The Posture Pro software is used for photogrammetry assessment of posture and has been commercially available for several years. Along with symmetry-related measures, a Posture Number® is calculated to reflect the sum of postural deviations. Our aim was to investigate the intra- and inter-rater reliability of measures extracted using the Posture Pro 8 software without using reference markers on subjects. Four raters assessed the standing posture of 40 badminton players (20 males, 20 females) from anterior, lateral, and posterior photographs. Thirty-three postural measures were extracted using visual landmarks as guide. Reliability was quantified using intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and typical error of measurement (TEM). Overall, the intra-rater reliability was considered good to excellent for nearly all measures. However, only two measures had excellent inter-rater reliability, with 13 and 18 measures exhibiting good and fair inter-rater reliability, respectively. Posture Pro specific measures (n = 9) exhibited good-to-excellent intra-rater and fair-to-excellent inter-rater reliability, with small-to-moderate and small-to-large TEM, respectively. Overall, the Posture Pro 8 software can be considered a reliable tool for assessing a range of posture-relevant measures from photographs, particularly when performed by the same examiner. The Posture Number® demonstrated generally acceptable intra- and inter-rater reliability. Nonetheless, investigations on the validity, sensitivity, and interpretation of this measure are essential to confirm its clinical relevance.
Palatal defects are rehabilitated by fabricating maxillofacial prostheses called obturators. The treatment incorporates taking deviously unpredictable impressions to facsimile the palatal defects into plaster casts for obturator fabrication in the dental laboratory. The casts are then digitally stored using expensive hardware to prevent physical damage or data loss and, when required, future obturators are digitally designed, and 3D printed. Our objective was to construct and validate an economic in-house smartphone-integrated stereophotogrammetry (SPINS) 3D scanner and to evaluate its accuracy in designing prosthetics using open source/free (OS/F) digital pipeline. Palatal defect models were scanned using SPINS and its accuracy was compared against the standard laser scanner for virtual area and volumetric parameters. SPINS derived 3D models were then used to design obturators by using (OS/F) software. The resultant obturators were virtually compared against standard medical software designs. There were no significant differences in any of the virtual parameters when evaluating the accuracy of both SPINS, as well as OS/F derived obturators. However, limitations in the design process resulted in minimal dissimilarities. With further improvements, SPINS based prosthetic rehabilitation could create a viable, low cost method for rural and developing health services to embrace maxillofacial record keeping and digitised prosthetic rehabilitation.
This study aimed to determine the prevalence of double eyelid among two main Mongoloid ethnicities, the Malays and Chinese who reside in Malaysia. We also measured their periorbital tissue parameters for application in anthropology, optometry, ophthalmology, oculoplastic surgery and maxillofacial trauma surgery. The images of the 103 Malay and 97 Chinese volunteers were captured using indirect 3D photogrammetry, and quantitative measurement was obtained using the software provided by the manufacturer. All Malays and 70.1% of Chinese in this cross section population had double eyelid on both eyes. The mean pretarsal skin height was 3.99 mm for the Malays and 2.29 mm for the Chinese. The Malays appeared to have shorter eyebrow height (11.10 mm) compared to the Chinese (11.79 mm). An opposite pattern could be seen in the measurement of upper eyelid crease height between the Malays (8.33 mm) and the Chinese (4.91 mm). Of note, the intercanthal distance of the Chinese (IDC = 35.85 mm) was wider and their interpupillary distance was narrower (IPD = 62.85 mm) compared to the Malays' (ICD = 34.21 mm; IPD = 64.04 mm). In conclusion, there were significant differences in the prevalence of double eyelid and periorbital tissue measurements between the Malays and Chinese.
The aims of this study were to assess the quantitative values of measurements using proportion indices in the craniofacial region in patients with repaired, non-syndromic, complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP), and compare them with a control group who did not have clefts using the non-invasive systems of 3-dimensional technology. Three-dimensional measurements of the facial surfaces of 15 Malay patients who had UCLP repaired and 100 Malay control patients aged 18-25 years were analysed. The 3-dimensional images of the respondents' faces were captured using the VECTRA-3D Stereophotogrammetry System. Eleven craniofacial proportions were assessed using a combination of 18 linear measurements obtained from 21 anthropometric soft tissue landmarks. These measurements were used to produce proportion indices to find the differences in the morphological features between the groups, and assessed using the independent sample t test and z scores. There were significant differences between the groups in 7 out of 11 craniofacial proportion indices (p=0.001-0.044). Z scores of 2 indices were disproportionate. They were nasal index (which was severely supernormal) and upper lip index (which was moderately supernormal). Patients with UCLP had higher mean z scores, indicating that patients with UCLP tended to have larger faces than the control group. There were clinically important differences mainly in the nasolabial area, where the nose and the upper lip were wider, larger, or flatter in patients with UCLP.
Fast and non-invasive systems of the three-dimensional (3D) technology are a recent trend in orthodontics. The reproducibility of facial landmarks is important so that 3D facial measurements are accurate and may-be applied clinically. The aim of this study is to evaluate the reproducibility of facial soft tissue landmarks using a non-invasive stereo-photogrammetry 3D camera.
This comparative cross-sectional study assessed the facial surface dimensions of a group of Malay children with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) and compared them with a control group. 30 Malay children with UCLP aged 8-10 years and 30 unaffected age-matched children were voluntarily recruited from the Orthodontic Specialist Clinic in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). For the cleft group, lip and palate were repaired and assessment was performed prior to alveolar bone grafting and orthodontic treatment. The investigation was carried out using 3D digital stereophotogrammetry. 23 variables and two ratios were compared three-dimensionally between both groups. Statistically significant dimensional differences (P<0.05) were found between the UCLP Malay group and the control group mainly in the nasolabial region. These include increased alar base and alar base root width, shorter upper lip length, and increased nose base/mouth width ratio in the UCLP group. There were significant differences between the facial surface morphology of UCLP Malay children and control subjects. Particular surgical procedures performed during primary surgeries may contribute to these differences and negatively affect the surgical outcome.