Variations in Head-and-Face Shape of Chinese Civilian Workers

This study aims to elucidate variations in head-and-face shape among the Chinese civilian workers. Most respirator manufacturers are using outdated, Western anthropometric data to design respirators for the Chinese workers. Therefore, newly acquired anthropometric data specific to the Chinese population are needed to create more effective personal protective equipment. The three-dimensional (3D) head scans of 350 participants, who were selected from the 3000 participants in the 2006 Chinese Anthropometric Survey, were processed using geometric processing techniques. Each scan was then linked with the others, making statistical shape analysis on a dense set of 3D points possible. Furthermore, this provided for the reduction of scan noise as well as for the patching of holes. Following general scan correspondence and fine tuning, principal component analysis was used to analyze the variability in head-and-face shape of the 3D images. More than 90% of the variability among head-and-face shapes was accounted for with 26 principal components. Future study is recommended so the overall usefulness of the point cloud-based approach for the quantification of variations in facial morphology may be determined.