Dental splint fabrication for prospective motion correction in ultrahigh-field MR imaging

Abstract

For prospective motion correction in ultrahigh-field magnetic resonance imaging, optical tracking is employed by fixating a tailored dental splint on the subject’s upper jaw. However, producing such dental splints is cumbersome and exposes subjects to significant discomfort due to the required dental cast preparation. To catalyze the production of these custom-made splints, we propose a semi-automated workflow.By retrospectively digitizing dental casts of five subjects using a 3D laser scanner, we virtually graft the dental splints and, once visually analyzed and approved, they are fabricated by a 3D printer.This process increases subject comfort and reduces the preparation time.