Registration Technology of Augmented Reality in Oral Medicine: A Review

Augmented reality (AR) technology, as a computer simulation technology, combines various technologies such as virtual reality, computer vision, computer network, and human-computer interaction. AR has been widely used in medicine. The introduction of AR can effectively help the doctors to complete preoperative planning, intraoperative guidance, postoperative evaluation, and medical training. Oral medicine is a major branch of modern medicine. AR can enhance the doctor’s visual system, making the internal structure of the oral clearer and effectively reducing the difficulty of oral repair/surgery. Real-time tracking, registration, display, and interactive technologies for AR will play an important role in oral medicine. Among them, registration technology has become an important indicator for evaluating the AR system, and it is also the main bottleneck restricting the stability and applicability of the current AR system. Therefore, we reviewed the registration technology of AR in oral medicine. First, we conducted a hot spot analysis of AR keywords based on Citespace. And then, the registration technology is divided into static registration and real-time registration according to the actual clinical application, among which static registration is divided into rigid registration and non-rigid registration. We discussed problems and limitations of static registration and real-time registration in oral applications at this stage. Finally, the future direction of AR registration technology in oral medicine is proposed.