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Advancing medical imaging techniques to address the challenges in medicine
CT metrology-based manufacturing applications
In the modern manufacturing industry, additive manufacturing technologies such as 3D printing are in active development and many of them are deployed in commercial forms. Biomedical applications of such additive manufacturing are particularly under our interest. Some examples would include surgical makeup using a 3D printed skull, teeth loss recovery, and various dental impression related procedures. In order to meet the needs of biomedical applications, the dimensional accuracy of the products should be guaranteed. In that regard, CT metrology is considered an important field on the horizon and much attentions are to be paid in the future. We have used a CT-based 3D printed tooth model to treat an anomalous anterior tooth of a child, and the treatment found to be very successful (J. Endodontics 2015).
We are continuing to explore possible applications of CT imaging for various dental treatment, and have recently succeeded in innovating a procedure of dental crown manufacturing together with a dentist in US. Typically, the crown manufacturing process is labor-intensive, time-consuming, and highly operator-dependent. Instead of using a stone-model to make dental crowns, we proposed to use a digital model directly acquired by a CT scan of a dental impression. This would make the crown manufacturing process much easier, faster, and more robust (Scientific Reports 2017). Much more technical innovations on digital dentistry in association with CT imaging are in development.