NCJ Number
212632
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 50 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2005 Pages: 1282-1288
Date Published
November 2005
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study developed a user friendly, fast, mobile, and well-validated measuring device to update facial soft-tissue depth charts of the contemporary adult Caucasoid.
Abstract
This system consists of an A-Scan ultrasound device connected to a portable PC with interfacing and controlling software. For 52 cephalometric landmarks, the system was tested for repeatability and accuracy by evaluating intra-observer agreement and comparing ultrasound and CT-scan results on 12 subjects slated to undergo craniofacial surgery. A paired t-test that evaluated repeatability of the ultrasound measurements found 5.7 percent (n=three) of the landmarks to be significantly different. Ultrasound and CT-scan results showed significant differences for 11.5 percent (n=six) of the landmarks when using a Wilcoxon signed rank test analysis. This is attributed to a difference in the subject's head position between lying (CT) and sitting (ultrasound). Based on these tests, the researchers conclude that the proposed registration system and measurement protocol produce relatively fast (52 landmarks in 20 minutes), noninvasive, repeatable, and accurate measurements of facial soft-tissue depth. 2 tables, 6 figures, and 31 references