The virtual human face: Superimposing the simultaneously captured 3D photorealistic skin surface of the face on the untextured skin image of the CBCT scan

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of simultaneous capture of the three-dimensional (3D) surface of the face and cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scan of the skull on the accuracy of their registration and superimposition. 3D facial images were acquired in 14 patients using the Di3d (Dimensional Imaging, UK) imaging system and i-CAT CBCT scanner. One stereophotogrammetry image was captured at the same time as the CBCT and another 1 h later. The two stereophotographs were individually superimposed over the CBCT using VRmesh. Seven patches were isolated on the final merged surfaces. For the whole face and each individual patch: maximum and minimum range of deviation between surfaces; absolute average distance between surfaces; and standard deviation for the 90th percentile of the distance errors were calculated. The superimposition errors of the whole face for both captures revealed statistically significant differences (P = 0.00081). The absolute average distances in both separate and simultaneous captures were 0.47 and 0.27 mm, respectively. The level of superimposition accuracy in patches from separate captures was 0.3–0.9 mm, while that of simultaneous captures was 0.4 mm. Simultaneous capture of Di3d and CBCT images significantly improved the accuracy of superimposition of these image modalities.