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. 2023 Sep 1;34(6):1629-1634.
doi: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000009448. Epub 2023 Jun 12.

Reliability and Agreement of Automated Head Measurements From 3-Dimensional Photogrammetry in Young Children

Tareq Abdel-Alim  1   2 , Pauline Tio  3 , Melissa Kurniawan  1   3 , Irene Mathijssen  3 , Clemens Dirven  1 , Wiro Niessen  4 , Gennady Roshchupkin  2   5 , Marie-Lise van Veelen  1   6
Affiliations

Reliability and Agreement of Automated Head Measurements From 3-Dimensional Photogrammetry in Young Children

Tareq Abdel-Alim et al. J Craniofac Surg. .

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the reliability and agreement of automated head measurements using 3-dimensional (3D) photogrammetry in young children. Specifically, the study evaluated the agreement between manual and automated occipitofrontal circumference (OFC) measurements (n = 264) obtained from 3D images of 188 patients diagnosed with sagittal synostosis using a novel automated method proposed in this study. In addition, the study aimed to determine the interrater and intrarater reliability of the automatically extracted OFC, cephalic index, and volume. The results of the study showed that the automated OFC measurements had an excellent agreement with manual measurements, with a very strong regression score ( R2 = 0.969) and a small mean difference of -0.1 cm (-0.2%). The limits of agreement ranged from -0.93 to 0.74 cm, falling within the reported limits of agreement for manual OFC measurements. High interrater and intrarater reliability of OFC, cephalic index, and volume measurements were also demonstrated. The proposed method for automated OFC measurements was found to be a reliable alternative to manual measurements, which may be particularly beneficial in young children who undergo 3D imaging in craniofacial centers as part of their treatment protocol and in research settings that require a reproducible and transparent pipeline for anthropometric measurements. The method has been incorporated into CraniumPy, an open-source tool for 3D image visualization, registration, and optimization, which is publicly available on GitHub ( https://github.com/T-AbdelAlim/CraniumPy ).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Contour lines (white), local optima (red dots), and extracted OFC (red line). OFC indicates occipitofrontal circumference.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Center-of-mass translation. OFC indicates occipitofrontal circumference.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
OFC from axial slices using polar coordinates. OFC indicates occipitofrontal circumference.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Regression analysis OFC measurements (n = 264). OFC indicates occipitofrontal circumference.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Measurement agreement OFC measurements (n = 264). OFC indicates occipitofrontal circumference.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Blant-Altman plots for interrater and intrarater agreement of OFC (A), CI (B), and mesh volume above nasion-tragus plane (C). CI indicates Cephalic Index; OFC, occipitofrontal circumference.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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