A three-dimensional scanning apparatus based on structured illumination method and its application in dental scanning

Abstract

We demonstrated a three-dimensional (3D) dental scanning apparatus based on structured illumination. A liquid lens was used for tuning focus and a piezomotor stage was used for shift of structured light. A simple algorithm, which detects intensity modulation, was used to perform optical sectioning with structured illumination. We reconstructed 3D point cloud, which represents the 3D coordinates of the digitized surface, of a dental gypsum cast by piling up sectioned images. We performed 3D registration of individual 3D point cloud, which includes alignment and merging the 3D point clouds, to exhibit a 3D model of the dental cast.