Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 22, 2026
Quantitative Assessment Protocol for Facial Soft Tissue Volumetric Changes with Stereophotogrammetry
Published on: December 9, 2025
A 3-dimensional method for analyzing facial soft-tissue morphology of patients with jaw deformities
Masahiko Terajima1, Yoshihide Furuichi, Yoshimitsu Aoki
1Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Kyushu University, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. terajima@dent.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Introduction:
Traditional cephalometric radiographs can analyze facial soft-tissues 2 dimensionally. Because they cannot provide information about the nose, lips, cheeks, and mouth, another method is needed to analyze these soft tissues. We introduce a new method for analyzing the 3-dimensional (3D) shape and size of facial soft-tissue morphology.
Methods:
A 3D average face model was constructed based on 3D computed tomography images of Japanese male and female adult volunteers who had well-balanced faces and normal occlusions. To test the feasibility of evaluating the quantitative effects of surgery, preoperative and postoperative 3D computed tomography images of facial soft tissues of 1 man and 1 woman were superimposed on the average faces.
Results:
This quantitative assessment provided a comprehensive evaluation of the characteristics that separate size and shape. It was possible to view the superimposed images from any desired angle on a personal computer.
Conclusions:
This method provides easy-to-understand information for patients and appears to be useful for clinical diagnosis and pretreatment and posttreatment soft-tissue morphologic evaluations of patients with jaw deformities.
