Innovation from Every Angle
Inside Dental Technology delivers updates on digital workflows, materials, lab techniques, and innovation in dental technology through expert articles and videos.
August 1, 2013
Volume 4, Issue 8, July/August 2013
Page(s):
In the metrology world, selecting the right tools is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. However, sometimes, the choice of equipment is too vast, complicating what should be a simple workflow.
Scanning is essentially the conversion of physical shape to a digital representation. The resulting three-dimensional (3D) point clouds or polygon models are employed for later stages, like prosthetic design with CAD software. As the saying goes, “Well begun is half done.” When it comes to scanners, an argument can be made that choosing the right equipment does even more than that.
Medit’s Identica Blue scanner is mainly composed of two core parts—a projector and a double camera-projector that beam a series of light patterns that are captured by a double camera and finally interpreted by software. The Identica Blue’s structured light is able to scan gypsum models, implants, impressions, and more at a speed unrivaled by other scanners in the industry.
Many 3D scanners’ scanning capabilities are limited when scanning shiny and reflective surfaces, as surface noise, reflection, and refraction can directly affect the quality of the final scan. However, Identica Blue’s use of blue light, which has a shorter wavelength than white light, can counteract some of this imperfect process. Furthermore, Identica Blue’s multi-phase shift pattern minimizes surface noise, reinforcing the perfection of the scan data.
Sometimes, scans taken with lasers will suffer from a random “speckle effect” that results from the interference of light waves of the same frequency. Even small environmental changes can affect the shape of a speckle pattern, which then leads to reliability failure and digital distortion of original data. Identica Blue’s structured light system brings an optimized working environment to the laboratory, free from external conditions like ambient light.
Identica Blue’s structured light scanner also offers advantages over laser technology during the meshing and merging process of a scan. Laser scanners collect data using a point or a line to form complete 3D data, whereas Identica Blue gets its scan data by measuring the area or volume of a particular object. Having multiple scan data on an object’s surface minimizes the risk of gross distortion, thus making the Identica Blue more reliable and accurate than a laser scanner.
Scanners require a high calibration standard in order to maintain the accuracy and consistency of their scanning performance. Medit strives to incorporate the highly accurate parameters of industrial CMM [Coordinate Measuring Machine] when designing and manufacturing its equipment, guaranteeing excellent accuracy under the ISO 12836 standard, which is used to assess the accuracy and precision of digital dentistry devices.
While there is no “gold standard” for equipment that uses structured light, every scanner that leaves Medit’s factory is calibrated against reference artifacts (ie, ball spheres with specific distances between them). These reference artifacts are manufactured by a third-party external company and are fully certified.
Identica Blue is capable of digitizing both positive and negative geometries, giving laboratory technicians an incomparable impression scanning result. Blue light is the optimal wavelength for scanning the various dental materials used in both laboratories and dental offices. From the moment a laboratory incorporates Medit’s Identica Blue, technicians will find scanning results they had previously only imagined right before their eyes.
For more information, contact:
Medit corp.
P 215-860-1604
W www.meditcompany.com
E americasales@meditcompany.com
DISCLAIMER: The preceding material was provided by the manufacturer. The statements and opinions contained therein are solely those of the manufacturer and not of the editors, publisher or, the Editorial Board of Inside Dental Technology.
