A Prototype System for Acquisition and Analysis of 3d Mandibular Movement

This paper presents the development of a new prototype system for acquisition and analysis of the 3D mandibular movement. In Dental Medicine, the study of the mandibular movement is very important in oral rehabilitation treatments, since it allows the diagnosis of clinical pathologies in the temporomandibular joints and therefore, it helps medical doctors to select the most adequate treatment plan and its future assessment. In this work, a facial arc commonly used in Dental Medicine, was adapted to incorporate electromagnetic sensors to measure the movement of the mandible. Thus, some parts of the arc were redesigned, in order to ensure the best comfort for patients, and a compatible support for the sensors were designed. A complete new user interface was also developed to display and analyse the 3D movement acquired. This software integrates a neural network algorithm to accomplish the conversion of the output voltage of the electromagnetic sensors employed into 3D cartesian coordinates. The prototype developed reveals to be easy to use, comfortable for patients and capable of being produce at an affordable price. 1 INTRODUCTION The human mandible and the temporomandibular joint make an interesting and complex biomechanical system that performs several functions and produces forces of considerable value and high precision. The peculiar construction of the temporomandibular joint allows the mandible to move according to six degrees of freedom. In Dental Medicine, it is essential to know the mandibular kinematics in order to simulate the temporomandibular joint, place correctly teeth moulds in articulators, reproduce the mandibular movements and consequently, the satisfactory resolution of occlusion problems. With so high importance in Dental Medicine, it is normal that many devices have being developed to acquire the mandibular movement. However, the existent devices are not friendly to use and have prices that are not affordable to be used in common medical dental centres. To overcome these difficulties, we developed a new prototype system to acquire and analyse the mandibular movement that is easy to use and that can be produced with an affordable price. The experimental results obtained using our device permits us to conclude that it can be successfully used to acquire and analyse the mandibular movement. Moreover, as it uses common dental facial arcs as its main support structure as well as it is based on technologies of low price, its final price will substantially lower than the existent devices. With these two important characteristics, we conclude that our prototype is suitable for being used in usually medical dental centres helping dental doctors in their diagnosis and treatment plans.