Three-Dimensional Visualization in Medicine: A New Approach to Assessing Changes in Facial Relief to Improve Treatment Outcomes for Patients with Deformities and Asymmetries

Abstract

The appearance of digital three-dimensional models of patients obtained by photogrammetric methods in the clinicians' arsenal has led to the fact that doctors can objectively make comparisons of structural (morphological) changes that occur in the course of treatment. The experience of using such technologies in neurology and evidence-based medicine is very small, while the number of diseases leading to facial changes is quite impressive. The simplest method of comparison is made by subtracting digital facial topography models. However, this method does not take into account the facial topography to the fullest extent. This paper proposes a method for estimating facial topography changes from three-dimensional polygonal models of the face. This method can detect and visualise the difference of changes closest to physiological plausibility. Finally, we provide several examples of analyses of facial topography changes, including statistical evaluation and comparison of the results of the two evaluation methods.