracket includes
a clip, flanged protuberance or other suitable connection formation
which is configured to cooperate with a corresponding receiving
formation of the bracket connection formation. The receiving
formation may for example be in the form of a claw, clasp or other
formation configured to receive and hold captive the connection
formation of the bracket. Any other form of mechanical mechanism
can be used to create a temporary fixture to the tooth or for the
user to hold on to the target tooth and apply a force and moment.
In other embodiments, the attachment mechanism may be configured
for attachment to a group of teeth (e.g., to adjacent incisors,
molars or the like), in which embodiments the force and position
measurements obtained by the measurement device relate to the group
of teeth and not to individual teeth.
[0111] The body includes or houses one or more of a force sensor
module (120), position sensor module (122), a memory module (124),
one or both of a gyroscope (125A) and an accelerometer (125B), an
external communication interface (126) and a processor (128) which
may be interconnected via a suitable internal communication system,
interface or bus(es) (I2C, SPI, etc.). The measurement device (102)
includes or is in communication with a user interface (130). The
gyroscope (125A) and accelerometer (125B) may be included in the
body and/or the reference jig (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 3C) and
may be configured to determine the acceleration and rotation and/or
orientation of the device, respectively, and the corresponding
direction of the force. The gyroscope (125A) is configured to
output rotation and/or orientation measurement data and the
accelerometer (125B) is configured to output acceleration
measurement data. In the illustrated embodiment, the memory module
is shown as being a part of the measurement device. In other
embodiments, the memory module may be provided by a remote or
cloud-based storage. For example, in some embodiments, the memory
module may be provided by the datastore (7).
[0112] The force sensor module is configured to measure a force
applied to the attachment mechanism, in use, and output force
measurement data relating to the measured force. The force sensor
module measures the force applied to the attachment formation, and
in turn the part of the human or animal, via the shaft and body.
The force sensor module may include one or more commercially
available sensors that allow a force to be measured along at least
one dimension. In some cases, the force sensor module may include
an integrated six degrees of freedom force sensor. In some
embodiments, the force sensor module may include a custom force
sensor or force transducer (e.g., in the form of one or more load
cells) configured to measure data points relating to a force
applied by the user. The force sensor module may output force
measurement values for each of six degrees of freedom, for example
a translation value and a rotation value along or about each of the
x-, y-, and z-axis.
[0113] The position sensor module is configured to measure the
position of the part of the human or animal relative to other parts
thereof, in use, and output position measurement data. The position
sensor module may include one or more of a camera, accelerometer,
gyroscope, magnetometer, Hall effect sensor or the like. In the
example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1B, the position sensor
includes a camera and computer vision system configured to locate
position of tracking points (132) in image data to calculate the
relative change in position, and hence to determine movement or
displacement, according to the biomechanical response. The tracking
points may be existing, distinguishable points that the computer
vision system identifies automatically, may be drawn directly onto
the target tooth (2) and surrounding teeth or may be provided on an
attachment formation (such as a head, cap, clamp bracket connection
formation) and a reference jig (134) that is fixed to the teeth.
The position measurement data may be used to calculate or determine
tooth displacement, for example by tracking a series of different
tooth positions over a period of time, and to output tooth
displacement or movement data. It should be appreciated that the
position measurement module described herein is configured to
measure position of a target tooth relative to other teeth, which
is different from measuring changes in position between the target
tooth and the body of device. This may enable a decoupling of
device movement from tooth movement which may improve accuracy of
the position measurements given the handheld nature of the device
(and there may hence be no fixed reference point).
[0114] The force measurement data and position measurement data may
collectively be referred to herein as biomechanical response
data.
[0115] An example reference jig (134) setup is illustrated more
clearly in FIG. 3A. The reference jig is configured for attachment
to a plurality of teeth which are proximate or adjacent the target
tooth (2). The reference jig can include several tracking points.
These tracking points are suitable for visual identification and
location using a computer vision system. The reference jig is
placed into the mouth in such a way that it remains unaffected by a
stimulus being applied to the target tooth and thus does not move.
FIG. 3B illustrates an example of the field of view of the camera
and computer vision system used to measure the biomechanical tissue
response. The camera is configured in such a way that it is able to
capture image data (136) including the tracking points on the
reference jig as well as the tracking points on the target tooth.
Sufficient tracking points are located on the reference jig and the
target tooth for the computer vision system to be able to calculate
the relative movement or displacement of the target tooth relative
to the reference jig with six degrees of freedom including
translation and rotation around all three axes. The camera and/or
computer vision system may therefore be configured for use in
capturing image data including reference points on a target tooth
and reference points on the one or more other teeth and allowing
measurement of the biomechanical tissue response.
[0116] Referring now to FIG. 3C, in some embodiments the reference
jig (134) includes an accelerometer and/or gyroscope (135) which
may transmit acceleration measurement data and rotation and/or
orientation measurement data to the processor of the measurement
device. The processor can process the reference jig
accelerometer/gyroscope data together with the measurement device
accelerometer/gyroscope data to determine components of each of the
six degrees of freedom of the force measurement data and the
position measurement data. The accelerometers and/or gyroscopes
provided in the body of the device and/or the reference jig enable
the determination or calculation by the processor of components of
each force measurement data point for each of six degrees of
freedom. The accelerometer or gyroscope measurement data may be
used to determine the relative direction of application of a force,
thereby allowing the orientation and each of the six degrees of
freedom of the measured force data and the measured displacement
data to be determined.
[0117] In another example embodiment, the position sensor module
includes a magnetic sensor system (e.g., including one or more
magnetic sensors, such as Hall effect sensors). The magnetic
sensors may be housed within a reference jig and in data
communication with the measurement device (e.g., via the external
communication interface). A magnet may be fixed to the target tooth
(or, e.g., housed within an attachment formation of the device).
The reference jig is attached to other teeth or part of the dental
complex in such a way that is not affected by the stimulus being
applied to the target tooth. If a force is applied to the target
tooth, this will cause the tooth to move relative to the reference
jig. This relative displacement will be sensed by the magnetic
sensor system. Sensor data from the magnetic sensor system may be
transmitted to the device for processing to determine position
measurement data. In this embodiment, the device uses a magnetic
sensor system to measure the tissue response. The system makes use
of a magnetic sensor integrated into a reference jig and a magnet
that is attached to the tooth to which a stimulus is being
applied.
[0118] The memory module is configured to store measurement data,
including the force measurement data and position measurement data,
displacement measurement data and optionally rotation and/or
orientation and/or acceleration measurement data as well. The data
may be stored in association with the target tooth (e.g., by way of
tooth type and/or tooth position indicator) and a human/animal
subject identifier for linking the measurement data to metadata
associated with the human/animal subject. In the embodiment
illustrated in FIG. 1B, the memory is illustrated as being internal
to the device. In other embodiments, the memory in which
measurement data is stored may be provided by a remote device (such
as a computing device).
[0119] The processor may be configured to manage and/or control the
various modules of the measurement device. The processor may be
configured to receive measurement data from the sensor modules,
process, timestamp, filter, output and/or store the measurement
data received from the various sensor modules. The processor may be
configured to process position measurement data to determine
displacement measurement data. The processor may for example store
the measurement data (and associated data, such as timestamps) in
the memory module. The processor may be configured to output
measurement data, reference data and/or target data to the user
interface. The processor may further be configured to transmit the
measurement data and/or associated metadata to the computing device
via the communication channel (106). The processor may implement a
feedback system using one or more of the force sensor module,
position sensor module and user interface.
[0120] The user interface may be configured to output to the user
one or both of the force measurement data and the position
measurement data. In some embodiments, the user interface is
configured to output to the user one or both of force reference
data and position reference data. In some embodiments, the user
interface is configured to output to the user one or both of force
target data and position target data. In some embodiments, the user
interface is configured to display the force measurement data and
force reference data. The force measurement data and force
reference data may for example be overlaid or otherwise shown
together to facilitate matching by the user, in use through
manipulation of the body, of the force measurement data to the
force reference data. The user interface may therefore be
configured to guide application of force by the user. The user
interface may include an input element (e.g., provided by way of
keyboard, buttons, touch-sensitive display) for input of
information such as a patient identifier, tooth (or body part
identifier) or the like.
[0121] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1B, the measurement
device includes a user interface (130) integrated into the body.
The user interface may for example be provided by one or more LEDs,
a liquid crystal (or other suitable) display or the like. In some
embodiments, the measurement device is in communication with a user
interface, which may for example be provided by the computing
device (104).
[0122] FIG. 4A illustrates one example embodiment of a user
interface provided by a computing device, for example in the form
of a tablet or laptop computer. The user interface may include one
or more windows including graphical representations of measurement
data, reference data and/or target data. One example window
includes a gauge (140) which overlays a graphical representation of
force measurement data (142) with a graphical representation of
force reference data (144) so as to guide the user as to the actual
force he or she is applying to the tooth versus the desired or
required force for plotting of a behavior curve. A magnitude of the
force measurement may be displayed (145) in the center of the
gauge.
[0123] Another example window includes a one or more arrows (146),
where each arrow is a graphical representation of force measurement
and/or reference data and can have varying properties including for
example length, size, or color, such properties being varied based
on the desired and the measured stimulus and being adjusted so as
to provide the user with instructions on how to change the applied
stimulus to the target tooth.
[0124] Another example window includes a graphical representation
of the reference and/or the measured force in three-dimensional
space. The signals can be superimposed on image data (148) or a
three-dimensional rendering of the one or more teeth. The same
visualization can also be used to visualize the reference (e.g.
target or desired) force (150) and the measured force (152), and
may also include a visualization of a reference moment (154) and a
measurement moment (156). The displayed signal can include any
properties describing the force with six degrees of freedom, each
having one or more of a direction, a magnitude, a duration, and
frequency of application.
[0125] Another example window includes a graphical representation
of force measurement and reference data by way of a time series
visualization (158) of the desired reference (159A) and the
measured (159B) forces in real-time. The reference signal can have
at least a direction and a magnitude, as well as time dependent
characteristics including but not limited to frequency, rate of
change, duration of application and the like.
[0126] One or more of these windows may be provided by way of the
user interface so as to provide feedback and instructions to the
user. The user interface can include information about the desired
reference forces to be applied to the target tooth as well as the
actual measurement of forces, which can be displayed in real
time.
[0127] FIG. 4B illustrates one example embodiment of a user
interface provided by a computing device, for example in the form
of a mobile phone. The user interface may include one or more
windows including graphical representations of measurement data,
reference data and/or target data. One example window includes a
three-dimensional visualization (160) of the teeth and the target
tooth and a superimposition of the graphical representations of the
measured (162) and reference (164) force data. The forces can be
visualized in real-time. The representation of the forces can
include the magnitude, direction and other parameters describing
the desired or the applied stimulus. The user interface can vary
the parameters of the signal including the size, orientation,
length or color to be indicative of the displayed signal.
[0128] The user interface may be configured for input of one or
both of a tooth type indicator and tooth position indicator
associated with each of the teeth and the human or animal subject
from which measurements are to be or have been taken. The user
interface may be configured for input of metadata associated with
the human or animal subject from which measurements are to be or
have been taken. The tooth type indicator and tooth position
indicator may be stored in the memory module in association with
the measurement data. The metadata may be stored in the memory
module in association with a human/animal subject identifier (e.g.,
human ID) for linking the metadata to the measurement data.
[0129] In another example window the user interface can provide
instructions to the user on how to adjust the current applied
stimulus so as to better represent the desired stimulus. Such a
visualization can make use of one or more arrows (166), each of
which can have properties including the size, color, length and
orientation, which can be changed so as to prompt the user to apply
a stimulus which better represents the desired stimulus. Said
properties can be changed based at least to some extent on one or
more of the desired stimulus and the measured stimulus. A magnitude
of the force measurement may be displayed (168) in the center of
the base from which the one or more arrows extend.
[0130] The system and device described above may be used for the
measurement, storage and transmission of force and position data,
for example as applied to and measured from a part of a human or
animal subject. The force and position measurement data may be used
to plot a behavior curve relating to the relevant part of the human
or animal subject. While the system and device of FIG. 1B are
described with reference to an example illustration in which the
device is connected to computer via a wired connection, it should
be appreciated that in other implementations the device can also
operate in stand-along mode without a connection to any external
device, or can be connected to a computer, a phone, tablet or any
other suitable computing device in this way. The connection can be
in the form of a USB or other connection and can provide both data
communication and or power supply to the device. The device can
also connect to any other electronic device or interface using any
form of wireless communication including for example Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth or the like.
[0131] The measurement device described above utilizes energy from
a human user or operator to impart forces onto the tooth or teeth
of the human or animal subject. It should however be appreciated
that other embodiments anticipate other mechanisms for imparting
such forces. For example, some embodiments of a measurement device
according to aspects of the present disclosure may include a
hydraulic or piezoelectric actuator controllable by the user so as
to apply a desired force. Measurement devices according to aspects
of the present disclosure therefore enable a user-controllable
force to be imparted on or applied to a tooth or teeth of a human
or animal subject for the purpose of measuring a corresponding
displacement of that teeth or those teeth. The arrangement of the
measurement device (i.e., user controllable force and decoupled
displacement/position measurement features) may reduce noise in the
measurement data collected by the device.
[0132] The measurement system and/or device may implement a method
for measuring data points relating to force applied to and/or
position of a part of a human or animal subject relative to other
parts of the human or animal subject. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram
which illustrates an example of such a method. The method may be
conducted by a measurement device (102), such as that described in
the foregoing.
[0133] The method may include receiving (201) an instruction to
commence measuring. In some embodiments, this may include receiving
a user input instruction, for example an instruction from the user
to start measuring, an instruction indicating that the device has
been attached to a part of a human or animal subject, or the like.
The user input can be input into the user interface (e.g., by
clicking or selecting "Proceed with measurements", "Ready to
measure", "Attachment successful", "Start" or the like). In other
embodiments, receiving the instruction may include receiving an
auto-generated (i.e., device generated) instruction which may for
example be generated by the device in response to the device
detecting attachment of the attachment mechanism to a part of the
human or animal subject.
[0134] Receiving the instruction to commence measuring may thus
include receiving or otherwise be associated with an indication of
attachment of an attachment mechanism of the measurement device to
a part of a human or animal subject. As described in the foregoing,
the attachment mechanism is fixed to and extends from a body of the
device which is configured for gripping by a user.
[0135] In response to receiving the instruction, the device may
start sampling data points. This may include instructing the
appropriate sensor modules to start sampling data points;
receiving, processing and/or storing data points and the like.
Receiving the instruction may thus trigger the sampling of data
points.
[0136] The method includes receiving (202) force measurement data
and receiving (204) position measurement data. The force
measurement data may be received from a force sensor module and the
position measurement data may be received from a position sensor
module. Each of the force measurement data and position measurement
data may include a series of data points relating to discrete force
and position measurements, respectively, obtained at specific
points in time. Each set of data therefore describes changes in an
applied force and changes in a position of the part of the human or
animal subject relative to other parts, respectively, over a period
of time. The modules from which the data is received may be
configured with a high sampling frequency, such that a number of
data points are measured per second, for example. The sensors may
for example obtain measurement samples at anywhere between 10 Hz
and 50 kHz. The processor can apply filtering, averaging or
smoothing to the sample points.
[0137] The received data may be timestamped (e.g., by the
respective modules by which they are measured) and/or the method
may include timestamping (206) the force measurement data and
position measurement data as it is received. Timestamping may
include timestamping filtered, averaged or smoothed sample points.
Timestamping operates to relate a given force measurement data
point to a corresponding position measurement data point so that a
plot of the relationship between force and displacement can be
generated (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 19A-19C).
[0138] The method includes storing (208) and/or transmitting (210)
measurement data, including the received and timestamped force
measurement data and position measurement data. Storing or
transmitting the received and timestamped force measurement data
and position measurement data includes storing or transmitting
force measurement data points and corresponding displacement
measurement data points having been measured in-vivo while applying
a force to a particular tooth of a human or animal subject. The
data may be stored in the memory module for offline retrieval
(e.g., for uploading at a later point) or may be transmitted to the
computing device or a remote server. Storing the measurement data
may for example include storing the measurement data in a comma
separated value (CSV) or appropriate format. Stored measurement
data may for example take on the form:
yyyymmddhhmmssms,Ftx,Fty,Ftz,Dtx,Dty,Dtz,Fmx,Fmy,Fmz,Dmx,Dmy,Dmz, ,
, ,
20200412084530900,12.30,2.10,32.65,11.34,18.10,9.50,128.20,90.40,23.43,78-
.23,-12.30,-98.20, , , ,
20200412084530905,13.00,2.30,33.98,11.90,17.50,9.50,137.80,-95.60,-20.98,-
83.45,-5.40,-98.41, , , ,
20200412084530910,13.70,1.20,35.31,12.10,17.95,9.56,143.20,-98.70,-18.87,-
89.67,-0.23,-98.98, , , ,
20200412084530915,14.40,1.80,36.64,12.54,17.70,9.58,151.40,-103.20,-16.53-
,95.22,6.09,-99.31, , , ,
20200412084530920,15.10,1.35,37.97,12.92,17.63,9.61,158.90,-107.35,-14.25-
,100.94,12.13,-99.70, , , ,
20200412084530925,15.80,1.15,39.30,13.30,17.55,9.64,166.40,-111.50,-11.97-
,106.66,18.16,-100.09, , , ,
20200412084530930,16.50,0.95,40.63,13.68,17.48,9.67,173.90,-115.65,-9.69,-
112.38,24.20,-100.48, , , ,
20200412084530935,17.20,0.75,41.96,14.06,17.40,9.70,181.40,-119.80,-7.41,-
118.10,30.23,-100.87, , , ,
20200412084530940,17.90,0.55,43.29,14.44,17.33,9.73,188.90,-123.95,-5.13,-
123.82,36.27,-101.26, , , ,
20200412084530945,18.60,0.35,44.62,14.82,17.25,9.76,196.40,-128.10,-2.85,-
129.54,42.30,-101.65, , , ,
20200412084530950,19.30,0.15,45.95,15.20,17.18,9.79,203.90,-132.25,-0.57,-
135.26,48.34,-102.04, , , ,
20200412084530955,20.00,-0.05,47.28,15.58,17.10,9.82,211.40,-136.40,1.71,-
140.98,54.37,-102.43, , , ,
20200412084530960,20.70,-0.25,48.61,15.96,17.03,9.85,218.90,-140.55,3.99,-
146.70,60.41,-102.82, , , ,
20200412084530965,21.40,-0.45,49.94,16.34,16.95,9.88,226.40,-144.70,6.27,-
152.42,66.44,-103.21, , , ,
[0139] The method may include outputting (212) the measurement data
(e.g. one or both of position and force measurement data) to a user
interface. Outputting the data may include outputting reference
data (e.g. one or both of position and force reference data) to the
user interface. The measurement data and reference data may be
overlaid or juxtaposed or otherwise displayed so as to guide the
user as to the application of force. Example arrangements of
measurement and reference data output to a user interface are
illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B. The method repeats (214) for
continual receiving, timestamping, storing, transmitting and/or
outputting of measurement data.
[0140] Aspects of the present disclosure are directed specifically
to the measurement of data points relating to force applied to, and
position of, a target tooth of a human subject relative to other
teeth of the human subject. The measurement data is obtained for
the purpose of plotting a behavior curve that describes the
relationship between changes in forces applied to the target tooth
and changes in position of the target tooth relative to the other
teeth. Such a curve may be useful in determining an optimal force
for use in the corrective treatment of malocclusion and other
dentofacial defects using an orthodontic appliance or aligners.
More specifically, an optimal force that is patient- (or subject-)
specific, tooth specific and, in some cases, stage of treatment
regimen specific may be determined.
[0141] The measurement data may be obtained using a measurement
device that has no internal mechanism for applying a force.
Instead, the measurement device may be configured to transfer a
force that is applied to the device by a human user onto a target
tooth to which the device is attached. In order to guide the human
user as to the appropriate force to apply, the device may include a
user feedback system configured to output measurement data to the
human user via an appropriate user interface.
[0142] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram which illustrates an example
embodiment of a feedback system implemented by the measurement
system and device described herein. The processor (128) is
configured in such a way as to provide feedback (250) to the user
(252) via a user interface with an indication that the user can
apply a stimulus such as a force to the target tooth. The user
feedback can include instructions to the user regarding what
stimulus to apply, the magnitude of force as well as the dynamic or
movement applied to the tooth. In addition, the device can notify
the user in case an incorrect stimulus is being applied. In its
simplest form the user interface can be minimalistic and use only
indicator LEDs. In a more advanced version of the UI the user can
see the measured stimulus and resulting biomechanical tissue
response in real-time as well as real-time analytics showing
parameters relating to the behavior of the biomechanical tissue
response (e.g. as illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B). This step can
make use of the indicator LEDs, a screen on the device or a user
interface on a computer. The user holds the device and applies
(254) a stimulus to the target tooth to which the device is
connected via the shaft and attachment. The device force sensor
module (120) is configured to measure the stimulus applied by the
user in real-time and to provide the measured stimulus back to the
microprocessor in the form of one or more data points. The signal
received by the processor can be processed and the data received
can be used to determine a new signal or user feedback provided to
the user. In addition, the position sensor module is configured in
such a way as to measure the biomechanical tissue response (256) in
real-time. This position sensor module (122) is also configured in
such a way as to provide one or more data points back to the
processor. The processor can make use of the data received
describing the applied stimulus (force measurement data), the data
received describing the biomechanical tissue response (position
measurement data) or a combination of the two to determine the user
feedback and signal. The device can make use of a user interface to
display the data in any form and in real-time.
[0143] Referring now to FIG. 7, in one possible use case, the
device (102) is attached (302) to a target tooth using an
attachment mechanism to the tooth. The user of the device then
applies (304) a stimulus in the form of a forward (pushing) force
to the tooth, which is followed by an application (306) of a force
in the opposite direction (pulling force). The device measures
(308) the applied stimulus in real-time as well as the resulting
biomechanical tissue response in real time (e.g. as described above
with reference to FIG. 5). The device compares (310) the measured
biomechanical tissue response to previous cycles. The device
assesses (312) the change in the biomechanical tissue response and
depending on the assessment, provides the user with an indication
of what stimulus to apply. Typically, the assessment will include
changes in the displacement, the gradient (or "ease of movement"),
for example as described in FIGS. 20-25. This process can be
repeated (314) for the same tooth, or on another target tooth.
Repeating (314) the process may include recommencing the process at
applying (304) a forward force or at attachment (302) of the device
and sensors. In other words, the process may be repeated for the
same tooth or for another tooth.
[0144] In cases where a cyclic stimulus is applied to one or more
teeth in a back and forth motion (e.g. as in the example use-case
described above with reference to FIG. 7), the neutral position of
the tooth may need to be identified from the raw data. FIG. 8 is a
flow diagram which illustrates an example method for determining
the neutral position of a tooth in biomechanical response data. The
method may be conducted by a measurement device and/or computing
device. The method includes the identification of the position
through which the tooth moves at which the movement occurs most
easily, or in other words the change in displacement per unit of
force is highest. The force level at which this occurs, can be used
to center the raw data of the cyclic movement measurement. The
method includes obtaining (320) the raw measurement data (e.g. raw
force and position measurement data) and calculating (322) the
average displacement curve as a function of the applied stimulus.
The method includes calculating (324) the derivative of the
displacement with respect to the applied force. The method includes
calculating (326) the second order derivative of the measured
force-displacement curve. The method includes identifying (328) the
point at which this curve is equal to zero, which indicates the
force and position at which the tooth is at its neutral position
which are selected or identified (330) as an origin around which to
center the biomechanical tissue response curve. An example graph
including an average displacement curve and derivative curve is
illustrated in FIG. 25 and is indicative of the "ease of movement".
In other words, the point at which this curve is highest is likely
to coincide with the position at which the displacement of the
tooth is zero and likewise the compression of tension of the
surrounding biomechanical tissue would likely be at its lowest.
[0145] In previous examples the user applied a stimulus to the
target tooth that followed a cyclic movement and possibly a back
and forth or pushing and pulling movement. FIG. 9 is a flow diagram
which illustrates another possible use case of the device (102) in
which the user can apply a stimulus of random magnitude and random
direction. The first step includes attaching (340) the reference
jig (if applicable) to the one or more teeth and attaching (342)
the attachment mechanism to the target tooth. The user then applies
(344) a random force that can vary in magnitude, direction, and
frequency and can include six degrees of freedom movement. The
force sensor module on the device is configured to measure (345)
said randomly applied stimulus and can assign a timestamp to the
value measured at a specific time. Simultaneously, the position
sensor module measures (346) the resulting biomechanical tissue
response (position measurement data) in real-time and can assign a
timestamp to each of the measurement values. In a next step the
processor of the device can receive the measurement data from each
of the modules and can use the measurement data point at each given
timestamp to calculate (348) the behavior curve (or
force-displacement curve and the behavior of the PDL resulting from
a randomly applied stimulus).
[0146] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram which illustrates and example
feedback method according to aspects of the present disclosure. The
method may be conducted by a measurement device. The feedback
method is a process by way of which the user is presented with
reference data for the stimulus which should be applied to the
target tooth. The feedback may be in real-time and may be based on
measurement data (including e.g. a measured biomechanical tissue
response) and hence the measured behavior of the PDL. As with
previous embodiments, the device and reference jig (if applicable)
are attached to the one or more teeth and the tip of the device is
attached to the target tooth. The device then provides (360) the
user with a signal that indicates that the user can apply a
stimulus. This may include outputting reference data (e.g. force
reference data) indicating the magnitude, direction and or moments
of force that the user is to apply by moving the measurement device
relative to the tooth to which it is attached. This feedback can be
provided to the user in a number of ways including but not limited
to indicator LED's, a screen or user interface on the device or a
user interface on an external device (e.g. as described above with
reference to FIG. 4A or 4B). In response, the user applies a
stimulus according to the reference signal that was provided to the
user by the device. The device measures (362) the applied stimulus
(force measurement data) and measures (364) the resulting
biomechanical tissue response (position measurement data), and
calculates (366) the resulting behavior curve (or
force-displacement curve). Based on the analysis of the sensor
measurement data, the device determines (368) updated reference
data and can provide the updated reference data (e.g. as feedback)
to the user. This process can be repeated, thereby essentially
creating a closed-loop feedback loop and control system that allows
a controlled stimulus to be applied to the one or more target
teeth.
[0147] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to obtaining force
measurement data and position measurement data (which together may
be termed biomechanical response data) for the purpose of
determining one or more determinant points, a target orthodontic
force, a stage force value, stage movement value and the like. The
data points measured herein may for example be used to define a
case-specific critical force level or other appropriate determent
point. An optimal force may be a function of the critical
force.
[0148] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram which illustrates an example
method for determining or calculating a critical force according to
aspects of the present disclosure. The flow diagram illustrates one
possible process for repeatedly defining determinate points and
force levels based on the measured biomechanical tissue response.
More specifically, this process allows the definition of a patient,
tooth and case specific value of a critical force level Fc to be
determined. The method may be conducted by a measurement device or
a computing device. The method includes obtaining (380) raw data
describing the biomechanical tissue response. This may include
receiving measurement data from the measurement modules, retrieving
the raw data from the memory module or a computing device receiving
the raw data from the measurement device via the communication
channel. The method includes calculating (382) the average
force-displacement curve (or behavior curve). The method includes
applying (384) segmented linear regression to the behavior curve to
classify the different regions or stages of non-pathologic tooth
movement. An example illustration of this process is also shown in
FIG. 24. The segmented linear regression includes (385) fitting
straight lines to the behavior curve that describe the initial
tooth movement (ITM) and secondary tooth movement (STM) stages of
tooth movement resulting from an applied stimulus. When a cyclic
movement is applied, the intersection of the ITM stages in opposite
directions is fixed at the origin. The method includes determining
(386) intersection of the ITM and STM stages in both the forward
and backward direction. The method includes identifying (388) the
critical force (Fc) as being the force magnitude at the
intersection of the ITM and STM. It is at this point that the PDL
is partially compressed and this determinate point can therefore be
used to identify a critical force level Fc. The method may include
storing this value (Fc) in a database in association with one or
more of: a patient identifier; tooth identifier; date information;
patient health information; treatment regimen information; the raw
force measurement data; the raw position measurement data, and the
like. The method described above with reference to FIG. 11 includes
various steps to define a determinate point on the curve describing
the PDL behavior using segmented linear regression.
[0149] The measurement systems, methods and devices described
herein relate to the measurement of data points and determination
of a critical orthodontic force (or simply critical force) using
the measured data points. In the description that follows, an
overview of the underlying medical and scientific theory is
presented together with an explanation of the effects that the
various forces applied to target teeth may have on the orofacial
structures as well as various outputs that may be obtained using
the systems and methods described herein.
[0150] FIG. 12 shows a possible tooth displacement resulting from
an applied force F. The force F is applied in such a direction that
the force does not directly pass through the center of resistance
(ORES) of the tooth, and thus is expected that the resulting
movement will include both a translation as well as a rotational
component. These concepts have been studied extensively and are
well understood in the field of orthodontics, but in general a
force of certain direction and magnitude will result in two
components, a translational and a rotational component. The
translational component is equal to the direction and magnitude of
the force, while the rotational component or resulting moment is a
function of the force direction and magnitude as well as the
perpendicular distance of the force away from the Centre of
Resistance of a tooth. The Figure shows one scenario where the
force F is applied at a perpendicular distance away from the Centre
of Resistance. The resulting movement of the tooth within the
alveolus consists of both a translation and rotation. The overall
movement can be described as a pure rotation about the Centre of
Rotation (402), which in this case does not coincide with the
Centre of Resistance.
[0151] The Centre of Resistance (Cres) is a function of the tooth
and root shape and morphology, the thickness and the shape of the
PDL and other related factors. A shorter tooth root will cause Cres
to lie more coronally toward the crown of a tooth, while a longer
tooth root will result in Cres lying more apically toward the tip
of the tooth root. Similarly, any plurality of tooth roots of an
individual tooth or different shapes will affect the position of
Cres. FIG. 13 shows the different positions (401, 403, 404) for the
Centre of Resistance of different teeth (405, 406, 407).
[0152] FIG. 14 illustrates the same force F being applied at
different points and in different directions (A, B, C, D, E) on a
tooth. Each force will result in a different type of movement of
the tooth. The translational component will be the same for all
forces except for FE for which the direction differs. The
perpendicular distance of FA from Cres is largest for FA. FA will
thus have the largest moment applied to the tooth, while FB will
have a smaller and FC will have an even smaller moment. The force
FD could practically not be applied at the Cres, but in theory
would result in a zero moment and only a translational force
component. Similarly, the vector of FE passes through Cres and
would thus have a translational component only resulting in pure
translation of the tooth. While it may not be possible to apply a
force such as FD at the Cres of the tooth crown, a force couple can
be applied at for example the same point as FB, consisting of a
force FB as well as a moment in the opposite direction as the
moment resulting from FB. The net force applied to the tooth would
then be the same as FD. The current invention is able to calculate
the resulting stimulus applied to the one or more teeth based on
the force sensor measurement and the position of the applied force
in real-time and is able to provide feedback to the user based
thereon. In addition, the device is able to provide a reference
signal to the user in order to achieve a stimulus that best
approximates the desired stimulus applied to the target tooth.
[0153] FIG. 15 (shown as FIG. 15(a) and FIG. 15(b)) is a side
profile of a tooth showing the differences that can occur in tooth
root and bone morphology. In FIG. 15(a), the PDL (410) shown has a
uniform profile and thickness around the tooth (412). FIG. 15(b)
shows an example of a tooth that has localized differences (410A,
410B) in PDL thickness due to variations in the tooth root
morphology and in the morphology of the alveolar bone (414)
structure surrounding the tooth root. The different PDL thicknesses
would result in different biomechanical tissue responses when
subject to the same stimulus. This difference in behavior of the
PDL can be measured and quantified using the current invention. A
localized change in shape of either the root or the bone can limit
movement of the PDL within the alveolar cavity, thus showing a
smaller displacement for a first root or bone morphology as opposed
to a larger displacement for a second, different, root or bone
morphology resulting from the same applied stimulus. Similarly,
differences in the tooth root and alveolar bone morphology, can
result to a different biomechanical tissue response in the forward
or the backward direction as shown in FIG. 23 where the
displacement in the one direction e.g. a pushing force, is larger
than the displacement in the opposite direction e.g. a pulling
force.
[0154] FIG. 16, shown here in FIG. 16(a) and FIG. 16(b) is a side
profile of a tooth in a position before a stimulus has been applied
to the tooth and after a force (F) has been applied to the tooth.
The stimulus or force applied to the tooth causes the PDL (410C) to
become compressed as shown in FIG. 16(b). At a lower force, the
compression of the PDL is limited by the visco-elastic effects of
the PDL which can be measured using the current invention. At a
lower force (F) the biomechanical tissue response as a function of
the applied force increases faster, while at a higher force (F) the
response and displacement of the tooth is limited by the alveolar
bone, thus an increase in the applied force (F) does not lead to
the same change in the measured tissue response.
[0155] FIG. 17 is a side profile of a tooth showing the points at
which a force (F) can be applied and the different points Point A
and Point B at which the biomechanical tissue response can be
measured. The Figure also shows the Centre of Rotation (Crot) (402)
around which the tooth moves. The movement of a tooth when a force
is applied to the same tooth can be either pure translation, or
pure rotation, or a combination of the two. The movement can
further be in all directions including 6 degrees of freedom. In the
example shown in FIG. 17, the displacement and movement of the
tooth around the Centre of Rotation will result in a higher
relative displacement of Point A than for Point B. The device can
measure the biomechanical tissue response at either Point A or Pont
B or any other point of the tooth or multiple points on the tooth.
It is further possible to determine that the movement of Point A
and Point B both describe the same biomechanical tissue response,
where the one is simply a multiple of the other, assuming that the
tooth is rigid or the deformation thereof is negligible.
[0156] FIG. 18 is an example plot of the critical force as a
function of time for various different teeth, which illustrates the
measured biomechanical tissue response and behavior of the PDL are
indicative of the various factors relating to the alveolar complex
and the bone remodeling process during orthodontic treatment
including, but not limited to tooth and root morphology, PDL
thickness, health, and general state of the PDL, bone type, blood
pressure, muscular activity, patient age and patient health. Since
many of these factors change over time the behavior of the PDL also
varies over time and the current invention is able to measure and
quantify the biomechanical tissue response to determine this change
over time. These changes are especially present during orthodontic
treatment during which time significant changes occur to the
applied forces and subsequent bone and tissue remodeling. FIG. 18
shows an example of the critical force level Fc as one possible
determinate point established at different times during treatment
for three different types of teeth. The plotted values of Fc over
the course of treatment change due to the changing tissue
structures of the PDL during treatment and this change over time
can further be different for each individual patient or tooth.
[0157] The measurement device described herein is able to measure
the stimulus applied by the user as well as the resulting
biomechanical tissue (position data) response in real time. For
example, the user could apply a force to a tooth in a back and
forth motion, alternating between a pushing and a pulling force
applied to the tooth. The device would receive a measurement of the
applied force at a specific point in time, and the device would
also receive a measurement of the resulting tooth displacement at a
specific point in time. The processor could assign a timestamp to
each of the measurements, allowing these to be received
asynchronously. Data can be processed separately or sent to an
external device or processor and can be correlated again using the
timestamp. By relating the measured stimulus to the resulting tooth
displacement, the device would be able to determine the
force-displacement curve describing the behavior of the periodontal
ligament as shown in FIG. 19A. The raw force-displacement data
(416) shows a hysteresis effect due to the visco-elastic effects of
the periodontal ligament. The raw data can be used to determine the
average biomechanical tissue response for a given stimulus. In the
example given, the average force displacement curve (418) can be
calculated.
[0158] The measurement device described herein can measure the
biomechanical tissue response at different points on the one or
more teeth to which a stimulus is being applied. If for example the
tooth displacement is measured, this can be different when measured
at different points on the tooth and the tooth displacement can
include both translation, or rotation, or a combination thereof.
FIG. 20 shows an example of the biomechanical tissue response
measured at two different points, Points A and Point B (e.g.
corresponding to those points illustrated in FIG. 17) on the same
tooth, for the case where the tooth movement can include both
translation and in this case is rotated around the Centre of
Rotation (402). The displacement measured at Point A will be
greater than the displacement measured at Point B. More
specifically, the displacement of Point A will be a multiple of the
displacement of Point B or vice versa. Both curves and measurement
at the two points describe the same biomechanical tissue
response.
[0159] The force or stimulus applied to the one or more teeth can
be applied repeatedly over time and the resulting biomechanical
tissue response can be measured. For example, the user can apply a
repeated pushing and pulling force to one or more teeth. The
measured biomechanical tissue response can vary for each cycle of
the applied force, as illustrated in FIG. 21. For example, the
displacement of a tooth can increase for each cycle of an applied
force due to the visco-elastic effects of the PDL and the
biomechanical tissue. The applied pressure can lead to fluids being
pushed out of the tissue and lead to compression of the surrounding
alveolar bone. Due to the reduced viscous resistance and
compression of the surrounding tissue, a greater displacement can
be measured for the same level of force that is applied for each
subsequent cycle. The device can measure and monitor the change in
the biomechanical tissue response over time.
[0160] FIG. 22 shows another example of the change of the
biomechanical tissue response when subject to repeated cyclic
stimulus. In this example, the initial response changes more than
the tissue response at larger forces. This effect can be seen due
to a change in the visco-elastic response of the PDL and
surrounding tissue and specifically due to the change in fluid
effects. Applying pressure to the PDL can lead to fluids being
removed from the tissue, thus leading to a lower resistance on
subsequent loading cycles. This change is greater in the initial
stage of displacement, where viscous effects are more prominent,
and smaller in the secondary stage of tooth movement, where the
elastic effects of for example bone compression are greater.
[0161] A force or stimulus can be applied to one or more teeth in
any direction and in six degrees of freedom. Due to the different
shape of the PDL and non-uniform root and bone morphology, the
biomechanical tissue response can be different in different
directions, as shown in FIG. 23. Here a positive force leads to a
larger measured displacement dx, while a negative force or the same
magnitude leads to a lower relative displacement.
[0162] One example of biomechanical tissue response measured by the
current invention can in general be divided into different stages
of non-pathological tooth movement. These two stages can be
described as the initial tooth movement (ITM) stage and the
secondary tooth movement (STM) stage. The ITM occurs at lower
forces while the STM stage occurs at greater force levels. One
possible way of repeatedly determining these stages of tooth
movement is using segmented linear regression, for which a straight
line is fitted to the measured force-displacement data describing
the biomechanical tissue response the result of which is shown in
FIG. 24.
[0163] FIG. 25 illustrates another example, in which the measured
biomechanical tissue response can be analyzed to determine the
direction of the tissue response as well as the magnitude of the
tissue response as a function of the applied stimulus. By taking
the first and second derivatives of the tooth displacement with
respect to the applied force, it is possible to determine for
example the ease of movement. This parameter, which is obtained by
taking the second order derivative, could be indicative of the
force range which would be safe to apply to a tooth or within which
no long-lasting negative effects could be expected.
[0164] It should be clear from the foregoing that the force
magnitude is not the only factor affecting the rate of tooth
movement and that various other factors exist that need to be taken
into consideration and controlled to induce the maximum rate of
tooth movement. The optimal orthodontic force can then be described
as the force that, to the best of scientific knowledge, is most
effective in producing a desired outcome of a certain orthodontic
treatment. This may be the force that, if applied to one or
multiple teeth, would result in the maximum rate of tooth movement,
while at the same time avoiding any adverse short or long term
tissue damage, minimizing patient discomfort or aiding in achieving
any other desired outcomes. The force can be in any direction or
around any axis in a three-dimensional space and can vary in
magnitude, direction, frequency, profile or point of application.
The optimal orthodontic force can be patient specific, as well as
age or health specific, and can further differ for each tooth,
group of teeth, type of tooth movement or other type of
treatment.
[0165] The use of new orthodontic appliances such as clear
aligners, robotically bent arch wires or 3D printed orthodontic
appliances and components has provided new opportunities for
controlling the amount of tooth movement and the forces applied to
one or more teeth. The ability of 3D printing orthodontic and
dental appliances or parts thereof allows highly accurate control
of the shape and functionality of the appliance. For example, the
exact forces of an orthodontic appliance could be controlled by 3D
printing by means of controlling the material type, stiffness, and
geometry at a micron level. Similarly, the exact forces applied by
an orthodontic arch wire can be controlled using robotically bent
and custom formed arch wires. While this technology provides a
significant improvement over conventional orthodontic systems, it
can still lead to orthodontic appliances that transmit forces to
the teeth which are higher than the optimal forces levels and thus
can lead to the negative effects including discomfort, tissue
necrosis or root resorption. The measurement data obtained from the
measurement device described herein may be applied in the
determination of a patient-, tooth-, health-, time- and/or
treatment regimen-specific target force for use in the
configuration and manufacture of such aligners.
[0166] Aspects of the present disclosure provide a device
configured to quantify the biomechanical tissue response and
behavior of the PDL in-vivo (e.g. by obtaining force and/or
measurement data). The measurement device may for example include;
an attachment mechanism allowing a user to apply and transfer a
stimulus to one or more teeth; a feedback system including at least
one sensor configured to measure the stimulus applied to one or
more teeth; a feedback system including at least one sensor
configured to measure parameters relating to the biomechanical
tissue response (e.g. changes in position data) resulting from the
applied stimulus; a power source configured to provide power to the
device; a processor in data communication with the sensors, said
processor being able to measure, process and analyze the signals
received from the sensors; and, a feedback mechanism in the form of
a general user interface or indicator lights.
[0167] Aspects of the present disclosure provide a measurement
device for measuring and quantifying the biomechanical tissue
response and relating behavior of the PDL and surrounding tissue
in-vivo. The device includes a sensor system configured to measure
the stimulus applied to the one or more teeth using a six degrees
of freedom force sensor system. In some embodiments, the sensor
system is configured to measure the biomechanical tissue response
using magnetic hall sensors to measure the resulting biomechanical
tissue response of one or more teeth. In other embodiments, the
sensor system is configured to measure the biomechanical tissue
response using a camera to measure the resulting biomechanical
tissue response of one or more teeth. In some embodiments the
sensor system is configured to measure the biomechanical tissue
response using computer vision to determine the position of certain
points on one or more teeth and to measure the resulting
biomechanical tissue response. This may include using computer
vision to calculate the position of the tooth in 3D. The device may
be configured to provide feedback to the user regarding the desired
stimulus to be applied.
[0168] Aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for
determining and quantifying the behavior of the periodontal
ligament. The method includes using a measurement device to apply a
stimulus that includes cyclic forces, measuring the tissue response
of one or more teeth for each back and forth cycle, and quantifying
and determining points on the curve describing the PDL behavior
[0169] Aspects of the present disclosure provide a device for
quantifying the behavior of the PDL and measuring the biomechanical
tissue response resulting from an applied stimulus. The device
includes a means for creating an attachment to one or more teeth
and for transmitting a stimulus such as a force to the tooth. The
device further includes a rod allowing a stimulus to be transferred
from the handle of the device to the tooth. The device includes an
ergonomically shaped handle for the user to hold the device and can
include indicator lights or LED's, an LED or LCD screen to provide
feedback to the user. The device can also include a sensor system
to measure the biomechanical tissue response.
Optimal Force Engine
[0170] Above, reference is made to a target orthodontic force which
is said to be an optimal force or optimal orthodontic force.
An Evidence-Based Approach
[0171] Previous research on an optimal force has focused primarily
on the relationship between the force magnitude and the resulting
tooth movement. This relationship was expressed mathematically
as
x=f(F) (Equation 1)
and is based on the general assumption that a quantitative
relationship can indeed be determined. Equation 1 describes the
tooth movement as a function of a single input parameter, namely
force F. This relationship disregards several of the relevant
factors relating to orthodontic tooth movement, however, and
therefore is unlikely to be able to fully and accurately describe
such a complex relationship. In contrast, there are many different
factors that have been shown to affect the resulting tooth
movement. If these additional parameters are taken into account
this would be expressed mathematically in the form:
x=f(p.sub.0,p.sub.1,p.sub.2, . . . ,p.sub.n) (Equation 2)
where x is the resulting orthodontic tooth movement and p.sub.0,
p.sub.1, p.sub.2 . . . p.sub.n are all parameters that to some
extent affect said tooth movement.
[0172] Equation 2 thus takes into account all relevant parameters,
but is difficult to solve because too many variables remain
unknown. The choice of suitable variables is critical and can be
narrowed down by considering (a) the controllability of input
parameters and (b) the measurability and quality of output
parameters.
[0173] Only a number of input variables are directly controllable
and can be altered by the researcher or practitioner (i.e.
"Controllable Factors" e.g. including static force magnitude,
direction, duration, point of application and frequency of
application as well as the amplitude, frequency and profile of a
dynamic force). Earlier factors (e.g. time<0 factors) are part
of the biological system and cannot be controlled, while later
factors (e.g. time>0 factors) are in some way a function of the
applied force F, and therefore can, to some extent, be
controlled.
[0174] Various output variables can be used to measure tooth
movement, but the attainable quality thereof often seems to be a
decisive factor. Data quality can be gauged in terms of: [0175]
Accuracy [0176] Frequency (how often is data obtained) [0177]
Timing (when data is first obtained e.g. after t=1 sec, 1 day or 1
week) [0178] Relationship to input parameter (data are directly or
indirectly related to F) [0179] Robustness (data are susceptible to
variations of measuring method, type of tooth movement, individual
differences, time of sampling).
[0180] When reviewing the available literature, the above factors
seem to have governed the success or failure of many a study. The
availability and accuracy of data were identified as key concerns,
as well as large individual variations, the timing of measurements
with regard to the different stages of tooth movement, variations
in species and controlling the type of tooth
movement.sup.2,7,8.
Past Study Methods and their Limitations
[0181] Studies have frequently not been able to reach conclusive
results and have listed a lack of statistically significant data,
insufficient device capabilities and study methods as reasons. The
following section will discuss some of the available research
methods and the relating challenges faced by researchers.
[0182] In-vivo studies are attractive in that no compromise is made
in terms of the accuracy of the system being examined. The affected
tissues are in their true state and the biological system retains
its all-important properties that might affect orthodontic tooth
movement. Yet, the accuracy to which forces can be applied to
individual teeth in-vivo is often limited by appliance
capabilities. The mechanical nature of conventional appliances
often does not provide the desired feedback and control over the
applied stimulus, which in turn affects the type of tooth
movement.
[0183] The use of electronic test set-ups in-vivo has also been
previously described.sup.9-11. These allow for improved data
collection, but are often limited by practical applications.
Electronic appliances, measuring devices or experimental set-ups
are often only suitable for laboratory environments and require
physical connections such as cables to a computer for data
collection. This makes repeated measurements harder and limits the
attainable sampling frequency during treatment.
[0184] In-vitro studies on the other hand allow for sophisticated
test set-ups and therefore improved means for data collection. The
use of accurate measuring equipment enables characterizing the
response of the PDL when subjected to various force
stimuli.sup.12,13. In-vitro experiments are unfortunately limited
by the extent to which the tissue response of specimens resembles
the true biological system response.
[0185] Developing mathematical models offers interesting insights
and presents itself as an attractive solution to define an optimal
force. As previously discussed, however, these rely heavily on the
availability of data and its accuracy. Further, accounting for
multiple variables requires increasingly complex models, while
simplifying models compromises in accuracy by assuming the effect
of certain parameters to be negligible. Ren et all noted for
example that when co-variables such as reactivation or type of
appliance were taken into account, the variance of their model
increased significantly. Such a model is thus sensitive to
uncertainties or unknown parameters and does not offer
robustness.
[0186] The use of finite element methods (FEM) for orthodontic
studies has provided great insight to patterns of stress
distribution in the PDL, tooth mobility, and also the time
dependent changes incurred after the application of a
force.sup.14,15. It can further account for different tooth and
root geometries and different material properties. Preparation of
FEM models often requires CT scans.sup.14 as well as defining
numerous material properties, which play a critical role in the
analysis. Assumptions need to be made regarding said material
properties and accurately defining these remains a
challenge.sup.16.
[0187] The material properties of the PDL have for example
frequently been assumed to be linear elastic, homogeneous, and
isotropic.sup.14 even though data indicates that the morphology of
the PDL is highly inhomogeneous.sup.3. Such simplifications cause
the validity and reliability of FEM to be questioned.sup.17.
Current FEM models are also not well suited to accurately account
for the time-dependent short and long term changes seen in the
PDL.
[0188] Generally, all of the prior methods for investigating the
concept of an orthodontic force have limitations and have led
several researchers to conclude that improved technologies and
methods are required. The multitude of factors relating to
orthodontic tooth movement and their interdependent nature make it
impossible to isolate single variables. Without further discussion
hereof, it is unlikely that all such variables and unknown
parameters can be accounted for in an effort to determine a
quantitative relationship.
Observations
[0189] When collectively reviewing the available literature
concerned with an optimal orthodontic force, several factors which
play a fundamental role in conducting orthodontic research can be
observed.
Observation No. 1--Risks of Quantitative Solutions
[0190] The general prior art approach to defining an optimal
orthodontic force has been of a purely quantitative nature. Exact
numerical values of variables have been used with the aim of
determining statistically significant solutions and mathematical
models. As discussed, these do not offer robustness to variations
and do not account for the many unknowns of the biological system
under investigation that researchers seem to acknowledge exist.
Observation No. 2--Non-Pathologic Tooth Mobility
[0191] The intra-alveolar displacement of a tooth is usually
referred to as tooth mobility and is more frequently related to
periodontics. Tooth mobility is also observable for a healthy tooth
and is a function of the bio-physical parameters of the healthy
periodontal environment. It represents the intra-alveolar
displacement of a single tooth due to an applied force. Notably,
non-pathologic tooth mobility is the only factor which is: [0192]
measurable in-vivo [0193] measurable within seconds [0194]
measurable without causing any damage to the affected tissues
[0195] measurable by external means and without sacrificing the
subject [0196] measurable repeatedly and dynamically.
[0197] There are also two clearly distinguishable stages of tooth
mobility, namely initial tooth mobility (ITM) and secondary tooth
mobility (STM) as first described by Muhlemann.sup.18. ITM is
generally perceived as being facilitated by the visco-elastic
properties of the PDL, while STM is considered the result of an
elastic deformation of the alveolar socket walls.sup.12,18.
Observation No. 3--Force Magnitude
[0198] When considering previous studies on humans very few have
accurately investigated the effect of low forces of 30 cN or less.
The majority of studies listed in previous reviews by Owmann-Moll
et al..sup.6, Ren et al..sup.7 or Von Bohl et al..sup.19 have
examined forces that lie in the range of 50 cN to 200 cN, with some
as high as 1500 cN.
Observation No. 4--Light Orthodontic Forces
[0199] Even though references to light orthodontic forces or
comparisons between light and heavy forces can repeatedly be found,
there exists no clear definition as to what constitutes a light
force.
[0200] The term can refer to forces ranging from 1 cN to 60 cN,
while if two forces are compared, even 300 cN can be referred to as
light in comparison to a second larger force.sup.5. Despite its
frequent use, there is no universal consensus nor sound scientific
evidence regarding the force magnitude.sup.7. Any reference to a
light force requires a threshold, a maximum value or reference
point by which it can be gauged.
A New Paradigm
[0201] Non-pathologic tooth mobility can be measured as a function
of an applied force and represented as a curve which has been
measured since the 1950s. The validity of this curve has been
confirmed by several studies and simulations.sup.18,20-23. Tooth
mobility further represents the only externally measurable variable
immediately after the application of a force and before any
significant tissue remodeling has taken place. It is thus one of
the most important and yet disregarded factors relating the applied
force to orthodontic tooth movement.
[0202] Tooth mobility can be regarded as an intermediate variable
when relating an applied force to orthodontic tooth movement. The
shape of the curve is directly dependent on the majority of factors
relating to the biological system as well as those of the applied
force. It is a function of the root geometry and morphology of the
PDL and surrounding alveolar structures. It is also a function of
the force magnitude, the force direction and the rate of force
application.
[0203] In contrast to the previously discussed models,
characterizing the tooth mobility curve does not require any
knowledge of the variables by which it is affected. Instead, it can
be measured as was already done over 50 years ago by
Muhlemann.sup.18. The resulting numerical value of the maximum
displacement in .mu.m is also not critical. Instead, the ability to
determine the shape of the tooth mobility curve is critical. The
shape allows the ITM and STM force ranges to be identified, thereby
providing valuable insight into the extent of PDL compression.
[0204] This argument is based on the typical curve that is observed
when the soft PDL is deformed either by compression or tension as
described in detail by Sanctuary et al..sup.12. In both cases the
change in displacement (often expressed as strain) per change in
force is highest close to a force of zero magnitude and decreases
at higher forces.sup.4. The steeper ITM gradient for lower forces
and a decreased gradient for STM at higher forces is also in
agreement with the argument that low forces will induce an
intra-alveolar displacement of the root, while forces exceeding the
ITM range will displace both the PDL and the surrounding alveolar
bone.sup.20,14.
[0205] Based on the above, the hypothesis is put forth that the
force magnitude at which the transition from ITM to STM occurs
corresponds to a critical force F.sub.C at which the PDL has, at
least at one location, been fully compressed.
[0206] Because the shape of the tooth mobility curve depends on all
relevant factors affecting tooth movement at the time of force
application (time=0), the value of F.sub.C is automatically also a
function thereof. This is expressed mathematically in the form:
F.sub.C=f(force magnitude, type of movement, point of application,
root geometry, PDL morphology, blood pressure, species, patient
age, etc.) (Equation 3)
where F.sub.C is the critical force value in grams and all
variables of function f in some way affect the shape of the
measured tooth mobility curve. It is thus suggested that
orthodontic tooth movement should be considered a function of
F.sub.C rather than a function of the initial variables affecting
F.sub.C. Equation 1 then becomes:
x=f(F.sub.c) (Equation 4)
where the value of F.sub.C is completely case specific. For example
Fc for each of a Minipig, rat and human may be as follows:
F.sub.C=f(Minipig,Molar,Translation,Rotation).apprxeq.25 cN
F.sub.C=f(Rat,Molar,Translation,Rotation).apprxeq.0.5 cN
F.sub.C=f(Human,Incisor,Intrusion).apprxeq.50 cN
F.sub.C=f(Human,Molar,Translation,Tipping).apprxeq.13 cN
[0207] Even though these values are approximate and for
illustration purposes only, the above examples show that the value
of F.sub.C is case and tooth specific. The value for the human
cases for example is significantly higher than that of the rat,
while the value of F.sub.C within the same species human is higher
for intrusion than it is for the translation/tipping movement. It
should be noted that the value of F.sub.C could in itself be
dynamic as it is influenced by blood pressure, remodeling of the
PDL and its surrounding structures and other time-dependent
biological processes. The critical force F.sub.C is not an abstract
mathematical parameter but is related directly to physical
phenomenon. Any force with a magnitude exceeding F.sub.C is likely
to have a significantly different effect on the tissue remodeling
than a force of a magnitude below F.sub.C. The measurement and
definition of such case specific values of F.sub.C could provide a
key reference for the future investigation of an optimal
orthodontic force and orthodontic treatment in general. In this
paradigm, force magnitude alone is no longer the only critical
component but rather the force magnitude expressed in terms of
F.sub.C. Further, the definition of F.sub.C would provide a
reference by which to define light orthodontic forces. A light
orthodontic force could be defined as a force of which the
magnitude is smaller than F.sub.C. Once the value of F.sub.C has
been determined it, or a force with reference to F.sub.C, can be
related to the orthodontic tooth movement as described by Equation
4.
[0208] With this evidence-based approach in mind, the optimal force
engine (25) described above with reference to FIG. 1A may be
configured to perform or conduct a methods for determining a target
orthodontic force that can be said to be the optimal orthodontic
force. The optimal force engine (25) may be configured to define a
target or optimal force based on or as a function of one or more
determinate points of PDL behavior data (9). One example embodiment
of a method for determining a target orthodontic force is described
below with reference to FIG. 29. The method may be conducted by a
suitable computing device which in some embodiments may form a part
of or may provide an optimal force engine.
[0209] The method includes receiving (502) patient data associated
with a patient. The patient data may include patient characteristic
data and patient treatment data. The patient characteristic data
may for example include data points relating to one or more of
physiological, biological, genetic and situational characteristics
of the patient. The patient treatment data may include data points
relating to patient condition and treatment requirements, including
for example one or both of a tooth type indicator and a tooth
position indicator associated with a tooth of the patient to be
corrected. The patient treatment data may also include treatment
movement data (e.g. including one or more treatment movement
values) which describes the required tooth movement to effect
treatment (or correction) of the tooth.
[0210] The method includes retrieving (504) PDL behavior data
associated with at least a subset of the patient data. The PDL
behavior data includes or is based on measurement data including
force measurement data points and corresponding displacement
measurement data points having been measured in-vivo while applying
a force to a tooth of a human or animal subject (e.g. using a
measuring system as described in the foregoing or other suitable
means).
[0211] The PDL behavior data may include one or both of measured
PDL behavior data and modelled PDL behavior data which is based on
force measurement data points and corresponding displacement
measurement data points having been measured in-vivo while applying
a force to a tooth of a human or animal subject. In some cases, for
example, retrieving the PDL data may include querying a datastore
(7) for data (including e.g. modelled and/or measured PDL behavior
data) that is associated with the patient data or a subset thereof.
In other cases, retrieving the PDL data may include using a PDL
behavior model (33) to model or generate data that is associated
with the patient data or a subset thereof. In other cases, the data
may be retrieved from an interface module (23) or otherwise made
available to the optimal force engine. The PDL behavior data may
therefore include or be based on historical PDL behavior curves
determined based on measurements of other humans. The PDL behavior
data can therefore include one or both of data points measured from
another human and data points determined by a model that is trained
based on data points measured from another human. The PDL behavior
data includes or is based on externally measurable data points,
which may facilitate or simplify the collection of large-scale
datasets by virtue of the data being more easily obtainable (e.g.
using a measurement system as described in the foregoing). In some
implementations, retrieving the PDL behavior data includes
retrieving raw data describing the PDL behavior curve consisting of
the measurement of the applied force and the measured resulting
tooth displacement.
[0212] Referring to FIG. 19A, an example visualization of data
describing the PDL behavior which can be received in real time or
retrieved from memory (such as a datastore) is shown for one of six
possible degrees of freedom. The data describes the behavior of the
PDL when it is subjected to an applied force, in this case to a
back and forth motion, and includes both the magnitude of the force
and the displacement as well as the direction of the force and the
displacement (e.g. forward or backward or clockwise or
anticlockwise) for the relevant degrees of freedom. The data could
also vary depending on any other variables in the stimulus that
have been applied to the one or more teeth. For example, the
measurement data can include time dependent factors such as
frequency, or duration of application, and the data can typically
include time data to describe the moment in time when each of the
data points was measured, recorded or received by a processor. The
data shown in the Figure can describe the behavior of the PDL when
subject to a stimulus and all measurable variables such as also the
visco-elastic effects, relating hysteresis, and any time dependent
compression or tension or any other movement of the PDL.
[0213] Referring to FIG. 19B, another example of the raw measured
data describing the behavior of the PDL is shown. The data shown is
for a specific patient and a specific tooth and in this example is
measured for repeated cyclic back and forth motion of the tooth.
The data shows 16 consecutive back and forth movements denoted by
C1, C2, . . . , C16, and the same can be measured for any number of
cycles of movements. The data in the Figure also shows the change
in the shape of the curve and more specifically the increased
displacement at the same force applied. Aspects of the present
disclosure can use such raw measured data of the PDL to determine a
critical force level and to determine the relating optimal
orthodontic force.
[0214] Referring to FIG. 19C, another example of the raw measured
data is shown. In this case the data includes more noise, but
allows for the same information describing the PDL behavior to be
extracted. Various means for data filtering, normalizing, averaging
or any other data processing can be applied to the raw measured
data.
[0215] Returning to FIG. 29, retrieving (504) PDL behavior data may
include retrieving or determining (505) one or more determinate
points or ranges from the PDL behavior data associated with the
patient data or a subset thereof. In some cases, the PDL behavior
data may be in the form of a PDL behavior curve and the determinate
points or ranges may be obtained from the PDL behavior curve. In
other cases, the PDL behavior data may be obtained from a PDL
behavior model (33) and determining the determinate points may
include using the model to determine these points. Each of the one
or more determinate points includes a component for each of six
degrees of freedom of movement (e.g. translation and rotation about
each of x-, y- and z-axis). Different mathematical or statistical
approaches can be used to determine a determinate range or point on
the PDL behavior curve. In one example embodiment, the critical
force level Fc is calculated. As described in the foregoing, this
can be done by using segmented linear regression for example and
identifying the force at which the ITM (initial tooth movement)
changes to STM (secondary tooth movement) or in other words, the
force at which the PDL is compressed to a certain extent. Thus, in
some implementations, the one or more determinate points include a
critical force value. In other implementations, other determinate
points may be used. The PDL behavior data may thus include a
reference point that reflects the physiological, biological,
genetic and/or situational characteristics of the patient (by
virtue of the association with patient data), in particular of the
patient's PDL. In other words, the reference point is one that
describes a force that will produce a comparable effect on the
alveolar structures for any patient (but which force will be
different for different patients with different physiological,
biological, genetic and situational characteristics or properties).
This allows for comparison of treatment plans and results across
different patients in a manner that acknowledges or accommodates
the fact that different patients and different teeth have different
properties that result in different PDL behaviors. For example,
referring to the table below in which the critical force is used as
the determinate point, it can be seen that by using a determinate
point such as the critical force as a reference point allows for a
comparison across teeth and/or species (or patients) in terms of
which the effect of the force on the alveolar structures is
compared. This is in contrast to comparing the absolute value of
the applied force as has hitherto been the conventional approach
and which is meaningless given the vastly different effect that
will result on the alveolar structures if the same force is applied
to different teeth, different species or different patients.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE I Applied force Applied force Case-specific
study details Conventional Evidence-based Species Tooth Direction
Fc(g) approach approach Rat Molar Translation 0.50 25 g = 50
.times. Fc 0.5 g = 1 .times. Fc Human Incisor Intrusion 50 25 g =
0.5 .times. Fc 50 g = 1 .times. Fc Minipig Molar Translation 25 25
g = 1 .times. Fc 25 g = 1 .times. Fc Human Incisor Tipping 12.5 25
g = 2 .times. Fc 12.5 g = 1 .times. Fc
[0216] Referring to FIG. 24, and as described in the foregoing, an
example determination of determinate points according to aspects of
the present disclosure is illustrated. A biomechanical tissue
response plot measured in accordance with aspects of the present
disclosure can in general be divided into different stages of
non-pathological tooth movement. These two stages can be described
as the initial tooth movement (ITM) stage and the secondary tooth
movement (STM) stage. The ITM occurs at lower forces while the STM
stage occurs at greater force levels. One possible way of
repeatedly determining these stages of tooth movement is using
segmented linear regression, for which a straight line is fitted to
the measured force-displacement data describing the biomechanical
tissue response the result of which is shown in FIG. 24. In another
example shown in FIG. 25, the measured biomechanical tissue
response can be analyzed to determine the direction of the tissue
response as well as the magnitude of the tissue response as a
function of the applied stimulus. By taking the first and second
derivatives of the tooth displacement with respect to the applied
force, it is possible to determine for example the ease of
movement. This parameter which is obtained by taking the first
order derivative could be indicative of the force range which would
be safe to apply to a tooth or within which no long-lasting
negative effects could be expected.
[0217] Returning to FIG. 29, the method includes determining (506)
a target orthodontic force value that is specific to the patient
data by inputting the PDL behavior data (which may be the
determinate point(s) obtained from the PDL behavior data) into an
algorithm which determines the target orthodontic force based on
the PDL behavior data. The algorithm includes one or more of time,
magnitude, case, patient (e.g. including patient characteristic and
patient treatment) components and the like. The algorithm may for
example be expressed as an equation with a variable for each of the
one or more time, magnitude, patient characteristic and patient
treatment components as well as for the relevant determinate
point(s). The patient treatment component may for example include
variables for one or more values representing one or both of
desired patient treatment outcome and patient treatment objective
(e.g., as defined by treatment movement data). Determining the
target orthodontic force value may therefore include defining the
target orthodontic force value as being a function of the one or
more determinate points or ranges of the PDL behavior data (such as
a critical force Fc value). The algorithm, or function, may be any
suitable binary relation over a first (target orthodontic force)
set and a second (determinate point) set that associates to every
element of the first set exactly one element of the second set. In
other words, the algorithm sets how the target orthodontic force
value depends on the determinate point. The algorithm can be a
linear or polynomial function, or any other relationship between
the target orthodontic force value and the determinate point(s), so
that the target orthodontic force is defined as, in the case of the
critical force value being the determinate point:
Ftarget=f(Fc)
[0218] It should however be noted that Fc can be replaced by any
other repeatedly identifiable point, or range on the PDL behavior
curve. For example a determinate point could be defined at the
neutral position of the curve, at a point at which the curve
reaches a certain gradient, or change of position as a function of
the applied force, the point at which a certain percentage of the
maximum measured force or displacement is reached, an area, range
or point at which the area under the curve reaches a certain value
or any other definition with relation to the measured PDL behavior
curve.
[0219] The method includes outputting (508) the target orthodontic
force value. The target orthodontic force value may be output for
retrieval by one or more of: a point of care system (5); a
treatment plan engine (41); an appliance configuration engine (43)
and an interface module (23) (e.g. for retrieval by any other
system that might need the target orthodontic force). The target
orthodontic force value may be output for use in effecting
correction of the tooth of the patient (e.g. by formulating a
treatment plan and/or configuring an orthodontic appliance to apply
or exert the target orthodontic force). The target orthodontic
force value may for example be output to an appliance configuration
engine (43) configured to use the target orthodontic force value to
configure one or more parameters of an orthodontic appliance such
that an orthodontic appliance manufactured or otherwise produced in
accordance with the configuration applies the target orthodontic
force to the tooth of the particular patient. The target
orthodontic force is a measurable value that can be compared to
other forces for evidence-based treatment of orthodontic
conditions. The target orthodontic force is based on externally
measurable parameters (i.e., the determinate points of the PDL
behavior data). Specification of treatment plans and/or orthodontic
appliances based on a target orthodontic force allows for a
force-based approach to orthodontic treatment as opposed to purely
spatial-based approach.
[0220] Referring to FIG. 30, an example target orthodontic force,
also referred to as an optimal orthodontic force, as a function of
Fc that varies with time is illustrated. The optimal orthodontic
force can take into account the time-dependent changes in the
critical force level Fc, which changes over time and specifically
throughout the duration of orthodontic tooth movement, and can be a
function of time so that
Fopt=f(Fc,t) and Fc=f(case,t)
Fopt=f(F(case,t),t)
[0221] In FIG. 30, an optimal force Fopt is shown for a series of
different orthodontic appliances worn during treatment. This can be
a series of arch wires, elastic or orthodontic aligners, for each
of which an optimal orthodontic force is determined. The first
appliance has a higher Fopt for example to initiate tooth movement,
while the second and third appliances have a lower Fopt so as to
reduce the pressure on the PDL and alveolar tissue which is
undergoing remodeling to facilitate tooth movement. Towards the end
of treatment Fopt for each of a series of appliances is increased
again as a patient becomes more accustomed to the forces for
example. The time dependent profile and optimal orthodontic force
for each appliance can take on any profile that varies over time.
In addition, FIG. 30 shows a time-dependent optimal orthodontic
force for each of a series of appliances for two different teeth,
Tooth A and Tooth B. Similarly, Fopt can vary for any case specific
factors including one or more of patient age, gender, tooth, or
group of teeth, treatment movement data, force magnitude and
direction of force and the like.
[0222] FIG. 31 shows another example optimal orthodontic force Fopt
as a function of time. While FIG. 30 showed an optimal orthodontic
force for each of a series of orthodontic appliances, FIG. 31 shows
a continuous definition of Fopt. As described above, Fopt can be
defined using an algorithm (which may e.g. be a mathematical model,
artificial intelligence, or any computer based model) to define
such a time and case specific function for Fopt. This graph can be
determined for a specific individual or group of individuals and
can be based on, but not limited to, measurements of the PDL
behavior curve, patient feedback, or treatment outcomes.
[0223] The method may include updating the algorithm using feedback
data (15) including one or more of: test rig feedback data points,
patient feedback data points and treatment feedback data points.
The feedback data is obtained during use or testing of an
orthodontic appliance configured to apply the target orthodontic
force. The feedback data may for example be based on or include
rate of change data points measured while using the orthodontic
appliance. The algorithm may be updated if it is not stored or
otherwise identifiable as an optimal algorithm. Updating the
algorithm may include iteratively updating the algorithm to
optimize the feedback data to determine an optimized algorithm for
determining the target orthodontic force (which would then be an
"optimal orthodontic force"). Iteratively updating the algorithm
until it is optimized means that it can be said that the target
orthodontic force determined using the optimized algorithm becomes
the optimal orthodontic force as it is one that when applied by an
orthodontic appliance optimizes a balance of patient comfort and
treatment outcome, for example.
[0224] For example, referring now to FIG. 32, updating the
algorithm using feedback data may include configuring (520) an
orthodontic appliance to apply the target orthodontic force (this
may include using an appliance configuration engine and inputting
into the appliance configuration engine the target orthodontic
force). This may be preceded by determining or creating a treatment
plan based on the target orthodontic force (e.g. using a treatment
plan engine). The orthodontic appliance may then be tested (522) on
a test rig to compare the target orthodontic force against the
actual force applied by the appliance. Feedback data points from
the test rig, including for example the extent to which the actual
force matches the target orthodontic force, are collected into
feedback data (15). Feedback data for testing an orthodontic
appliance can include force data including six degrees of freedom
and can also be time dependent. Further feedback data can include
displacement data for testing the orthodontic appliance and the
displacement data can also be time dependent. Feedback data can
further include both force and displacement data at one or more
points in time and can be for a single tooth or a group of teeth.
The orthodontic appliance may then be tested (524) for patient
feedback, for example by fitting the orthodontic appliance to the
relevant tooth or teeth of the patient and collecting patient
feedback data points for inclusion in the feedback data (15).
[0225] FIG. 33, for example, shows an example embodiment for
obtaining patient feedback data points using a linear scale (532)
on which the level of discomfort is indicated with relation to an
orthodontic force as a function of Fc (in this example
illustration). This method can be used to determine an optimal
orthodontic force that achieves the least level of discomfort while
still resulting in orthodontic tooth movement. In this method, a
force is applied to a tooth of a patient and the level of
discomfort experienced by the patient is indicated on the scale.
The force as a function of the critical force Fc is then indicated
and correlated to the level of discomfort experienced. A similar
method can be used to plot the force as a function of case specific
Fc against the level of discomfort on a vertical axis. Other
techniques or methods for collecting patient feedback data points
may also be used.
[0226] In an embodiment incorporating patient feedback data points
obtained using the linear scale (532) of FIG. 33, and for example
scoring rate of treatment on a scale of 1 to 10, iteratively
updating the algorithm based on the feedback data points may for
example include:
TABLE-US-00002 Patient discomfort Treatment Sample Algorithm score
feedback score 1 5*F.sub.c 19 (Very high) 4 (slow) 2 2*F.sub.c 16
10 (rapid) 3 1*F.sub.c 12 7 4 0.5*F.sub.c 7 5 5 0.1*F.sub.c 3 (very
low) 5 (slow)
[0227] The second sample of the algorithm may be determined as
being optimized in that it balances patient feedback data points
against treatment feedback data points to result in the most rapid
treatment that is sufficiently comfortable from the patient's
perspective. The example algorithm includes only a magnitude
component (i.e. a multiplication of the target force by a fixed
value). It should however be appreciated that in other embodiments,
the algorithm may include other components so as to be time, stage
and/or patient data dependent or the like. The process of
optimizing the algorithm may be more sophisticated and may include
for example time dependent functions such that the target force
changes over time, may include exponential or logarithmic
functions, or any other type of mathematical function that may
define the target and optimal force. Of course other forms of
patient feedback may be obtained, including for example feedback on
questions such as "How does it feel while you chew?", "Would you
recommend this appliance to a friend?", "Have you noticed any
adverse effects, such as reddening of the gums, etc.?" and the
like).
[0228] Returning to FIG. 32, the method includes testing (526) the
appliance for treatment feedback and collecting data points for
inclusion in the feedback data (15). Testing the appliance for
treatment feedback may include monitoring treatment progress (e.g.
rate of movement), recording treatment milestones and the like.
These data points may be collected over a period of time, for
example over hours, days, weeks or months. The feedback data can
then be used to update the algorithm for the purpose of optimizing
one or more data points of the feedback data. In other words, the
algorithm may be updated to improve feedback data points against
metrics such as patient comfort, rate of treatment and treatment
outcome.
[0229] Collecting feedback data (15) (particularly test rig and
patient feedback data points) may include collecting feedback data
in real-time or near-real-time for rapid iteration and updating of
the algorithm. In other words, utilizing additive manufacturing
techniques to manufacture orthodontic appliances configured to
apply the relevant target orthodontic force allows for test rig
feedback and patient feedback to be obtained for a number of
successive iterations of the algorithm within a relatively short
space of time. There could for example be multiple iterations
analyzed for this type of feedback data within a single day.
Collection of treatment feedback data points may of course need
more time as treatment has to be allowed to run its normal
course.
[0230] The method may include determining (527) whether or not the
feedback data is optimized. In one example the method may include
collecting patient feedback data and treatment feedback data where
the patient feedback data may include the level of discomfort of
the appliance and the treatment feedback data may include the rate
of tooth movement of one or more teeth. If the patient feedback
data indicates that there was very low or no levels of discomfort
experienced by the patient and the treatment feedback data
indicates a slow rate of tooth movement, then this could be
considered not optimized and the algorithm may be updated to
increase the target force to be more optimal. In another example,
if the patient feedback data indicates a high level of discomfort
and the treatment feedback data indicates a slow rate of tooth
movement then this may be considered not optimized and the
algorithm may be updated to decrease the target force level in
order to achieve a more optimal patient feedback and treatment
feedback.
[0231] If (527) the feedback data is not optimized, the method
includes updating (510) the algorithm, for example by adjusting
weights of the one or more components or variables of the
algorithm. Similarly updating the algorithm, in cases where the
algorithm includes a time component, may include updating the
algorithm, which is a function of time, so that the target force is
lower during a certain time during the treatment, for example when
the tissue is undergoing remodeling, and is higher at another time
during treatment, for example at the end of treatment. The
algorithm may be updated iteratively to maximize feedback metrics
for improved comfort, rate of treatment and/or treatment outcome.
With the algorithm updated, an updated target orthodontic force may
be determined (528) using the updated algorithm and then used to
reconfigure (530) the appliance (or create a new appliance) to
apply the updated target orthodontic force. The method may repeat
(531) to obtain updated feedback data (15) until the one or more
data points of the feedback data are optimized (527).
[0232] If or once (527) the feedback data have been optimized, the
algorithm may be stored (536) or otherwise labelled or identified
as the optimal algorithm for use in determining a target
orthodontic force that is an optimal orthodontic force based on one
or more determinate points of PDL curve associated with patient
data or a subset thereof.
[0233] Aspects of the present disclosure therefore provide for the
determination of a target orthodontic force value that is patient,
case and tooth specific and is optimized for patient comfort and/or
treatment outcome. The tooth/patient/case specificity is by virtue
of the target orthodontic force being a function of PDL behavior
data that is associated with patient data. The optimization is by
virtue of the algorithm that has been iteratively optimized based
on feedback data and that operates on the PDL behavior data to
output the target orthodontic force. Aspects of the present
disclosure enable a shift from a spatial paradigm of the prior art
systems where treatment is determined based on required movement to
a force-based paradigm for orthodontic treatment where treatment is
based on a relatable force applied on a determinate point of
patient, case and tooth specific PDL behavior data.
[0234] Conventionally, the absolute value of orthodontic forces are
compared to one-another and a single method has been used in
numerous scientific studies and publications looking to establish a
relationship between the applied force and, e.g., the rate of tooth
movement. This approach of comparing the absolute value of the
force is not able to account for any variation between the cases,
the individuals, type of teeth or direction of movement. Aspects of
the present disclosure, however, are able to account for such case
specific parameters by defining the applied force as a function of
the case specific critical force F.sub.C (or other suitable
determinate point(s)). FIG. 34 illustrates one example embodiment
of comparing forces according to aspects of the present disclosure.
A first step identifies (540) the absolute force magnitudes for two
different cases. For example the same absolute force magnitude of
F=25 gm could be applied to two different teeth (tooth A and tooth
B), each having a case specific critical force level (e.g. Fca=25
gm and Fcb=12.5 gm). The next step involves expressing (542) the
absolute force magnitude as a function of the critical force Fca
and Fcb. If in the given example F=25 gm which is equal to the
critical force Fca and thus F=f(Fc)=1*Fca. However, it is twice the
magnitude of the critical force Fcb and thus can be expressed as
F=f(Fc)=2*Fcb. In the third step, the force F applied to the two
different cases A and B is compared (544) by comparing the force F
as a function of the critical force F.sub.C:
F=Fa=f(Fca)=1*Fc
F=Fb=f(Fcb)=2*Fc
thus
Fa/Fb=(1*Fc)/(2*Fc)=1/2
2*Fa=Fb
[0235] Even though the absolute magnitude of the force F is the
same in both cases, the effective force for case B is twice as
large as that in case A. Practically, this process can be used to
compare the same force applied to a molar (case A) vs for example
an incisor (case B) for which the critical force level is lower.
The force magnitude is the same but the effect on the PDL and
surrounding tissue might be much larger (twice that) of the same
force applied to the molar in case A. This example is described
with reference to an example scenario in which the relevant
determinate point of the PDL behavior curve is the critical force.
It should be appreciated that in other cases other points or ranges
of points may be used.
Model Training Engine
[0236] The model training engine (31) described above with
reference to FIG. 1A may be configured to perform or conduct a
method for training a model for use in determining PDL behavior
data points. This may include assimilating patient- and
case-specific values of a critical orthodontic force for modelling
periodontal ligament behavior. One example embodiment of a method
for training a model for use in determining PDL behavior data
points is described below with reference to FIG. 35. The method may
be conducted by a suitable computing device which in some
embodiments may form a part of or may provide a model training
engine.
[0237] The method includes obtaining (560) a dataset including or
based on one or both of measured PDL behavior data (9A) and
associated metadata (11). This may include retrieving the dataset
from a datastore (7) or compiling the dataset from data retrieved
from the datastore (7). For example, the dataset may include a
subset or selection of measured PDL behavior data (9A) and
associated metadata. Alternatively, the dataset may include all of
the available measured PDL behavior data and associated metadata.
In some cases, the data set includes measured PDL behavior data and
modelled PDL behavior data (or subsets/selections thereof).
[0238] The measured PDL behavior data (9A) includes force
measurement data points and corresponding displacement measurement
data points having been measured in-vivo while applying a force to
a particular tooth of a human or animal subject. The metadata is
associated with the human or animal subject from whom the
measurements were taken and includes data points relating to one or
more of physiological, biological, genetic and situational
characteristics of the human or animal subject. The measured PDL
behavior data and associated metadata may be captured or obtained
by a measurement system (10) or may be made available to the
datastore via another suitable mechanism.
[0239] The data points of the measured PDL behavior data are
associated with the human or animal subject from whom they are
obtained and with the tooth in respect of which they relate (i.e.
in respect of which the force is applied and of which the
displacement is measured). In one example implementation, the
measured PDL behavior data may include an array for each subject
and each tooth, the array including force and displacement
measurement datapoints and associated timestamps corresponding to
the time (real-clock or otherwise) and optionally date at which the
measurements were made. As mentioned in the foregoing, the data
points have components for each of six degrees of freedom. For
example: [0240] PDL_data(subject_ID, tooth_ID): [0241]
[yyyymmddhhmmssms,Ftx,Fty,Ftz,Dtx,Dty,Dtz,Fmx,Fmy,Fmz,Dmx,Dmy,Dmz;
[0242] . . . ; [0243] . . . ]
[0244] Each displacement measurement data point of the measured PDL
behavior data may therefore be associated with the particular tooth
of a particular subject to which a particular force is applied. In
the context of PDL behavior, the displacement measurement data
points may be considered dependent variables while the force
measurement data points may be considered independent variables.
Although the term "displacement measurement data point" is used
herein, it should be appreciated that this data point may in fact
be a position measurement data point which together with at least
one other position measurement data point results in a displacement
measurement data point. The term "displacement measurement data
point" should therefore be interpreted to include one or more
position measurements. The dataset may therefore include measured
PDL behavior data and associated metadata for each of a large
number of human or animal subjects from whom or on whom the
measurements are obtained in-vivo. The dataset may be a large-scale
data set including datapoints for hundreds of thousands of human
and/or animal subjects. PDL behavior is based on physiological
attributes, so measuring data points relating to PDL behavior (such
as the force/displacement measurements) implicitly records
physiological attributes without invasion or complexity that would
otherwise be required to understand PDL behavior.
[0245] The data points may be associated with timestamps relating
to the time at which the measurements were made. The data may for
example include data points measured for a longer period of time
(e.g. 3 hours or even 24 hours) with all data points being part of
one continuous stream. In some cases, the data points may for
example be measured on a tooth on Day 0 for a duration of 3
minutes, then stop, then on Day 5 we can take the same measurement
for 3 minutes, then stop, then on Day 10 measure for 3 minutes,
then stop, etc. The data can be used as one time series data set or
each one of those 3 min data sets can be used individually for
training a model. The data points may therefore be a continuous
data stream with intermittent instances of that data stream over a
long period of time, or could be intermittent data. As the bone
starts to remodel, the tissue may become inflamed and based on this
the curve may change to account for the changes of time.
[0246] The metadata points may include scores or other indicators
of physiological, biological, genetic and situational
characteristics of the human or animal subject. Selected
physiological data points may include any physiological parameters
affecting the PDL behavior, such as data points relating to one or
more of: tooth and root morphology; PDL thickness and shape; blood
pressure; health related data such as oral and tissue health, time
in treatment journey (if applicable) and the like. Selected
situational data points may include one or more of: socioeconomic
status; one or more living standards measure (LSM) inputs; an LSM
output; country, state, city of residence; country, state, city of
birth; diet and the like. Selected biological data points may
include one or more of: age; gender; ethnicity; species and the
like. The metadata is associated with the human or animal subject
from which the measured PDL behavior data is obtained, for example:
[0247] Metadata(human_ID): [0248] [gender,socio_economic, . . .
,health,age,diet,country_of_birth,country_of_residence . . . ]
[0249] The metadata may therefore include information about the
human/animal subject for categorization of and comparison between
different types of human/animal subjects. Characteristics or
parameters such as these at least to some extent affect the PDL
behavior and are related to orthodontic tooth movement. By
including these characteristics or parameters in the dataset, a
learning model can learn the behavior of the PDL based on the
included characteristics/parameters and associated measurement
data.
[0250] In some embodiments, the dataset therefore includes or is
based on one or both of: measured PDL behavior data including data
points having been measured in-vivo while applying a force to a
particular tooth of each of a plurality of human or animal
subjects; and, associated metadata for each of the plurality of
human or animal subjects. Further, in some embodiments, the dataset
includes or is based on one or both of: measured PDL behavior data
including data points having been measured in-vivo while applying a
force to each of a plurality of teeth of a human or animal subject;
and, the associated metadata for the human or animal subject. In
other embodiments, datasets may be retrieved on a per-tooth or
per-subject basis.
[0251] The dataset may be a training dataset including one or more
target attributes (i.e. that which is to be predicted) which,
depending on implementation, may be either one or more force
measurement data points, or one or more displacement measurement
data points.
[0252] Obtaining the dataset may therefore include receiving the
measurement data of an applied force and the measurement data of
the resulting tooth displacement, such movement can be one or any
combination of six degrees of freedom. The measurement data
describing the PDL behavior can include the magnitude, direction,
timestamps, or other parameters describing the applied stimulus and
resulting tooth movement and can include data for one individual or
a group of teeth.
[0253] The method includes training (562) a model using a learning
algorithm which identifies patterns in or relationships between
data points of the dataset. This may include identifying a
relationship between force measurement data points and displacement
measurement data points for, in some implementations, different
teeth and/or different characteristics of the subject. Training the
model may include using the learning algorithm to identify patterns
in or relationships between the measured PDL behavior data points
and/or metadata data points.
[0254] As mentioned above, the dataset may include one or more
input attributes and one or more target attributes and the learning
algorithm may be configured to find patterns in the dataset that
map the one or more input attributes to the one or more target
attributes. In one example implementation, the input attributes
include one or more metadata data points and the other of: one or
more force measurement data points, or one or more displacement
measurement data points.
[0255] The method may include performing (564) feature processing
to transform one or more data points of the dataset into features
and compiling (566) the features into one or more feature vectors.
This may include processing the measured PDL data and/or metadata
to determine features for inclusion in the one or more feature
vectors. The one or more feature vectors may include features
relating to one or more of: force measurement data points,
displacement measurement data points and metadata data points.
Examples of features may include the force direction, force
duration, rate of change of force, the gradient of the force data
in relation to the displacement data, hysteresis effects, or
recovery rates of displacement data amongst others. Training the
model using the learning algorithm may then include using the
learning algorithm to identify patterns in or relationships between
the features in the one or more feature vectors. Training the model
may further include determining feature weights for features of a
feature vector. The method may therefore include creating a feature
vector of the physiological parameters or characteristics and the
tooth displacement of the one or more teeth for which the PDL
behavior is described.
[0256] In some implementations, training the model using the
learning algorithm includes training a plurality of different
models using different learning algorithms and generating different
feature vectors. A tooth-to-tooth feature vector including measured
PDL behavior data for different teeth may for example be generated
using a linear regression, segmented linear regression or similar
algorithm for identifying a relationship in PDL behavior data
between teeth. A rich feature vector including metadata-based
features and PDL behavior-based features may be generated using a
convolutional neural network (CNN) or similar model for identifying
a relationship between these features. The model, which may be a
machine learning model, is therefore trained to predict the tooth
movement resulting from an applied force or stimulus to the one or
more teeth (or vice versa) and may include a number of feature
weights.
[0257] The method includes outputting (568) the model (33) for use
in determining PDL behavior data points including required force
data points for a desired displacement of a tooth of a patient or
resultant displacement data points for an applied force to a tooth
of a patient. Outputting the model may include outputting the
feature weights for features of the one or more feature vectors.
The model that is output is a computer-implementable artifact that
models PDL behavior for a patient based on one or more of
physiological, biological, genetic and situational characteristics
of the patient. Outputting the model includes saving the model and
optionally feature weights for future use. The final model is
suitable for outputting a prediction of the behavior of the PDL
when subject to a specific force or stimulus. The model may be
output for access and use by a treatment plan engine (41), an
appliance configuration engine (43) and optionally a point of care
system (5) or other remote computing system via the interface
component (23).
[0258] Referring now to FIG. 36, an example method for using a PDL
behavior model (33) is illustrated. The method may be conducted by
a computing device. The method includes receiving (570) a force
vector data for one or more teeth, where such data can include the
force magnitude, direction, point of application and can be in six
degrees of freedom. In addition, such force data can describe the
forces applied for a single or a group of teeth. The force vector
data is input into the PDL behavior model (33) which uses the input
to compute (572) and return an estimate for the behavior of the PDL
and the related tooth displacement. Such resulting tooth
displacement can be case, tooth and patient specific and can be for
one or more teeth. The method includes returning (574) the
estimated PDL behavior data and related tooth displacement for use
in a software, which can be a treatment planning software, or
appliance design software or other.
[0259] Aspects of the present disclosure therefore provide a
process for developing a machine learning model to describe the
behavior of the PDL and a process of using a trained machine
learning model to determine an estimate of the behavior of the PDL
when subject to a given stimulus.
[0260] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to the assimilation
of patient- and case-specific values of a critical orthodontic
force. Input parameters may include metadata and patient
information such as age, gender, ethnicity, and other factors. The
corpus of critical orthodontic values used to produce output
parameters relating to orthodontic treatment, including orthodontic
treatment planning, staging of tooth movement, determining the
maximum rate of tooth movement, duration of treatment and a model
for clear aligners or other orthodontic appliances. This may
include the use of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial
Intelligence (AI) methods to determine additional case specific
values of critical orthodontic forces using the corpus of critical
orthodontic values as input.
Treatment Plan Engine
[0261] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods and
systems for orthodontic staging using critical orthodontic force
parameters, including for example, automating and optimizing an
orthodontic treatment plan staging based on critical orthodontic
force data or other PDL behavior-based determinate points. The
system and method may use known critical orthodontic force data or
other PDL behavior-based determinate points as input. Outputs may
include maximum tooth movement rates, optimal force to be applied
to one or more tooth/teeth, a duration of treatment, a number of
iterations required for orthodontic aligner treatment and an
optimal path of movement of one or more tooth/teeth.
[0262] The treatment plan engine (41) described above with
reference to FIG. 1A may for example be configured to perform or
conduct a method for orthodontic treatment staging. This may for
example include automating and optimizing an orthodontic treatment
plan staging based on critical orthodontic force data or other PDL
behavior-based determinate points.
[0263] FIG. 37A is a flow diagram which illustrates one example
embodiment of a method for orthodontic treatment staging according
to aspects of the present disclosure. The method may be conducted
by a suitable computing device which in some embodiments may form a
part of or may provide a treatment plan engine.
[0264] The method includes receiving (702) patient data (13)
including patient treatment data and patient characteristic data.
The patient data may be received from a point of care system (5)
via a communication network (21) and/or interface component (23).
The patient data may for example be input into a point of care
system by a healthcare professional responsible for the treatment
or correction of the patient's tooth or teeth. In other
embodiments, the patient data (13) may be received from another
source, such as a datastore (7) an interface component (23) or the
like.
[0265] The patient characteristic data may for example include data
points relating to one or more of physiological, biological,
genetic and situational characteristics of the patient. The patient
treatment data includes one or both of a tooth type indicator and a
tooth position indicator associated with the tooth of the patient
to be treated and treatment movement data which describes the
required tooth movement to effect treatment or correction of the
tooth. The treatment movement data includes one or more treatment
movement values, each treatment movement value having components
for each of six degrees of freedom.
[0266] In some embodiments, receiving patient data includes
determining (704) treatment movement data for the patient.
Determining treatment movement data may include determining
required movement of the tooth based on the tooth's current
condition or situation and its desired (or treated or corrected)
condition or situation. Receiving patient treatment data may for
example include receiving a tooth model with individual teeth and
the planned movement of each individual tooth and using the model
to determine the treatment movement value including direction and
magnitude of movement of each individual tooth.
[0267] Receiving patient data thus includes receiving information
about the intended movement of a specific tooth. This information
may include the type of tooth and can include other patient data
including the patient age, health, geographical location or
ethnicity (as contained in the patient characteristic data).
[0268] The method includes determining (706) one or more stage
movement values and corresponding stage force values for each of
one or more stages of a treatment plan. The sum of the one or more
stage movement values approximates the treatment movement value
such that treatment of the tooth is effected through completion of
each of the stages of treatment. Each stage movement value and its
corresponding stage force value is determined based on a target
orthodontic force value, which is in turn based on one or more
determinate points of PDL behavior data associated with at least a
subset of the patient data. As mentioned in the foregoing, the PDL
behavior data includes or is based on force measurement data points
and corresponding displacement measurement data points having been
measured in-vivo while applying a force to a particular tooth of a
human or animal subject. FIGS. 37B and 37C are flow diagrams which
illustrate two example embodiments for determining one or more
stage movement values and corresponding stage force values based on
a target orthodontic force value. As with the treatment movement
value, each of the one or more stage movement values, stage force
values and target orthodontic force values include components for
each of six degrees of freedom. The treatment movement value, stage
movement value, stage force value and target orthodontic force
value may be time dependent.
[0269] The method includes outputting (708) the one or more stage
movement values and corresponding stage force values as a treatment
plan for treatment of the tooth. The stage movement values and
stage treatment values may be output to one or more of: a point of
care system (5), a datastore (7), an appliance configuration engine
(43) and an interface module (23).
[0270] Referring now to FIG. 37B, in which a first example
embodiment of a method for determining one or more stage movement
values and corresponding stage force values based on a target
orthodontic force value is illustrated.
[0271] In this example embodiment, the method includes determining
(720) a target orthodontic force value based on one or more
determinate points of the PDL behavior data associated with at
least a subset of the patient data. In embodiments in which the PDL
behavior data includes the PDL behavior model, determining the
target orthodontic force value may include using the PDL behavior
model to determine the one or more determinate points of the PDL
behavior data and inputting the one or more determinate points into
an algorithm that determines the target orthodontic force as a
function of the one or more determinate points. Further inputs to
the algorithm may include data points relating to one or more of
time, magnitude, patient characteristic and patient treatment
components of the algorithm. As mentioned in the foregoing, the
algorithm may be optimized by iteratively updating the algorithm to
optimize feedback data such that the target orthodontic force is an
optimal orthodontic force. The feedback data may include one or
more of: test rig feedback data points, patient feedback data
points and treatment feedback data points. The feedback data is
obtained during use or testing of an orthodontic appliance
configured to apply a target orthodontic force.
[0272] The method includes using (722) the target orthodontic force
value to determine a corresponding stage movement value.
Determining the corresponding stage movement value may include
using the PDL behavior data associated with the patient data. For
example, in the case of the PDL behavior data being a PDL behavior
model (33), this may include inputting the target orthodontic force
value into the PDL behavior model (33) which in turn outputs
movement data which corresponds to the target orthodontic force
value. The movement data may be an approximation or estimation of
the tooth movement that would result if the target orthodontic
force were applied to the particular tooth of the particular
patient.
[0273] The method includes summing (723) the stage movement values
and comparing (724) the sum of the stage movement values to the
treatment movement value and, if (726) sum of the stage movement
values is less than the treatment movement value, the method
repeats including initializing (728) a next treatment stage and
determining (720, 722), for the next treatment stage, a target
orthodontic force value and a corresponding stage movement value
until the sum of stage movement values approximates the treatment
movement value. If (726) or once the sum of the stage movement
values approximates or equals the treatment movement value, the
stage movement values and stage movement forces are stored (730)
for output as a treatment plan for the patient.
[0274] FIG. 37C illustrates a second example embodiment of a method
for determining one or more stage movement values and corresponding
stage force values based on a target orthodontic force value.
[0275] The method includes initializing (740) a stage movement
value being equal to the treatment movement value.
[0276] The method includes using (742) the stage movement value to
determine a corresponding stage force value based on PDL behavior
data associated with at least a subset of the patient data.
[0277] Determining the corresponding stage force value may include
using the PDL behavior data associated with the patient data. For
example, in the case of the PDL behavior data being a PDL behavior
model (33), this may include inputting the stage movement data into
the PDL behavior model (33) which in turn outputs the corresponding
stage force value. The force value may be an approximation or
estimation of a force required to be applied to the tooth in order
to result in or achieve movement of the particular tooth as
described by the stage movement value.
[0278] The method includes determining (744) a target orthodontic
force value that is based on one or more determinate points of the
PDL behavior data. In embodiments in which the PDL behavior data
includes the PDL behavior model, determining the target orthodontic
force value may include using the PDL behavior model to determine
the one or more determinate points of the PDL behavior data and
inputting the one or more determinate points into an algorithm that
determines the target orthodontic force as a function of the one or
more determinate points. Further inputs to the algorithm may
include data points relating to one or more of time, magnitude,
patient characteristic and patient treatment components of the
algorithm.
[0279] As mentioned in the foregoing, the algorithm may be
optimized by iteratively updating the algorithm to optimize
feedback data such that the target orthodontic force is an optimal
orthodontic force. The feedback data may include one or more of:
test rig feedback data points, patient feedback data points and
treatment feedback data points. The feedback data is obtained
during use or testing of an orthodontic appliance configured to
apply a target orthodontic force.
[0280] The method includes comparing (746) the corresponding stage
force value to the target orthodontic force value.
[0281] If (748) the corresponding stage force value exceeds the
target orthodontic force value, the method includes defining (750)
a new stage movement value which is less than the previous stage
movement value and determining (742) a new corresponding stage
force value based on the PDL behavior data for comparison (746)
against the target orthodontic force value. The method will
therefore repeat with successive new stage movement values until
the corresponding stage force value approximates the target
orthodontic force value. This may include re-determining the target
orthodontic force value each time a new stage movement value is
defined.
[0282] If or once (748) the stage force value approximates the
target orthodontic force value, the method includes storing (752)
the stage movement value and corresponding stage force value that
approximates the target orthodontic force value for use in a
treatment plan. The method may further include determining a number
of required treatment stages by dividing the treatment movement
value by the stage movement value so as to determine the number of
stages required to effect treatment of the tooth by applying the
target orthodontic force value for each stage.
[0283] The methods described above with reference to FIGS. 37A and
37B or 37C may be conducted for each tooth to be treated such that
a case-, tooth- and patient-specific stage movement value and
corresponding stage force value are determined for each tooth to be
treated.
[0284] The methods described above provide for orthodontic staging
using a target orthodontic force that is determined based on PDL
behavior data that is case-, tooth- and patient-specific. FIG. 38
is a chart which illustrates example plots of a stage force value
and associated target orthodontic force value over time for a
plurality of stages of orthodontic treatment according to aspects
of the present disclosure.
Appliance Configuration Engine
[0285] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods and
systems for determining orthodontic appliance models using critical
orthodontic force data as input. Outputs of the method include a
material specification, size, shape, thickness, direction and
geometry of features (e.g. ridges, cuts, ribs, bumps, springs,
hatching, voids and spaces) on an orthodontic appliance. The output
data of the model may be utilized for 3D printing of an orthodontic
appliance or for instructing a robot to form or shape an
orthodontic appliance or parts thereof, such as an arch wire.
Aspects of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods
used for designing an orthodontic appliance, the parameters,
material properties and geometry of said appliance being optimized
so as to apply a stimulus that represents an optimal force to one
or more teeth, based at least to some extent on the behavior of the
periodontal ligament.
[0286] The appliance configuration engine (43) described above with
reference to FIG. 1A may for example be configured to perform or
conduct a method for orthodontic appliance configuration. This may
for example include conducting a method for designing an
orthodontic appliance including conducting a method for preparing a
specification for, designing, and producing an orthodontic clear
aligner using critical orthodontic force parameters or comparable
PDL behavior-based data points.
[0287] FIG. 39 is a flow diagram which illustrates one example
embodiment of a method for orthodontic appliance configuration
according to aspects of the present disclosure. The method may be
conducted by a suitable computing device which in some embodiments
may form a part of or may provide an appliance configuration
engine.
[0288] The method may include receiving (590) patient data (13)
including patient treatment data and patient characteristic data.
The patient data may be received from a point of care system (5)
via a communication network (21) and/or interface component (23).
The patient data may for example be input into a point of care
system by a healthcare professional responsible for the treatment
or correction of the patient's tooth or teeth. In other
embodiments, the patient data (13) may be received from another
source, such as a datastore (7) an interface component (23) or the
like.
[0289] The patient characteristic data may for example include data
points relating to one or more of physiological, biological,
genetic and situational characteristics of the patient. The patient
treatment data includes one or both of a tooth type indicator and a
tooth position indicator associated with the tooth of the patient
to be treated and treatment movement data which describes the
required tooth movement to effect treatment or correction of the
tooth.
[0290] In some embodiments, receiving patient data includes
determining (592) treatment movement data for the patient. This may
for example include using a treatment plan engine (41) which
determines the treatment movement data for one or more stages of
treatment. Determining treatment movement data may include
determining required movement of the tooth based on the tooth's
current condition or situation and its desired (or treated or
corrected) condition or situation. Receiving patient treatment data
may for example include receiving a tooth model with individual
teeth and the planned movement of each individual tooth and using
the model to determine the treatment movement value including
direction and magnitude of movement of each individual tooth.
[0291] Receiving patient data thus includes receiving information
about the intended movement of a specific tooth. This information
may include the type of tooth and can include other patient data
including the patient age, health, geographical location or
ethnicity (as contained in the patient characteristic data). The
movement of one or more teeth can be specified by a treatment plan,
which can either be described by an initial and a final position or
can be described by one or more steps describing the transformation
of each tooth object in space and in six degrees of freedom.
[0292] The method may include obtaining (593) a force value. In
some embodiments, this may include obtaining a force value, for
example a stage force value, from the treatment plan engine, the
datastore, an interface module or the like. The stage force value
approximates a target orthodontic force value having been
determined based on patient data and PDL behavior data associated
with the patient data, the patient data including patient treatment
data and patient characteristic data, the patient treatment data at
least including one or both of a tooth type indicator and a tooth
position indicator associated with a tooth of a patient to be
treated and a treatment movement value which describes the required
tooth movement to effect treatment of the tooth.
[0293] In other embodiments, the obtaining the force value includes
determining the force value using the patient data including
patient treatment data and patient characteristic data. This may
include determining (594) a target orthodontic force value based on
at least a subset of the patient data (e.g. using the optimal force
engine). For example, determining the target force value may
include using a PDL behavior model to determine one or more
determinate points of PDL behavior data associated with the patient
data inputting the one or more determinate points into an algorithm
that determines the target orthodontic force as a function of the
one or more determinate points.
[0294] Determining the target orthodontic force may therefore
include defining an optimal force relative to the estimated PDL
behavior curve. As has been explained in the foregoing, this can be
done by identifying a determinate point on the curve, for example
at which the PDL is estimated to reach a specific compression and
defining such a point as a critical force level Fc. A case and
tooth specific force can then be defined as a function of the
critical force Fc. In addition, such a force can be a function of
time and thus can vary over the duration of orthodontic treatment
and can be different for each orthodontic appliance used throughout
the duration of treatment.
[0295] The force value may therefore be the target orthodontic
force value or the stage force value received from the treatment
planning engine. The method includes using (596) the force value to
determine configuration parameters for configuring an orthodontic
appliance to apply the target orthodontic force value or stage
force value, as the case may be (i.e., applying a force having
magnitude and direction as represented by or corresponding to the
relevant force value). The configuration parameters may for example
include specification for one or more of: stiffness, size, shape
and material properties of individual portions or zones of an
orthodontic appliance. In some embodiments, determining
configuration parameters includes determining the geometry and
material properties of the appliance so as to apply the target
orthodontic force. In the case of an orthodontic appliance in the
form of an aligner, for example, the configuration parameters may
specify: [0296] the thickness of the appliance at specific zones
through specification of size and shape parameters; [0297] the
inclusion and configuration of features such as surface or
sub-surface features of the appliance (e.g. ridges, cuts, ribs,
bumps, springs, hatching, voids, spaces the like); and, [0298] the
materials and their associated properties (e.g. rigid plastic
materials, flexible plastic materials a combination of rigid and
flexible plastics materials, etc.).
[0299] Referring briefly to FIG. 40, a cross-section through two
example orthodontic appliances is illustrated, in which a first
appliance (602) shown in FIG. 40(a) has a first shape through the
section and a second appliance (604) shown in FIG. 40(b) has a
second shape through the section. In the example embodiments
illustrated, the first appliance has a constant thickness
throughout the section, while the second appliance has different
thicknesses at different portions or zones of the appliance. The
second appliance for example has a thickened portion or zone (606)
which is specifically shaped and dimensioned through the
configuration parameters to apply the target orthodontic force
value or stage force value, as the case may be, relevant to that
tooth (608). The thickened portion or zone may have the effect of
applying a greater force along the x-axis (610) compared for
example to that force that would be applied along the x-axis by the
appliance illustrated in FIG. 40(a). The thickened portion is
provided in the lingual part of the appliance to increase the
stiffness and act as a structural feature of the appliance.
Similarly, there is a thicker section (607) near the incisal edge
of the tooth to provide a greater stiffness and force that is
applied to the tooth. The figure also shows a thinner section of
the appliance toward the facial side of the tooth, which can
provide a softer or more flexible function due to this part of the
appliance having a lower stiffness.
[0300] Although not illustrated, an appliance can also be
configured through configuration parameters to have different
features in different locations of the appliance such as ridges,
cuts, ribs, bumps, springs, hatching, voids, spaces thicker or
thinner selections, extrusions, folds, or any other type of
geometric variation. Such variations directly affect the
performance and more specifically the stiffness of the appliance at
the location at which they are placed. By controlling the geometry
of the features and the geometry the stiffness of the appliance can
be controlled and thereby the forces applied to the teeth.
[0301] In the case of an orthodontic appliance in the form of
dental braces (650), for example as illustrated in FIG. 41,
configuration parameters may include stiffness of wires (652, 654),
which may in turn be configured through material properties, wire
thickness and the like. The properties of the wire may change along
its length such that different forces are applied to different
teeth so as to apply a case, patient and tooth specific force to
each tooth for optimal treatment. for example, the wire may have a
first thickness for a first portion (658) thereof, a second
thickness for a second portion (660) thereof and so on so as to
apply a case, patient and tooth specific force to each tooth for
optimal treatment. Configuration parameters may also include
specification of an elastic band (656) (e.g. location, flexibility,
thickness, etc.). Further configuration parameters may include the
shape of the wire and more specifically bending of the wire along
the arch as well as twisting of the wire to create torsion. These
configuration parameters may be implemented by a robotic arch wire
bending robot to shape the arch wire.
[0302] Returning to FIG. 39, the method includes outputting (598)
the configuration parameters. The configuration parameters may be
output to one or more of: a treatment plan engine (41); a point of
care system (5); an interface module (23); and, a datastore (7).
The method may be conducted or repeated for each tooth to be
treated such that a tooth- and patient-specific configuration
parameters are determined for each tooth to be treated. Outputting
the configuration parameters may include outputting the
configuration parameters for each tooth of the patient to be
treated or corrected to an additive manufacturing machine to
manufacture an orthodontic appliance configured to apply the target
orthodontic force value or stage force value, as the case may be,
to the teeth. For example, in some embodiments, outputting the
configuration parameters includes outputting a 3D mesh or point
cloud file (such as a stereolithography (STL) file) embodying the
configuration parameters such that the file can be input into the
additive manufacturing (or 3D printing) machine to manufacture an
orthodontic appliance configured to apply the relevant target
orthodontic force valued or stage force valued, as the case may be.
As mentioned, each force value has a component for each of six
degrees of freedom such that the different portions or zones of the
orthodontic appliance will be shaped/configured differently to
apply different forces in different directions/rotations.
[0303] In some embodiments, and referring now to FIG. 42, the
method includes evaluating the output configuration parameters,
including configuring (618) an orthodontic appliance in accordance
with the configuration parameters (e.g. including setting an
appliance geometry based on the configuration parameters), testing
(620) the appliance to evaluate the difference between an actual
orthodontic force applied by the appliance and the target
orthodontic force value or stage force value, as the case may be
(or target stiffness versus actual stiffness) and, if (621) the
applied orthodontic force does not approximate the target
orthodontic force value or stage force value, as the case may be,
the method includes updating (622) the configuration parameters
based on this difference. The evaluation may repeat until the
applied orthodontic force approximates the target orthodontic force
at which point the configuration parameters may be stored (624) as
the final configuration parameters.
[0304] Aspects of the present disclosure therefore enable control
of configuration parameters of an orthodontic appliance based on an
optimal or target orthodontic force value. This allows for
orthodontic treatment or correction based on an optimal orthodontic
force that is determined based on PDL behavior data expected for
that specific tooth of the specific patient. As mentioned in the
foregoing, the PDL behavior data describes the force vs
displacement relationship of the PDL. Aspects of the present
disclosure may therefore improve appliance configuration technology
b determining target orthodontic forces based on PDL data points
that are patient, case and tooth specific. Aspects of the present
disclosure enable the determination of orthodontic appliance
configuration parameters using PDL behavior data which includes or
is based on measurement data obtained from a large number of human
or animal subjects in-vivo.
[0305] The appliance configuration engine (43) may therefore
conduct a method for orthodontic appliance configuration including:
receiving the direction and amount of movement of one or more
teeth; determining the PDL behavior for that specific direction in
three dimensional space; using a machine learning model that has
been trained to provide an estimate of the force vs displacement
relationship of the PDL, the behavior being based at least to some
extent on the PDL behavior measured in-vivo; with reference to the
PDL behavior in the given direction, determining a target or
optimal orthodontic force; based on the determined target or
optimal force, in the given direction, defining the desired
appliance function; and, based on the desired appliance function,
determining the size, shape and material properties of the
orthodontic appliance.
Orthodontic Treatment System
[0306] Various modules may be provided for implementing the methods
described above. FIG. 43 is a block diagram which illustrates
exemplary modules which may be provided by an orthodontic treatment
system (1) which may include a computing device (801).
[0307] The computing device (801) may include a processor (802) for
executing the functions of modules described below, which may be
provided by hardware or by software units executing on the
computing device (801). The software units may be stored in a
memory (804) and instructions may be provided to the processor
(802) to carry out the functionality of the described modules. In
some cases, for example in a cloud computing implementation,
software units arranged to manage and/or process data on behalf of
the computing device (801) may be provided remotely.
[0308] The system (1) may include a patient data receiving module
(806) for receiving patient data associated with a patient. The
patient data includes patient characteristic data and patient
treatment data, the patient treatment data at least including one
or both of a tooth type indicator and a tooth position indicator
associated with a tooth of the patient to be corrected.
[0309] The system (1) may include a PDL behavior data retrieving
module (808) for retrieving PDL behavior data associated with at
least a subset of the patient data. As mentioned, the PDL behavior
data includes or is based on force measurement data points and
corresponding displacement measurement data points having been
measured in-vivo while applying a force to a tooth of a human or
animal subject.
[0310] The system (1) may include a target orthodontic force
determining module (810) for determining a target orthodontic force
value that is specific to the patient data by inputting the PDL
behavior data into an algorithm which determines the target
orthodontic force based on the PDL behavior data.
[0311] The system (1) may include a feedback receiving module
(811A) for receiving feedback data obtained during use of an
orthodontic appliance configured to apply a target orthodontic
force to a tooth of a patient. The system (1) may include an
algorithm updating module (811B) for updating the algorithm using
the feedback data. The target orthodontic force determining module
(810) may further be for using the updated algorithm to determine
an updated value corresponding to an updated target orthodontic
force for use in reconfiguring or replacing the orthodontic
appliance so as to apply the updated target orthodontic force.
[0312] The system (1) may include a target orthodontic force
outputting module (812) for outputting the target orthodontic force
value.
[0313] The system (1) may include a dataset obtaining module (814)
for obtaining a dataset including or based on one or both of
measured PDL behavior data and associated metadata. The measured
PDL behavior data includes force measurement data points and
corresponding displacement measurement data points having been
measured in-vivo while applying a force to a particular tooth of a
human or animal subject. The metadata relating to the human or
animal subject and including data points relating to one or more of
physiological, biological and genetic characteristics of the human
or animal subject.
[0314] The system (1) may include a model training module (816) for
training a model using a learning algorithm which identifies
patterns in or relationships between data points of the dataset.
Training the module may include identifying a relationship between
force measurement data points and displacement measurement data
points.
[0315] The system (1) may include a model outputting module (818)
for outputting the model for use in determining PDL behavior data
points including required force data points for a desired
displacement of a tooth of a patient or resultant displacement data
points for an applied force to a tooth of a patient.
[0316] The PDL behavior curves illustrated in the accompanying
Figures show example measurements for a single tooth of a single
human/animal subject and for one of six possible degrees of
freedom. It should be appreciated that for each human/animal
subject, there may be obtained one PDL behavior curve for each
tooth of the patient and for each of the six possible degrees of
freedom.
[0317] The system (1) may include a stage value determining module
(822) for determining one or more stage movement values and
corresponding stage force values. Each stage force value is based
on a target orthodontic force value that is based on one or more
determinate points of PDL behavior data associated with at least a
subset of the patient data. The sum of the one or more stage
movement values approximates the treatment movement value received
with the patient data.
[0318] The system (1) may include a stage value output module (824)
for outputting the one or more stage movement values and
corresponding stage force values as a treatment plan for treatment
of the tooth.
[0319] The system (1) may include a force value obtaining module
(826) for obtaining a force value which approximates a target
orthodontic force value having been determined based on patient
data and PDL behavior data associated with the patient data.
[0320] The system (1) may include a configuration parameter
determining module (828) for using the force value to determine
configuration parameters for configuring an orthodontic appliance
to apply the force value (i.e., applying a force having magnitude
and direction as represented by or corresponding to the force
value) to the tooth of the patient.
[0321] The system (1) may include a configuration parameter output
module (830) for outputting the configuration parameters.
[0322] FIG. 44 illustrates an example of a computing device (2900)
in which various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented. The
computing device (2900) may be embodied as any form of data
processing device including a personal computing device (e.g.
laptop or desktop computer), a server computer (which may be
self-contained, physically distributed over a number of locations),
a client computer, or a communication device, such as a mobile
phone (e.g. cellular telephone), satellite phone, tablet computer,
personal digital assistant or the like. Different embodiments of
the computing device may dictate the inclusion or exclusion of
various modules or subsystems described below.
[0323] The computing device (2900) may be suitable for storing and
executing computer program code. The various participants and
elements in the previously described system diagrams may use any
suitable number of subsystems or modules of the computing device
(2900) to facilitate the functions described herein. The computing
device (2900) may include subsystems or modules interconnected via
a communication infrastructure (2905) (for example, a
communications bus, a network, etc.). The computing device (2900)
may include one or more processors (2910) and at least one memory
module in the form of computer-readable media. The one or more
processors (2910) may include one or more of: CPUs, graphical
processing units (GPUs), microprocessors, field programmable gate
arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)
and the like. In some configurations, a number of processors may be
provided and may be arranged to carry out calculations
simultaneously. In some implementations various subsystems or
modules of the computing device (2900) may be distributed over a
number of physical locations (e.g. in a distributed, cluster or
cloud-based computing configuration) and appropriate software units
may be arranged to manage and/or process data on behalf of remote
devices.
[0324] The memory modules may include system memory (2915), which
may include read only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM).
A basic input/output system (BIOS) may be stored in ROM. System
software may be stored in the system memory (2915) including
operating system software. The memory modules may also include
secondary memory (2920). The secondary memory (2920) may include a
fixed disk (2921), such as a hard disk drive, and, optionally, one
or more storage interfaces (2922) for interfacing with storage
modules (2923), such as removable storage modules (e.g. magnetic
tape, optical disk, flash memory drive, external hard drive,
removable memory chip, etc.), network attached storage modules
(e.g. NAS drives), remote storage modules (e.g. cloud-based
storage) or the like.
[0325] The computing device (2900) may include an external
communications interface (2930) for operation of the computing
device (2900) in a networked environment enabling transfer of data
between multiple computing devices (2900) and/or the Internet. Data
transferred via the external communications interface (2930) may be
in the form of signals, which may be electronic, electromagnetic,
optical, radio, or other types of signal. The external
communications interface (2930) may enable communication of data
between the computing device (2900) and other computing devices
including servers and external storage facilities. Web services may
be accessible by and/or from the computing device (2900) via the
communications interface (2930).
[0326] The external communications interface (2930) may be
configured for connection to wireless communication channels (e.g.,
a cellular telephone network, wireless local area network (e.g.
using Wi-Fi.TM.), satellite-phone network, Satellite Internet
Network, etc.) and may include an associated wireless transfer
element, such as an antenna and associated circuitry.
[0327] The computer-readable media in the form of the various
memory modules may provide storage of computer-executable
instructions, data structures, program modules, software units and
other data. A computer program product may be provided by a
computer-readable medium having stored computer-readable program
code executable by the central processor (2910). A computer program
product may be provided by a non-transient or non-transitory
computer-readable medium, or may be provided via a signal or other
transient or transitory means via the communications interface
(2930).
[0328] Interconnection via the communication infrastructure (2905)
allows the one or more processors (2910) to communicate with each
subsystem or module and to control the execution of instructions
from the memory modules, as well as the exchange of information
between subsystems or modules. Peripherals (such as printers,
scanners, cameras, or the like) and input/output (I/O) devices
(such as a mouse, touchpad, keyboard, microphone, touch-sensitive
display, input buttons, speakers and the like) may couple to or be
integrally formed with the computing device (2900) either directly
or via an I/O controller (2935). One or more displays (2945) (which
may be touch-sensitive displays) may be coupled to or integrally
formed with the computing device (2900) via a display or video
adapter (2940).
[0329] The foregoing description has been presented for the purpose
of illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit
the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in
the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and
variations are possible in light of the above disclosure.
[0330] Any of the steps, operations, modules or processes described
herein may be performed or implemented with one or more hardware or
software units, alone or in combination with other devices. In one
embodiment, a software unit is implemented with a computer program
product comprising a non-transient or non-transitory
computer-readable medium containing computer program code, which
can be executed by a processor for performing any or all of the
steps, operations, or processes described. Software units or
functions described in this application may be implemented as
computer program code using any suitable computer language such as,
for example, Python, Java.TM., C++, or Perl.TM. using, for example,
conventional or object-oriented techniques. The computer program
code may be stored as a series of instructions, or commands on a
non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as a random access
memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a magnetic medium such as a
hard-drive, or an optical medium such as a CD-ROM. Any such
computer-readable medium may also reside on or within a single
computational apparatus, and may be present on or within different
computational apparatuses within a system or network.
[0331] Flowchart illustrations and block diagrams of methods,
systems, and computer program products according to embodiments are
used herein. Each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block
diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations
and/or block diagrams, may provide functions which may be
implemented by computer readable program instructions. In some
alternative implementations, the functions identified by the blocks
may take place in a different order to that shown in the flowchart
illustrations.
[0332] Some portions of this description describe the embodiments
of the invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic
representations of operations on information. These algorithmic
descriptions and representations, such as accompanying flow
diagrams, are commonly used by those skilled in the data processing
arts to convey the substance of their work effectively to others
skilled in the art. These operations, while described functionally,
computationally, or logically, are understood to be implemented by
computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits, microcode, or
the like. The described operations may be embodied in software,
firmware, hardware, or any combinations thereof.
[0333] The language used in the specification has been principally
selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not
have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive
subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the
invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather
by any claims that issue on an application based hereon.
Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the invention is
intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the
invention set forth in any accompanying claims.
[0334] Finally, throughout the specification and any accompanying
claims, unless the context requires otherwise, the word `comprise`
or variations such as `comprises` or `comprising` will be
understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of
integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of
integers.
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