The availability of datasets comprising of digitized images of human body cross sections (as well as images acquired with other modalities such as CT and MRI) along with the recent advances in fields like graphics, 3D visualization, virtual reality, 2D and 3D image processing and analysis (segmentation, registration, filtering, etc.) have given rise to a broad range of educational, diagnostic and treatment planning applications, such as virtual anatomy and digital atlases, virtual endoscopy, intervention planning etc. This chapter describes efforts towards the creation of the Virtual Dental Patient (VDP) i.e. a 3D face and oral cavity model constructed using human anatomical data that is accompanied by detailed teeth models obtained from digitized cross sections of extracted teeth. VDP can be animated and adapted to the characteristics of a specific patient. Numerous dentistry-related applications can be envisioned for the created VDP model. Here we focus on its use in a virtual tooth drilling system whose aim is to aid dentists, dental students and researchers in getting acquainted with the handling of drilling instruments and the skills and challenges associated with cavity preparation procedures in endodontic therapy. Virtual drilling can be performed within the VDP oral cavity, on 3D volumetric and surface models (meshes) of virtual teeth. The drilling procedure is controlled by the Phantom Desktop (Sensable Technologies Inc., Woburn, MA) force feedback haptic device. The application is a very promising educational and research tool that allows the user to practice in a realistic manner virtual tooth drilling for endodontic treatment cavity preparation and other related tasks.
Interpolation and 3D visualization of soil moisture
