US 11,771,526 B2
Systems and methods for nonlinear tooth modeling
Vadim Matov, San Jose, CA (US); Sergei Brodsky, San Jose, CA (US); Bastien Pesenti, San Jose, CA (US); Yuri Syrov, San Jose, CA (US); Ping Tang, Milpitas, CA (US); Manlio Fabio Valdivieso Casique, Santa Clara, CA (US); Olga Matusevich, Moscow (RU); and Igor Kvasov, Los Altos, CA (US)
Assigned to Align Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed by Align Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on Sep. 20, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/949,113.
Application 17/949,113 is a continuation of application No. 16/730,865, filed on Dec. 30, 2019, granted, now 11,478,334.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/788,025, filed on Jan. 3, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2023/0126690 A1, Apr. 27, 2023
Int. Cl. A61C 7/00 (2006.01); A61C 7/08 (2006.01); G16H 20/00 (2018.01); G06T 17/20 (2006.01)
CPC A61C 7/002 (2013.01) [A61C 7/08 (2013.01); G06T 17/20 (2013.01); G16H 20/00 (2018.01); G06T 2207/30036 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method for digital treatment planning, the computer-implemented method comprising:
defining a plurality of caps, wherein each cap of the plurality of caps represents a set of contact points on a tooth of a patient's dentition;
defining a plurality of links, wherein each link of the plurality of links represents a connection between a pair of the plurality of caps;
generating a relaxed model of a dental appliance using the plurality of caps and the plurality of links, wherein the relaxed model represents physical properties of the dental appliance prior to use by the patient;
generating a deformed model of the dental appliance using the plurality of caps and plurality of links, wherein the deformed model of the dental appliance represents physical properties of the dental appliance after use by the patient; and
transforming the relaxed model to the deformed model to direct the patient dentition towards a target tooth arrangement,
wherein the plurality of caps and the plurality of links are defined at least in part based on an initial three-dimensional model of the patient's dentition; wherein the initial three-dimensional model of the patient's dentition is collected from an intraoral scan of the patient's mouth.