Method and apparatus for recording three-dimensional topographies
Patent 5771310 Issued on June 23, 1998. Estimated Expiration Date: 
December 30, 2016. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.
December 30, 2016. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.Patent ReferencesTopographic comparator Low contact force position sensing probe Hardness measuring probe Apparatus and method for monitoring visually accessible surfaces of the body Atomic force microscope Technique for representing sampled images Optical probe and method for the three-dimensional surveying of teeth Method and apparatus for performing near-field optical microscopy Digital analyte detection system Scanning probe microscope InventorApplicationNo. 777412 filed on 12/30/1996US Classes:382/154, 3-D or stereo imaging analysis382/128, Biomedical applications702/182, Performance or efficiency evaluation702/191For noise removal or suppressionExaminersPrimary: Boudreau, Leo H.Assistant: Mehta, Bhavesh M. Attorney, Agent or FirmForeign Patent References
International ClassG06K 009/00AbstractThe invention features a method of generating a three-dimensional topography of a property of an object, by (a) generating digital data points at a plurality of sample points on the surface of the object, each digital data point including a property value and a position value corresponding to a particular sample point; (b) assigning each digital data point to one of a plurality of discrete compartments based on the position value of the data point, each compartment corresponding to a unique location on the object and containing zero, one, or more digital data points; (c) determining a quality value for each of the compartments based on the quality of the digital data points assigned to that compartment, and assigning to each compartment a code representing the quality value; (d) generating and assigning new digital data points to each compartment having a code indicating an unacceptable quality value, the new data points corresponding to sample points on the object at a location corresponding to the compartment; (e) determining a new quality value for each compartment to which new digital data points have been assigned and assigning to each compartment a code representing the new quality value; (f) repeating step (d) until all compartments are assigned a code indicating an acceptable quality value;and (g) generating from the digital data points and new digital data points a three-dimensional topography representing the property of the object.Other References
Field of SearchBiomedical applicationsSurface texture or roughness measuring Seismic or geological sample measuring Manufacturing or product inspection Tomography (e.g., CAT scanner) X-ray film analysis (e.g., radiography) Robotics 3-D or stereo imaging analysis IMAGE ENHANCEMENT OR RESTORATION IMAGE TRANSFORMATION OR PREPROCESSING Measuring image properties (e.g., length, width, or area) IMAGE SENSING Hand-held Quality inspection Of surface (e.g., texture or smoothness, etc.) | |
