Simplified Formula for Estimating Nasal Dimensions for 3-Dimensional Facial Reconstruction among Japanese Adults

Abstract

The eyelids, external nose, and lips play an important role in individual identification and facial recognition; however, they are excluded from tissue marker points, and are reconstructed based on generic methods for 3D facial reconstruction or facial approximation. Therefore, this study focused on nasal dimensions and evaluated whether Krogman’s widely used formula for estimating the dimensions of an external nose, regardless of sex, race, and body physique, can be applied to Japanese adults. A total of 146 postmortem CT images of Japanese adult cadavers (64 males and 82 females, aged 58–105 years old) were retrospectively analyzed. The total nasal projection (TNP) among Japanese adults was estimated using the formula, TNP = 1.9 × the anterior nasal spine projection (ANSP) + the mid-philtrum depth (MPD), which differed significantly from the coefficient (3.0) in the conventional formula, regardless of sex, race, and body physique, and therefore needed modification for Asians. Although there was no positive relationship between the total nasal width (TNW) and the maximum width of the anterior nasal aperture (ANAW), the TNW could be estimated by adding soft tissue that varies by sex and body physique to both sides of the nearly constant ANAW. Therefore, we determined a simple and practical formula to estimate nasal dimensions among Japanese adults for conventional 3D facial reconstruction and manual 3D facial sculpture.