Anatomical Uniqueness of Ear Morphology: A Novel Metrical Approach through Three-Dimensional Superimposition

Plast Reconstr Surg. 2018 Feb;141(2):447-450. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000004026.

Abstract

Uniqueness of ear morphology has been a widely debated issue in cephaloscopy, but past studies used only two-dimensional approaches. In the current investigation, the right and left ears of 10 healthy adults were imaged twice by stereophotogrammetry at the interval of a few seconds. The ear images obtained from the two acquisitions were superimposed both within subject (group of matches) and among subjects (group of mismatches). A point-to-point root mean square distance was calculated between the two three-dimensional models. Differences according to side and group were assessed by two-way analysis of variance. In total, 200 superimpositions were performed. On average, the point-to-point root mean square distance was 0.31 mm in cases of matches and 1.43 mm in cases of mismatches: differences were statistically significant (p < 0.01). Results provided quantitative data for the assessment of uniqueness of ear morphology, highlighting differences based on their three-dimensional morphology.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Cephalometry / methods*
  • Ear, External / anatomy & histology*
  • Ear, External / diagnostic imaging
  • Healthy Volunteers
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / methods
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods
  • Photogrammetry / methods
  • Young Adult