THE CYBERMOUSE - A SIMPLE METHOD OF DESCRIBING THE TRAJECTORY OF THE HUMAN MANDIBLE IN 3 DIMENSIONS

A simple method of recording the three-dimensional movements of the ma ndible together with up to IO channels of other physiological data is described. The system is based on a commercially available device, the Cybermouse (IPC, Freemont, CA, U.S.A.), consisting of a lightweight u ltrasonic emitter which can be attached to the chin by means of an ela sticated band, and a base unit which contains three ultrasonic detecto rs. A microprocessor in the base unit calculates the position of the e mitter by analysing the differences in the times of arrival of signals from the emitter. Physiological data is acquired using the PICO-ADC11 (Pico Technology, Cambridge, U.K.) a IO-channel analogue-to-digital c onverter. As an example, an application where temporomandibular joint sounds and mandibular movement data were collected simultaneously is d escribed. The Cybermouse is of sufficient accuracy for use in most sit uations, and its ease of use and relatively low cost outweighs its few disadvantages when compared to more complex systems. (C) 1997 Elsevie r Science Ltd.