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Zhong YJ, Cui D, Wen PYF, Wong HM. Facial growth and development trajectories based on three-dimensional images: geometric morphometrics with a deformation perspective. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:231438. [PMID: 38204781 PMCID: PMC10776214 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Developmental changes of facial shape are commonly investigated through geometric morphometrics. A limitation with this approach is the inability to investigate patterns of morphological changes at local scale. This could be addressed through quantifying the deformation required to deform one shape to another. This study aimed to investigate changes in mean, rate and variance of facial shape at local scale using geometric morphometrics through deformation perspective. A total of 2112 Europeans 3 to 40 years old from the three-dimensional Facial Norms project were included. Shape and rate trajectories from partial least-squares regressions revealed that the developmentally protrusive nasal bridge was due to local expansion in surrounding tissues as opposed to shape changes in nasal bridge per se. Local expansion of the supraorbital region, in particular the medial part in males, resulted in the sloping forehead and deep-situated eyes with development. Facial shape variation increased nonlinearly with age (p < 0.05), with features having larger rate of change becoming more developmentally diversified. In summary, our deformation perspective facilitates unravelling morphogenetic processes underlying shape changes. Our extended analytical scope inspires novel measures worthy of consideration while establishing facial growth charts. The analytical framework in this study is broadly applicable for analysis of shape changes in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Jie Zhong
- Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, 2/F, Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun 7B47, Hong Kong
| | - Dan Cui
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 28 Xianning W Rd, Xi'an, People's Republic of China
| | - Patrick Yi Feng Wen
- School of Life Sciences, Westlake University, 600 Dunyu Road, Hangzhou E10-326, People's Republic of China
| | - Hai Ming Wong
- Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, 2/F, Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun 7B47, Hong Kong
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2
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Shui W, Wu X, Zhou M. A computerized facial approximation method for Homo sapiens based on facial soft tissue thickness depths and geometric morphometrics. J Anat 2023; 243:796-812. [PMID: 37366230 PMCID: PMC10557396 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2022] [Revised: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Facial approximation (FA) provides a promising means of generating the possible facial appearance of a deceased person. It facilitates exploration of the evolutionary forces driving anatomical changes in ancestral humans and can capture public attention. Despite the recent progress made toward improving the performance of FA methods, a limited understanding of detailed quantitative craniofacial relationships between facial bone and soft tissue morphology may hinder their accuracy, and hence subjective experience and artistic interpretation are required. In this study, we explored craniofacial relationships among human populations based upon average facial soft tissue thickness depths (FSTDs) and covariations between hard and soft tissues of the nose and mouth using geometric morphometrics. Furthermore, we proposed a computerized method to assign the learned craniofacial relationships to generate a probable facial appearance of Homo sapiens, reducing human intervention. A smaller resemblance comparison (an average Procrustes distance was 0.0258 and an average Euclidean distance was 1.79 mm) between approximated and actual faces and a greater recognition rate (91.67%) tested by a face pool indicated that average dense FSTDs contributed to raising the accuracy of approximated faces. Results of partial least squares (PLS) analysis showed that nasal and oral hard tissues have an effect on their soft tissues separately. However, relatively weaker RV correlations (<0.4) and greater approximation errors suggested that we need to be cautious about the accuracy of the approximated nose and mouth soft tissue shapes from bony structures. Overall, the proposed method can facilitate investigations of craniofacial relationships and potentially improve the reliability of the approximated faces for use in numerous applications in forensic science, archaeology, and anthropology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wuyang Shui
- Department of ArchaeologyUniversity of YorkYorkUK
- School of Information Science and TechnologyNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
| | - Xiujie Wu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of SciencesInstitute of Vertebrate Paleontology and PaleoanthropologyChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and PaleoenvironmentBeijingChina
| | - Mingquan Zhou
- School of Information Science and TechnologyNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
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3
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Del Bove A, Menéndez L, Manzi G, Moggi-Cecchi J, Lorenzo C, Profico A. Mapping sexual dimorphism signal in the human cranium. Sci Rep 2023; 13:16847. [PMID: 37803023 PMCID: PMC10558540 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43007-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The study of sexual dimorphism in human crania has important applications in the fields of human evolution and human osteology. Current, the identification of sex from cranial morphology relies on manual visual inspection of identifiable anatomical features, which can lead to bias due to user's expertise. We developed a landmark-based approach to automatically map the sexual dimorphism signal on the human cranium. We used a sex-known sample of 228 individuals from different geographical locations to identify which cranial regions are most sexually dimorphic taking into account shape, form and size. Our results, which align with standard protocols, show that glabellar and supraciliary regions, the mastoid process and the nasal region are the most sexually dimorphic traits (with an accuracy of 73%). The accuracy increased to 77% if they were considered together. Surprisingly the occipital external protuberance resulted to be not sexually dimorphic but mainly related to variations in size. Our approach here applied could be expanded to map other variable signals on skeletal morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonietta Del Bove
- Department of History and History of Arts, University Rovira i Virgli, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002, Tarragona, Spain.
- Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007, Tarragona, Spain.
| | - Lumila Menéndez
- Department of Anthropology of the Americas, University of Bonn, Oxfordstraße 15, 53111, Bonn, Germany
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Giorgio Manzi
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Jacopo Moggi-Cecchi
- Department of Biology, University of Florence, Via del Proconsolo, 12, 50122, Florence, Italy
| | - Carlos Lorenzo
- Department of History and History of Arts, University Rovira i Virgli, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002, Tarragona, Spain
- Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Antonio Profico
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via Luca Ghini, 13, 56126, Pisa, Italy
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4
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Liang C, Profico A, Buzi C, Khonsari RH, Johnson D, O'Higgins P, Moazen M. Normal human craniofacial growth and development from 0 to 4 years. Sci Rep 2023; 13:9641. [PMID: 37316540 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36646-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Knowledge of human craniofacial growth (increase in size) and development (change in shape) is important in the clinical treatment of a range of conditions that affects it. This study uses an extensive collection of clinical CT scans to investigate craniofacial growth and development over the first 48 months of life, detail how the cranium changes in form (size and shape) in each sex and how these changes are associated with the growth and development of various soft tissues such as the brain, eyes and tongue and the expansion of the nasal cavity. This is achieved through multivariate analyses of cranial form based on 3D landmarks and semi-landmarks and by analyses of linear dimensions, and cranial volumes. The results highlight accelerations and decelerations in cranial form changes throughout early childhood. They show that from 0 to 12 months, the cranium undergoes greater changes in form than from 12 to 48 months. However, in terms of the development of overall cranial shape, there is no significant sexual dimorphism in the age range considered in this study. In consequence a single model of human craniofacial growth and development is presented for future studies to examine the physio-mechanical interactions of the craniofacial growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ce Liang
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London, UK
| | | | - Costantino Buzi
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Tarragona, Spain
- Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Roman H Khonsari
- Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Plastic Surgery, Necker - Enfants Malades Hospital, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France
| | - David Johnson
- Oxford Craniofacial Unit, Oxford University Hospital, Oxford, UK
| | - Paul O'Higgins
- PalaeoHub, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK
- Hull York Medical School, University of York, York, UK
| | - Mehran Moazen
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London, UK.
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Shui W, Profico A, O’Higgins P. A Comparison of Semilandmarking Approaches in the Analysis of Size and Shape. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:ani13071179. [PMID: 37048435 PMCID: PMC10093231 DOI: 10.3390/ani13071179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Often, few landmarks can be reliably identified in analyses of form variation and covariation. Thus, ‘semilandmarking’ algorithms have increasingly been applied to surfaces and curves. However, the locations of semilandmarks depend on the investigator’s choice of algorithm and their density. In consequence, to the extent that different semilandmarking approaches and densities result in different locations of semilandmarks, they can be expected to yield different results concerning patterns of variation and co-variation. The extent of such differences due to methodology is, as yet, unclear and often ignored. In this study, the performance of three landmark-driven semilandmarking approaches is assessed, using two different surface mesh datasets (ape crania and human heads) with different degrees of variation and complexity, by comparing the results of morphometric analyses. These approaches produce different semilandmark locations, which, in turn, lead to differences in statistical results, although the non-rigid semilandmarking approaches are consistent. Morphometric analyses using semilandmarks must be interpreted with due caution, recognising that error is inevitable and that results are approximations. Further work is needed to investigate the effects of using different landmark and semilandmark templates and to understand the limitations and advantages of different semilandmarking approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wuyang Shui
- Department of Archaeology, University of York, King’s Manor, York YO1 7EP, UK
- Correspondence:
| | - Antonio Profico
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via Derna 1, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Paul O’Higgins
- Department of Archaeology, University of York, King’s Manor, York YO1 7EP, UK
- Hull York Medical School, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
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Syutkina T, Anikin A, Satanin L, Evteev A. Sexual dimorphism in human midfacial growth patterns from newborn to 5 years old based on computed tomography. J Anat 2023; 242:132-145. [PMID: 36208113 PMCID: PMC9877485 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Revised: 09/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have supported the presence and varying nature of craniofacial sexual dimorphism (SD) from the very first stages of ontogeny. But the exact patterns of between-sex differences during the first years of life remain obscure despite the importance of these data for craniofacial surgery treatment and forensic studies. Our study employs a large dataset of clinical computed tomography scans of individuals of East Slavonic descent from birth to 5 years of age (247 males and 184 females) to address the pattern of age-related between-sex differences in 22 linear measurements of the mid-face. At birth, SD of most dimensions is low, but it increases significantly during the first year of life. The level of SD of most variables fluctuates in both directions during the second year and peaks during the third and fourth years of life. During the sixth year, SD of about half of the variables markedly decreases. In adults, SD of all variables increases, but to a very different extent: from 2% to 13%. Most sexually dimorphic features of the facial skeleton begin to develop early in postnatal ontogeny and then may or may not become accentuated during puberty. Importantly, the patterns of age changes in the level of SD differ strongly between various dimensions, and so cannot be expressed by a single value for the whole face. Additionally, the level of SD for a particular variable is not ontogenetically stable during the first years of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taisiya Syutkina
- Department of Human Ecology, The Russian Academy of Sciences N.N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Moscow, Russia
| | - Anatoliy Anikin
- Radiology Department, Scientific Centre of Children's Health, Moscow, Russia
| | - Leonid Satanin
- Pediatric Department, Burdenko Scientific Research Institute of Neurosurgery, Moscow, Russia
| | - Andrej Evteev
- Anuchin Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
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7
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A Comparison of Semilandmarking Approaches in the Visualisation of Shape Differences. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:ani13030385. [PMID: 36766273 PMCID: PMC9913739 DOI: 10.3390/ani13030385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
In landmark-based analyses of size and shape variation and covariation among biological structures, regions lacking clearly identifiable homologous landmarks are commonly described by semilandmarks. Different algorithms may be used to apply semilandmarks, but little is known about the consequences of analytical results. Here, we assess how different approaches and semilandmarking densities affect the estimates and visualisations of mean and allometrically scaled surfaces. The performance of three landmark-driven semilandmarking approaches is assessed using two different surface mesh datasets with different degrees of variation and complexity: adult human head and ape cranial surfaces. Surfaces fitted to estimates of the mean and allometrically scaled landmark and semilandmark configurations arising from geometric morphometric analyses of these datasets are compared between semilandmarking approaches and different densities, as well as with those from warping to landmarks alone. We find that estimates of surface mesh shape (i.e., after re-semilandmarking and then re-warping) made with varying numbers of semilandmarks are generally consistent, while the warping of surfaces using landmarks alone yields surfaces that can be quite different to those based on semilandmarks, depending on landmark coverage and choice of template surface for warping. The extent to which these differences are important depends on the particular study context and aims.
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8
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Duncan C, Pears N, Dai H, Smith WP, O′Higgins P. Applications of 3D photography in craniofacial surgery. J Pediatr Neurosci 2022; 17:S21-S28. [PMID: 36388007 PMCID: PMC9648652 DOI: 10.4103/jpn.jpn_48_22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) photography is becoming more common in craniosynostosis practice and may be used for research, archiving, and as a planning tool. In this article, an overview of the uses of 3D photography will be given, including systems available and illustrations of how they can be used. Important innovations in 3D computer vision will also be discussed, including the potential role of statistical shape modeling and analysis as an outcomes tool with presentation of some results and a review of the literature on the topic. Potential future applications in diagnostics using machine learning will also be presented.
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Jeffery NS, Humphreys C, Manson A. A human craniofacial life-course: Cross-sectional morphological covariations during postnatal growth, adolescence, and aging. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2021; 305:81-99. [PMID: 34369671 DOI: 10.1002/ar.24736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2021] [Revised: 04/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Covariations between anatomical structures are fundamental to craniofacial ontogeny, maturation, and aging and yet are rarely studied in such a cognate fashion. Here, we offer a comprehensive investigation of the human craniofacial complex using freely available software and MRI datasets representing 575 individuals from 0 to 79 years old. We employ both standard craniometrics methods as well as Procrustes-based analyses to capture and document cross-sectional trends. Findings suggest that anatomical structures behave primarily as modules, and manifest integrated patterns of shape change as they compete for space, particularly with relative expansions of the brain during early postnatal life and of the face during puberty. Sexual dimorphism was detected in infancy and intensified during adolescence with gender differences in the magnitude and pattern of morphological covariation as well as of aging. These findings partly support the spatial-packing hypothesis and reveal important insights into phenotypic adjustments to deep-rooted, and presumably genetically defined, trajectories of morphological size and shape change that characterize the normal human craniofacial life-course.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan S Jeffery
- Human Anatomy Resource Centre & Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Craig Humphreys
- Human Anatomy Resource Centre & Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Amy Manson
- Human Anatomy Resource Centre & Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
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