Consistency of Cranial Shape Measures Obtained From Laser Surface and Computed Tomography Imaging

Children with cranial shape abnormalities are often subjected to radiation from computed tomography (CT) for evaluation and clinical decision making. The STARscanner Laser Data Acquisition System (Orthomerica, Orlando, FL) may be a noninvasive alternate. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the STARscanner provides valid and accurate cranial measurements compared to CT.

We performed an institutional review board-approved retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database of patients with metopic suture abnormalities from 2013 to 2016.

Plastic surgery clinic in an institutional tertiary care center.

Eight patients were included that presented with metopic suture abnormalities, age less than 1 year, and CT and STARscanner imaging within 30 days of one another.

Cranial measurements were collected twice from 3 scan types: STARscanner, CT windowed for soft tissue, and CT windowed for bone. Measurements included: intracranial volume, height, base width, maximum antero-posterior length, maximum medio-lateral width, and oblique diameters. Nested analysis of variance were performed to determine the proportion of error attributable to: between-subject variance, scan type, and rater.

Measurements from STARscanner and both CT scans windows were highly consistent, with less than 1% of total error attributable to scan type for all measures.

Cranial shape measurements obtained from STARscanner images are highly consistent with those obtained from CT scans. The STARscanner has added benefits of speed of acquisition, minimal cost, and lack of radiation.