Three-Dimensional Imaging of the Face: A Comparison Between Three Different Imaging Modalities

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering
• Computer-Aided Surgery

Background:

• Three-dimensional (3D) facial imaging is crucial for medical decision-making, surgical planning, and research.
• A variety of 3D imaging systems exist, differing in cost, methodology, and portability.
• Current planning and evaluation methods are often validated with only one system, necessitating analysis of inter-system reconstruction differences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the 3D surface reconstruction accuracy and reproducibility of three distinct facial imaging systems.
• To analyze potential differences between the 3dMDface system, Vectra XT, and Artec Eva.

Main Methods:

• Acquired 3D facial images from 15 healthy patients using each of the three systems (3dMDface, Vectra XT, Artec Eva).
• Calculated the reproducibility for each device.
• Compared the Vectra XT and Artec Eva systems against the 3dMDface system.

Main Results:

• All systems exhibited high reproducibility: 3dMDface (0.18 ± 0.15 mm), Vectra XT (0.15 ± 0.15 mm), and Artec Eva (0.26 ± 0.24 mm).
• No significant reproducibility difference was found between Vectra XT and 3dMDface.
• Significant differences in reproducibility were observed between 3dMDface and Artec Eva, and between Vectra XT and Artec Eva.

Conclusions:

• All three 3D facial imaging devices demonstrated high reproducibility and accuracy.
• While Artec Eva showed lower reproducibility, the differences were not clinically significant.
• The findings support the concurrent use of these different 3D imaging systems in clinical and research applications.