A new tracking system of jaw movement using two magnets

Summary form only given. Tracking of jaw movement is sufficient to characterize the treatment of periodontal disease. Conventional optical methods or mechanical methods have adverse effect due to the presence of metal clutch in the patient's mouth. These clutches disturb the physiology. Conventional magnetic method has utilized a permanent magnet and magnetic field sensors. The conventional magnetic method has inherent limitation that the system provides only the position of the point source and the sensors are fixed to the head. This one point detection is not sufficient to characterize the treatment of jaw movement as a rigid body. A new magnetic tracking system of jaw movement utilized a six degrees of freedom of the lower jaw is proposed here. This technique is based on the magnetic motion capture system of two magnets proposed by us (IEEE Trans. Mgn. vol.36, p.3646, (2000)). The system does not need to fix magnetic field sensors or clutch to the patient's body or mouth. The impact of this result goes beyond the conventional optical and magnetic tracking system of jaw movement.