A Test of the Accuracy of Facial Tissue Thickness Measurements Taken from Computed Tomography

Computed Tomography (CT) as a source from which to gather measurements of facial tissue depth is investigated. Measurements made from the surface of the bone to the outer skin surface were taken at the landmarks used by Rhine and Campbell (1980). These distances were measured on the axial slices of the Visible Human Male anatomical data and compared to measurements taken at the same landmarks on the Visible Human Male CT taken on the frozen specimen.

While two of the measurements varied by several millimeters, no statistically significant differences were found. Locating the correct landmark on an axial image is sometimes difficult. However, it is worth the extra time as CTs offer many advantages over more traditional methods.