Anthropometric Study of Three-Dimensional Facial Morphology in Malay Adults

To establish the three-dimensional (3D) facial soft tissue morphology of adult Malaysian subjects of the Malay ethnic group; and to determine the morphological differences between the genders, using a non-invasive stereo-photogrammetry 3D camera.

One hundred and nine subjects participated in this research, 54 Malay men and 55 Malay women, aged 20-30 years old with healthy BMI and with no adverse skeletal deviation. Twenty-three facial landmarks were identified on 3D facial images captured using a VECTRA M5-360 Head System (Canfield Scientific Inc, USA). Two angular, 3 ratio and 17 linear measurements were identified using Canfield Mirror imaging software. Intra- and inter-examiner reliability tests were carried out using 10 randomly selected images, analyzed using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was carried out to investigate morphologic differences between genders.

ICC scores were generally good for both intra-examiner (range 0.827-0.987) and inter-examiner reliability (range 0.700-0.983) tests. Generally, all facial measurements were larger in men than women, except the facial profile angle which was larger in women. Clinically significant gender dimorphisms existed in biocular width, nose height, nasal bridge length, face height and lower face height values (mean difference > 3mm). Clinical significance was set at 3mm.

Facial soft tissue morphological values can be gathered efficiently and measured effectively from images captured by a non-invasive stereo-photogrammetry 3D camera. Adult men in Malaysia when compared to women had a wider distance between the eyes, a longer and more prominent nose and a longer face.