10010410Digital Dentistry: AI and Simulation based workflow for automated clear aligner productionClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKA novel approach to teeth straightening involving the use of clear thin plastic aligners that users slip on over their teeth and gums has been gaining ground over the more traditional metal (so called train-track) braces. Some advantages of clear aligners are that they are less conspicuous/less visible when worn, can be removed, and are easier to keep clean. Clear aligners are now estimated to account for 8% of orthodontic (teeth straightening) procedures worldwide with revenue in excess of 2 billion dollars. The design of clear aligners relies on using scanning techniques to generate computer models of a patient's dentition which are then used as the basis for a tailored treatment plan consisting of a sequence of clear aligners that progressively straighten teeth with 3D printing used in the process of making the aligners. This approach to developing a treatment plan is currently cumbersome and requires considerable input from a prescribing orthodontist in concert with specially trained dental technicians who carry out the detailed modelling steps interactively on a computer. This is a pain-staking and onerous process which contributes appreciably to the cost of the procedure. The present proposal is to develop a computer workflow for treatment planning, from dental scan right through to the design of patient specific aligners, which is largely automated thereby streamlining and deskilling the process with attendant substantive reduction in costs. This will in part be made possible by leveraging recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Techniques in the field of image processing as well as by employing computer (physics-based) simulation techniques to improve the treatment plan. This industrial research project will be run by a team at Vitaware Ltd. consisting of engineers, computer scientists and orthodontists with a well established track record in software development for Healthcare applications in partnership with a commercial provider of 3D aligner solutions to the orthodontist community and with the participation of The University of Exeter 3D Printing Centre of Excellence.