Three‐Dimensional Prediction of the Nose for Facial Approximation in a Thai Population

Abstract

Most of the previous studies about nose prediction were concentrated only some landmarks of the nose. This study aimed to generate prediction equations for ten landmarks of the nose in the midline and alar regions for forensic facial approximation. The six midline landmarks were the sellion, nasion-pronasale posterior, nasion-pronasale anterior, pronasale, nasal drop, and subnasale. The four landmarks of the alar region were the alare, superior alar groove, posterior alar groove, and inferior alar groove. We used the skull landmarks in the nasal, zygomatic, and maxillary bone to predict the landmarks of the nose. Cone-beam computed tomography scans of 108 Thai subjects with normal BMI and age ranging from 21.0 to 50.9 years were obtained in a sitting position. The data were converted into three-dimensional (3-D) images of the skull and face. The Cartesian coordinates of the landmarks of the skull and nose were used to formulate the multiple regression equations. The formulated equations were tested in 24 new subjects. The mean differences in the predicted midline landmarks varied between À0.4 mm and 0.5 mm, whereas those for bilateral landmarks varied between À1.0 mm and 1.4 mm. In conclusion, the prediction equations formulated here will be beneficial for facial approximation of the nose in a Thai population.

The development and testing of Thai facial soft tissue thickness data in three-dimensional computerized forensic facial reconstruction

“…The skull rearticulated with mandible was set up on an adjustable stand in an upright position. The 3-D skull image was obtained by using a DentiiScan cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) machine 34,35 (NSTDA, Pathum Thani, Thailand) with 90 kV, 6 mA, a voxel size of 0.4 mm, and field of view of 130 mm × 160 mm. The 3-D skull image was saved as digital imaging and communications in medicine file of CBCT data and converted to stereolithographic file by using 3-D slicer version 4.10.2.…”

“…This might be possibly explained due to faces and skulls being a variety of complex structures with global shapes and local detail. 2 Moreover, other studies 35,44,45 revealed that estimation of nose morphology is a challenging part of the reconstruction process because this facial component has been found to be sexually dimorphic, and to modify between ages. Another area which has been found to be highly inconsistent among different individual is the lower face due to different body weight and facial fat changes related to age.…”

Predicting the eyebrow from the orbit using three-dimensional CT imaging in the application of forensic facial reconstruction and identification

“…Fedosyutkin and Nainys, who summarized and described the relationship of skull morphology to facial features, showed general characteristics of how the skull morphology affects facial features 5 . The most frequently reported guidelines for facial feature properties is the study on the nose, such as nasal profile or projection [6][7][8][9] , followed by research on the eye, such as eyeball position or protrusion [10][11][12] , the mouth such as mouth width or lip morphology [13][14][15] , and ear shape estimation [16][17][18] . Conversely, Farkas et al emphasized that facial morphology databases on various ethnic groups are still required 19 .Among these features, eyebrows are the most important facial feature in recognizing emotions under the influence of cognitive load 20,21 .…”