Three-dimensional panoramic dental radiography method and apparatus which avoids the subject's spine
US5214686A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 13, 1991 |
| Grant date | May 25, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 13, 2011 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B6/51
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A panoramic dental radiography system projects multiple vertical, fan-shaped radiation beams through a subject's teeth and onto multiple detectors, with each fan-shaped beam avoiding the subject's spine. The radiographic source and radiographic detectors are rotated about a vertical axis, so that the detected radiation may be tomographically processed to produce a panoramic image of the teeth. The multiple vertical fan-shaped radiation beams are projected on either side of the spine, to reduce the radiographic dosage to the spine and to prevent the spine from blurring the panoramic radiograph. The resulting multiple projections can be tomosynthetically processed to produce a three-dimensional image of tissues of diagnostic interest, free of image artifacts produced by irradiation of the spine.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.