Static and Motion Facial Analysis for Craniofacial Assessment and Diagnosing Diseases

Abstract

Deviation from a normal facial shape and symmetry can arise from numerous sources, including physical injury and congenital birth defects. Such abnormalities can have important aesthetic and functional consequences. Furthermore, in clinical genetics distinctive facial appearances are often associated with clinical or genetic diagnoses; the recognition of a characteristic facial appearance can substantially narrow the search space of potential diagnoses for the clinician. Unusual patterns of facial movement and expression can indicate disturbances to normal mechanical functioning or emotional affect. Computational analyses of static and moving 2D and 3D images can serve clinicians and researchers by detecting and describing facial structural, mechanical, and affective abnormalities objectively. In this review we survey traditional and emerging methods of facial analysis, including statistical shape modeling, syndrome classification, modeling clinical face phenotype spaces, and analysis of facial motion and affect. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Biomedical Data Science, Volume 5 is August 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

A Review of Three-Dimensional Facial Asymmetry Analysis Methods

“…Facial symmetry and coordination are important factors in aesthetics and attractiveness [1][2][3]. Symmetry is represented in size, structure, and balanced distribution on both sides of the face; however, due to congenital development, environment, disease, and other factors, there is no perfectly symmetrical human face [4,5]. In dental clinics, lower degrees of asymmetry are not easily detected, but severe facial asymmetry or facial defects can affect the physical and mental health of patients and often require treatment by orthognathic surgery and orthodontics [6].…”