Personalized Tooth Shape Estimation From Radiograph and Cast

• Published in: IEEE transactions on biomedical engineering Vol. 59; no. 9; pp. 2400 - 2411
• Main Authors: Pei, Yuru, Shi, Fuhao, Chen, Hua, Wei, Jia, Zha, Hongbin, Jiang, Ruoping, Xu, Tianmin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.09.2012; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• Subjects: 3-D personalized tooth reconstruction; Applied sciences; Backprojection; Computed tomography; Computer Simulation; contour constraint; Dental Models; Diagnostic radiography; Exact sciences and technology; Humans; Image processing; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - methods; Image reconstruction; Information, signal and communications theory; nonrigid registration; Orthodontics - methods; Pattern recognition; Shape; Signal processing; Teeth; Telecommunications and information theory; Three dimensional displays; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Tooth - anatomy & histology; Tooth - diagnostic imaging; Radiography; contour constraint; Radiodiagnosis; Image processing; Backprojection; Exploration; 3-D personalized tooth reconstruction; Tooth; Shape detection; Image reconstruction; Biomedical engineering; nonrigid registration
• ISSN: 0018-9294; 1558-2531
• DOI: 10.1109/TBME.2011.2174993

Three-dimensional geometric information of teeth is usually needed in pre- and postoperative diagnoses of orthodontic dentistry. The computerized tomography can provide comprehensive 3-D teeth geometries. However, there is still a discussion on computed tomography (CT) as a routine in orthodontic dentistry due to radiation dose. Moreover, the CT is useless when a dentist needs to extract 3-D structures from old archive files with only radiographs and casts, where patient's teeth changed ever since. In this paper, we propose a reconstruction framework for patient-specific teeth based on an integration of 2-D radiographs and digitized casts. The reconstruction is under a template-fitting framework. The shape and orientation of teeth templates are tuned in accordance with patient's radiographs. Specially, the tooth root morphology is controlled by 2-D contours in radiographs. With ray tracing and a contour plane assumption, 2-D root contours in radiographs are projected back to 3-D space, and guide tooth root deformations. Moreover, the template's crown is deformed nonrigidly to fit digitized casts that bear patient's crown details. The system allows 3-D tooth reconstruction with patient-specific geometric details from just casts and 2-D radiographs.