Date: December 2016.
Source: British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2016, v54, e91. DOI: 10.1016/j.bjoms.2016.11.076.
Introduction: Outcome assessment in craniosynostosis surgery has traditionally relied on limited anthropometric measurement or subjective photographic review. While morphable models of the human face already existed, no equivalent model of the whole head had yet been built. This work presents a morphable profile model of the human head, including a population average, as a tool for outcome analysis following craniosynostosis surgery.
Method: The Headspace Project deployed a 3dMDhead camera system at a permanent site in Liverpool between September 2013 and January 2014, capturing 3D images of public volunteers under a consistent photographic protocol. Automatically aligned images were compiled into a cross-sectional model of head shape, a mean profile plus its modes of variation, against which craniosynostosis patients’ extracted profiles were then compared.
Results:1,523 individuals were imaged, 752 male, 770 female, and 1 transgender. Age distribution was recorded in 10-year brackets: 111 under 10 years, 196 aged 10-20, with the remainder over 20. A preliminary profile model, built from a demographically matched subset, was used to develop early post-operative outcome assessments in scaphocephaly patients.
Conclusion: Despite technical challenges, the team successfully built a morphable head profile model. Comparing pre- and post-operative 3dMD images of scaphocephaly patients against this defined norm makes it possible to quantify aesthetic surgical outcomes.
Note: Originally presented September 15, 2015, at the 16th Congress of the International Society of Craniofacial Surgery (ISCFS), Tokyo Bay, Japan.
Article: A Morphable Profile Model of the Human Head as an Outcome Tool for Craniosynostosis Surgery.
Authors: C Duncan, R Armstrong, NE Pears, Supra-regional Craniofacial Surgery Unit, Alder Hey, Liverpool, UK.