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Neuropediatrics 2010; 41(1): 24-29
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1255060
Original Article

© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Accuracy of Three-Dimensional Photogrammetric Images in Non-Synostotic Cranial Deformities

H. Schaaf1 , J. Pons-Kuehnemann2 , C. Y.  Malik1 , P. Streckbein1 , M. Preuss3 , H.-P. Howaldt1 , J.-F. Wilbrand1
  • 1Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg GmbH, Germany
  • 2Medical Statistics, Institute of Medical Informatics, University of Giessen, Germany
  • 3Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg GmbH, Germany
Further Information

Publication History

received 16.04.2010

accepted 20.05.2010

Publication Date:
22 June 2010 (online)

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Abstract

Objective: Given the increasing incidence of deformational plagiocephaly due to infants’ supine sleeping position to prevent sudden infant death syndrome, reliable anthropometric diagnostics are needed. Besides the traditional method of measuring landmarks with callipers, three-dimensional (3D) photography has great potential. In this investigation the accuracy of 3D photogrammetry is studied.

Methods: The study included 100 randomly chosen children between the ages of 4 and 20 months with a non-synostotic cranial deformity in a retrospective analysis. Measurements of diagonals A and B on the infant's head were obtained once using callipers. 3D photographs of these children were measured 5 times by 5 clinicians separately.

Results: The inter- and intra-rater agreements of the 3D measurements had low variability in the variance component analysis. The standard deviations for reproducibility and repeatability were 0.117–0.283 cm for diagonals A and B. The intra-class correlation coefficients for the inter-rater reliability resulted in excellent agreement (0.97 for plagiocephaly, 0.98 for brachycephaly, 0.96 for combined deformity). The comparison of the 3D photographic and callipers measurements showed that 3D photography resulted in a slight over-estimation.

Conclusion: 3D photogrammetry is potentially a reliable tool for treatment planning and follow-up of abnormal head shapes in infancy.

Key words

photogrammetry - three-dimensional imaging - anthropometry - error - plagiocephaly

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Correspondence

Dr. Dr. Heidrun Schaaf

Department of Maxillofacial

Surgery

University Hospital Giessen

(Head: Prof. Dr. Dr. H.-P. Howaldt)

Klinikstraße 29

35385 Giessen

Germany

Phone: +49/641/994 6271

Fax: +49/641/994 6279

Email: Heidrun.Schaaf@uniklinikum-giessen.de

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