Abstract
Intraoral scanning has become integral to digital workflows in dental implantology, offering a more efficient and comfortable alternative to conventional impression techniques. For complete edentulism, accurate scanning is crucial to successful full-arch dental implant rehabilitation. However, the absence of well-defined anatomical landmarks can lead to cumulative errors during merging sequential scans, often surpassing acceptable thresholds. Current mitigation strategies rely on manual adjustments in computer-aided design (CAD) software, a time-intensive process that depends heavily on the operator's expertise. This study presents a novel textit{segment-match-correct} robotic process automation (RPA) workflow to enhance full-arch intraoral scans' positioning accuracy and efficiency. By leveraging 3D registration algorithms, the proposed method improves implant positioning accuracy while significantly reducing manual labor. To assess the robustness of this workflow, we simulated four types of noise to evaluate their impact on scanning errors. Our findings demonstrate that the RPA workflow reduces dentist workload from 5-8 minutes per scan to less than 1 minute (about 57 seconds) while achieving a lower linear error of 45.16 $pm$ 23.76 unit{micrometer}, outperforming traditional scanning methods. We could replicate linear and angular deviations observed in real-world scans by simulating cumulative errors. This workflow improves the accuracy and efficiency of complete-arch implant rehabilitation and provides a practical solution to reduce cumulative scanning errors. Additionally, the noise simulations offer valuable insights into the origins of these errors, further optimizing intraoral scanner performance.
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BibTeX (Download)
@online{Dong2024EnhancingFull,
title = {Enhancing Full-Arch Intraoral Measurement with Robotic Process Automation},
author = {Chengxiao Dong and Yu Pan and Xuanyi Dai and Edmond Ho Nang and Chaoyang Song and Fang Wan},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-09-12},
abstract = {Intraoral scanning has become integral to digital workflows in dental implantology, offering a more efficient and comfortable alternative to conventional impression techniques. For complete edentulism, accurate scanning is crucial to successful full-arch dental implant rehabilitation. However, the absence of well-defined anatomical landmarks can lead to cumulative errors during merging sequential scans, often surpassing acceptable thresholds. Current mitigation strategies rely on manual adjustments in computer-aided design (CAD) software, a time-intensive process that depends heavily on the operator's expertise. This study presents a novel textit{segment-match-correct} robotic process automation (RPA) workflow to enhance full-arch intraoral scans' positioning accuracy and efficiency. By leveraging 3D registration algorithms, the proposed method improves implant positioning accuracy while significantly reducing manual labor. To assess the robustness of this workflow, we simulated four types of noise to evaluate their impact on scanning errors. Our findings demonstrate that the RPA workflow reduces dentist workload from 5-8 minutes per scan to less than 1 minute (about 57 seconds) while achieving a lower linear error of 45.16 $pm$ 23.76 unit{micrometer}, outperforming traditional scanning methods. We could replicate linear and angular deviations observed in real-world scans by simulating cumulative errors. This workflow improves the accuracy and efficiency of complete-arch implant rehabilitation and provides a practical solution to reduce cumulative scanning errors. Additionally, the noise simulations offer valuable insights into the origins of these errors, further optimizing intraoral scanner performance.},
note = {Submitted to Journal of Bionic Engineering},
keywords = {Co-Author, Under Review},
pubstate = {forthcoming},
tppubtype = {online}
}
