Digital holographic 3D surface topography measurement based on recording-plane rotation

In the present study, a three-dimensional (3D) surface topography measurement method based on digital holography is proposed that changes the observation vector by rotating a charge-coupled device(CCD) . Two digital holograms with different observation vectors were recorded by rotating the CCD at a small angle. In this paper, the 3D surface topographies of an irregular spheres with a radius of 16 mm and an surface relief denture with a dimensional of 10 mm ×10 mm were obtained. The results matches well with the real value of the hemisphere, which verifies the feasibility of the proposed method. At the same time, the surface topography measurement of the denture crown reflects its contour information well and can be used to guide dentists in the process of restorative teeth and denture making. •A three-dimensional (3D) surface topography measurement method based on digital holography is proposed. The approach is based on changing the observation vector by rotating recording plane.•The 3D surface topography information is obtained using the relationship between the unwrapped phase difference and height.•In the medical field, such information can assist dentists in the tasks of tooth repair and denture fabrication.