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Published on: December 9, 2025
Quantification of facial movements by optical instruments: surface laser scanning and optoelectronic
Fernanda Vincia Sidequersky1, Laura Verzé, Andrea Mapelli
1From the *Functional Anatomy Research Center, Laboratory of Functional Anatomy of the Stomatognathic Apparatus, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Faculty of Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan; †Department of Science of Public Health and Pediatrics, Legal Medicine Section, University of Turin, Turin, Italy; ‡Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology, and Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; and §Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Maxillofacial Surgery, San Giovanni Battista Hospital, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Abstract:
The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of displacements of tracing landmarks in standardized facial movements. Forty healthy persons were evaluated in 2 different groups (20 men and 20 women, aged 18-30 years) with optoelectronic motion analyzer and surface laser scanning. The displacements of tracing landmarks in brow lift and smile were calculated, and the 2 methods (optoelectronic motion analyzer and surface laser scanning) were compared in healthy persons. Side-related differences were found in the tracing landmark (superciliare) during brow lift movements between both methods (the largest movements were found on the right side, P = 0.044), whereas in smile movements the tracing landmark cheilion did not show significant differences between the 2 sides. In both movements, the differences of the tracing landmark displacements between the 2 systems and sexes were on average less than 2 mm, without statistically significant differences (P > 0.05). In conclusion, normal young adult men and women had similar standardized facial movements. The 2 analyzed movements can be measured by both optical instruments with comparable results.

