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  Dental tool guidesRelated Patent Categories: Dentistry, Apparatus, Having Gauge Or Guide, Having Tool, Marker, Or Coupling Or Guiding Means Therefor, Parallel DrillingDental tool guides description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060240378, Dental tool guides. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation in part of U.S. Ser. No. 10/350,288, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. This application is related to a PCT application filed on Jan. 22, 2003, by same applicant in the Israel receiving office and having attorney docket number 368-03870, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present application relates to the guiding of tools, for example a dental drill. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] In manual applications where a high precision is required over time, it is customary to use tool guides. For example, when drilling holes in a jaw bone for tooth implants, a stent is manufactured which fits the jaw and includes one or more bores which serve to guide a drill in an exact trajectory towards the jawbone. [0004] Tool guides are also used in brain surgery, where a sterotactic frame is mounted on a skull, imaged thereto and registered to 3D images of the brain. A trajectory into the brain is planned and the frame is set up to guide one or more tools along this trajectory. Adjustable frames are also used for other organs, such as the knee. [0005] U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,448, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference describes a dental drill guide positioning system using one or more position sensors to determine a position of a dental drill and indicate, on an image, an expected trajectory thereof. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] A broad aspect of some embodiments of the invention relates to tool guide sections which can be tracked and/or positioned relative to a base station. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, such tracking is local and only includes determining relative positions and/or orientations of elements in the immediate vicinity of the tool guide section and the base section, for examples in a mouth. [0007] An aspect of some embodiments of the invention relates to small and adjustable medical tool guides, for example for dental use. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a tool guide includes a base section for fixedly coupling to a human body portion, and an adjustable guide section which can be adjusted in at least three degrees of freedom relative to the base, after the base is coupled to the body. Optionally, the degrees of freedom include at least one position degree of freedom and at least one orientation degree of freedom. [0008] Optionally, the guide section and/or the base section include one or more sensors which generate a signal responsive to the adjustment of the guide section. Optionally, such indication is transmitted using a wired or wireless transmitter provided in or with the tool guide. [0009] In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the guide section has the form of an articulating arm. Optionally, the arm is lockable in position once adjusted. Optionally the tool guide is in two separate parts where the guide section can be mounted on the base section, for example after the base section is mounted to a body and after the guide section is optionally locked in position. In an alternative embodiment, the guide section has the form of a rod extending from a box and including a tiltable tip. [0010] In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the tool guide is designed to have an adjustment range smaller than 2 cm in maximum extent. Optionally, the whole tool guide fits in a volume suitable for fitting in a mouth, for example, smaller than 8 cm or smaller than 5 cm in maximum extent. In one example, the guide is used as a drill guide, small enough to fit in a mouth, with the base being adapted to mount on a jaw or a tooth. [0011] In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the tool guide is not mechanically coupled to the base. Instead, sensors (e.g., optical sensors) on the base and/or tool guide determine their relative positions In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the tool guide sensors are mounted on a dental tool. [0012] A broad aspect of some embodiments of the invention relates to methods and apparatus for registering a base section to a hard tissue, such as a jawbone. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the base section is wholly contained in the mouth. Optionally, the base section is registered to a previous image of the hard tissue. [0013] An aspect of some embodiments of the invention relates to a method of registering a stent to an existing image of a jaw, for example a 3D CT image data set. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a stent is mounted on a jawbone after the existing image is acquired. Optionally, this allows the acquisition of CT image to be made without first committing to a particular dental treatment process and/or at a different time and place. Optionally, however, the CT image is acquired with the stent attached. Then, a non-volumetric image of the stent and jawbone is acquired, for example, a surface image acquired using optical scanning or using a camera. Optionally, the stent includes one or more visible markers. A jaw bone portion of the acquired surface image is then correlated to the existing image. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the stent includes a mounting point for a tool guide section, which mounting point is suitable for rigid coupling of the tool guide section to the jaw bone. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the tool guide section is an adjustable arm of the type described herein. [0014] An aspect of some embodiments of the invention relates to a registerable dental stent. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the stent includes one or more x-ray opaque markers arranged so that the stent position and/or orientation can be seen in a 2D x-ray transmission image. Optionally, the stent is otherwise partially or completely transparent to x-rays. Optionally, the stent includes a marking which is identifiable using optical surface scanning. [0015] In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the stent is used to determine a depth to a mandibular canal. Optionally, the stent includes means for determining a surface geometry of underlying bone. [0016] A broad aspect of some embodiments of the invention relates to methods of using a base section and/or a tool guide section, for example for dental applications. [0017] An aspect of some embodiments of the invention relates to a guiding stent for dental applications in which a jaw area or tooth to be worked on is un-obscured. In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, the stent includes two opposing base sections for engaging a jaw bone on either side of the jaw and one or more bridge sections which attach the base sections while leaving a central area between the bridge sections un-obscured. A guide section is optionally and/or selectively mountable on one of the base sections so that it blocks access from at most one side of the jaw bone. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, a base section is adapted to be mounted on a tooth that is near the work area on a jaw bone and includes a cantilevered section which acts as a guide section and/or on which a guide section may be mounted. [0018] A broad aspect of some embodiments of the invention relates to methods of adjusting and/or positioning of tool guide sections relative to base sections. [0019] An aspect of some embodiments of the invention relates to a device for adjusting tool guides. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the device includes a receptacle for holding at least part of a guide section and a plurality of actuators, each adapted to affect at least one degree of freedom of the guide section. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the adjusting device includes a manual or automated input interface, operative to control the actuators, for example a port for an external controller or a set of dials. [0020] In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the adjuster device holds a base section and a guiding section of a tool guide and, by user or machine manipulation, the relative positions and orientations of the base and guiding sections are changed. Optionally, the tool guide bends at its joints to conform to the relative positions, such that for any particular relative position, there may be more than one arm adjustment. In some implementations, this method generally depends on the number of degrees of freedom of the arm and the number of degrees of positional and orientational change the adjuster is capable of. Continue reading about Dental tool guides... Full patent description for Dental tool guides Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Dental tool guides patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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