SBIR-STTR Award

In recent years training in clinical Dentistry has been significantly impacted by the rapid growth of simulation technology. The introduction of computer generated Virtual Reality, together with haptic devices, have the potential to further improve clinical training across a broad range of skills acquisition. Given that a restorative Dental procedure is a planned intervention in a complex 3-D space, the advent of VR would allow the student, and clinician alike, to practice skills acquisition in a virtual 3D world. The Aim of this project is to put a computer-based simulation system to work. We intend to develop a tooth treatment planning system that will integrate information derived from different imaging techniques and will accommodate the intrinsic three-dimensionality of the resulting data set. An ideal planning environment should present a stereo 3D computer-generated reconstruction of the imaging data in a 3D space. It should allow the operator to interact directly in 3D in a natural, direct and easy manner. This system will allow for a believable simulation of a wide variety of tooth preparations that clinicians could encounter. By combining tooth-specific micro-CT scans, microgrindings, and high-resolution photographic images, data will be co-registered and displayed as a single 3D object. The result will be a photo realistic, 3-D voxel model of a tooth. The system will allow for real-time manipulation of the multimodal 3D data. Additionally, the system will provide a number of Dental instruments for tooth preparation and shaping. The 3D image will be moveable in all axis of rotation but can be fixed in a desired position when needed. A sensor resembling a Dental hand piece will appear as a computer generated virtual hand piece on the computer screen. It can be used to perform tooth preparation procedures. The position of the virtual instrument in the users hand will be calibrated in such a way that the user perceives it to be in the same orientation and spatial position. Through the use of haptic force-feedback it will be possible to simulate the sensation of actual tooth preparations

In recent years training in clinical dentistry has been significantly impacted by the rapid growth of simulation technology. The introduction of computer graphics, together with force-feedback (haptic) devices, has the potential to further improve clinical training across a broad range of skills acquisition. Given that a restorative dental procedure is a planned intervention in a complex 3-D space, the application of these technologies would allow the student and clinician alike to practice skills acquisition in a virtual 3D world. The aim of this project is to further develop and evaluate a computer-based simulation system for dental procedures. Our Phase I project was successful in demonstrating technical feasibility of all specific aims of the project. This novel system integrated 3D registered multimodal imaging data (microCT and microgrinding), presented the user with an interactive, stereoscopic, 3D computer-generated reconstruction of the imaging data in a 3D space, and allowed for the interaction with that dataset with a number of virtual instruments while generating real-time haptic feedback at over 1000 updates per second using a unique, advanced distributed processing system. The advanced core technologies developed in this system would be leveraged for this Phase II SBIR to produce a useful, no-nonsense, clinically-validated simulation of the complete variety of tooth preparations that clinicians would typically encounter. Such a system would be useful for initial training of dental students; would provide for objective, quantitative metrics for student evaluation; and would be useful for continual training, evaluation and retraining of clinicians in practice