title: Semi-automated ultrasound facial soft tissue depth registration: method and validation.
abstract: A mobile and fast, semi-automatic ultrasound (US) system was developed for facial soft tissue depth registration. The system consists of an A-Scan ultrasound device connected to a portable PC with interfacing and controlling software. For 52 cephalometric landmarks, the system was tested for repeatability and accuracy by evaluating intra-observer agreement and comparing ultrasound and CT-scan results on 12 subjects planned for craniofacial surgery, respectively. A paired t-test evaluating repeatability of the ultrasound measurements showed 5.7% (n = 3) of the landmarks being significantly different (p < 0.01). US and CT-scan results showed significant differences (p < 0.01) using a Wilcoxon signed rank test analysis for 11.5% (n = 6) of the landmarks. This is attributed to a difference in the volunteer's head position between lying (CT) and sitting (US). Based on these tests, we conclude that the proposed registration system and measurement protocol allows relatively fast (52 landmarks/20 min), non-invasive, repeatable and accurate acquisition of facial soft tissue depth measurements.
authors.affiliation: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Faculty of Medicine, School of Dentistry, Oral Pathology and Maxillofacial Surgery, Forensic Dentistry, Kapucijnenvoer 7, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Greef
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Claes
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mollemans
authors.forename: Miet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Loubele
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vandermeulen
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Suetens
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Willems
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002508:Cephalometry; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D018732:Forensic Anthropology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012886:Skull / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012984:Software; D014463:Ultrasonography