title: Towards building a photo-realistic virtual human face for craniomaxillofacial diagnosis and treatment planning.
abstract: The aim of this investigation was to assess the feasibility of building a virtual human face digitally by superimposing a photo-realistic three-dimensional (3D) soft-tissue surface on bone in the correct relationship and evaluating the registration errors associated with this method. The 3D soft-tissue surface of the face was captured using a fast stereophotogrammetry method and the underlying bone was recorded using a 3D computed tomography (CT) scanner. Using the Procrustes registration method, the outer surface of the 3D CT scan and the photo-realistic soft-tissue surfaces were merged into a single Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) file and displayed using a standard VRML viewer. Quantitative measurements of registration errors were calculated in the reconstructed human head models using the signed closest point distance from the photo-realistic skin surface to the transformed CT skin surface. The registration errors between most parts of the aligned surfaces were within +/-1.5mm. The errors were relatively large around the eyebrows, eyelids and cheeks. Simultaneous recording of the face and skull may reduce this error.
authors.affiliation: University of Glasgow Dental School, Glasgow, UK. a.ayoub@dental.gla.ac.uk <a.ayoub@dental.gla.ac.uk>
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Ayoub
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Khambay
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Siebert
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hadley
mesh_terms: D002508:Cephalometry; D002610:Cheek / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003626:Data Display; D005138:Eyebrows / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005143:Eyelids / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010780:Photogrammetry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed / Q000379:methods; D014584:User-Computer Interface