Wireless and Battery-less Orthodontic Sensor System

Description

Oral health is critical to body health and quality of life. While over 60% of the population suffer from various degrees of malocclusion and need orthodontic care, there is a lack of certified orthodontists to meet the demand. Moreover, orthodontics is still largely based on the traditional qualitative and experience-based routine that is labor-intensive and causes uncertainties in treatment outcomes. These imperatively call for improvement of orthodontics in terms of quality, efficiency, affordability, and accessibility. The objective of this project is to develop a set of sensor system and analysis tool for the orthodontic treatment and inform orthodontists with quantitative force feedback, movement feedback and guidance on the bracket adjustment. Based on our extensive research on energy harvesting, sensor technology and AI, the research team will use the wireless power transfer and strain sensing technologies to develop a low-cost and battery-less sensor system, make prototypes and perform clinical tests.