Dentistry – Apparatus – Having means to emit radiation or facilitate viewing of the...
Patent
1991-08-07
1993-01-12
Wilson, John J.
Dentistry
Apparatus
Having means to emit radiation or facilitate viewing of the...
433114, 358 98, A61C 100
Patent
active
051785366
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a dentistry instrument including a counter-angle drilling tool, operating by direct vision, and a computer aided visual control, and is particularly concerned with a dentistry drill.
As is conventional in the field of dentistry, reference will be made throughout this specification to a "drill" or to "drilling" where often a "mill" or "milling" is concerned.
Drilling of a dental cavity requires a vision adequate for the work to be performed. Furthermore, the deeper the zone of work, the greater is the required clarity.
Considering the limited space for operation, the dentist does not always have a clear and large enough field of vision to execute the precise work which is required, for example by the preparations for a cavity floor.
Accordingly the tactile feel of the practitioner must make up, in the majority of cases, for any defect of vision in the zone of intervention.
2. Description of the prior art
Some endoscopes have been developed, but unfortunately, they are cumbersome and of no great practical use. Moreover, it seems to be impossible to maintain such apparatus at a constant angular position with respect to the drilling instrument. Furthermore, the image formed does not have the required qualities for the required minute work.
In addition, materials recently used in dentistry demand certain requirements concerning precision and shape, if they are to be used in a reliable and lasting way, such as :
The object of this invention is to remedy these various inconveniences by integrating an optical surveillance kit with the rotary drill used by dentists.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thus, this invention refers to a dentistry instrument including a counter-angle drilling tool, with computer aided visual control of great definition. It contains in its handle a video micro-camera receiving an image of the operating area through an optical window, and a reflecting surface reflecting the image along the axis of the handle and transmitting it in video form with illumination by a fiber optic to an information processing set. The fiber optic terminates below the handle to aim a bundle of light beams onto the operating area. In addition, an air outlet under pressure, as well as a water pulverization outlet under pressure, form a spray directed towards the operating area.
The general inventive idea consists in integrating in a manual dentistry tool, especially a drill, a device for capturing and reconstituting images which, without any fiber optics and operating by video transmission through a light carrier using fiber optic illumination, is coupled to a computer aided modelling set, thus allowing superimposition on the image of the optimal contour of a shape as determined and drawn by the computer.
This invention results in numerous advantages, such as :
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The technical characteristics and other advantages of the invention are described in the following description, provided as non-limiting examples of modes of implementation, and referring to the accompanying Figures, in which :
FIG. 1 is a sectional schematic view of a dentistry drill provided with visual control;
FIG. 2 is a sectional schematic view of the drill of FIG. 1, showing an over pressure area;
FIG. 3 is a sectional schematic view showing in greater detail an optical device disposed in a handle of the drill of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a sectional schematic view showing a second embodiment provided with two observation windows; and
FIG. 5 is a schematic flow diagram showing the route of a video signal.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring first to FIG. 1, the dentistry drill 1 of the counter-angle kind has a handle 2 and a head 3 carrying a drill bit 4 provided with a shaft 5.
The handle 2 carries in its interior a fiber optic 6 which terminates below the head 3 at a protruding, adjustable illuminating head 7. This illuminating head 7 is equipped with a polarizing filter 8, in order to obtain polarized illumination.
The illumina
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