Rare and genetic conditions could be easily spotted by doctors by using detailed 3D scans of children’s faces
- The tool could spot rare conditions by analysing facial feature measurements
- Cliniface measures between characteristics and compares them in a database
- Around one in three rare and genetic diseases show up in facial features
- For example, effects related to Foetal Alcohol Syndrome often lead to a thin upper lip and a shorter distance between the corners of the eyes
3D facial analysis software could be spot signs of rare conditions in children by spotting subtle contrasts in their facial features.
It is estimated that one in three rare and genetic diseases show up in these features, which could aid an earlier diagnosis.
Researchers from Curtin University in Australia have developed a tool, as part of the Cliniface project, which scans the face, creating a 3D image.
It then measures the distance between facial features and compares them with the average measurement for their ethnicity, sex and age according to their system.
By way of example, they use Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), an umbrella term used to describe the range of effects caused by alcohol exposure in the uterus.
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3D facial analysis software could spot rare conditions in children early on by spotting subtle differences in facial features. Researchers have developed a too, called Cliniface, which scans the person’s face and then creates a 3D image of it. Here, analysis of facial measurements
These conditions often manifest themselves in physical defects such as a thin upper lip, a smoother area between the top lip and bottom of the nose and a shorter distance between the corners of the eyes.
Richard Palmer and his colleagues say that they use a database of facial measurements and characteristics.
At the moment, the tool takes 18 measurements to distinguish a total of 25 different facial characteristics.
According to the New Scientist, Cliniface doesn’t have information on all of the facial deviations for the thousands of rare diseases in the world.
‘Many of the syndromes we deal with are incredibly rare, so as an individual clinician you may not have seen the condition the patient in front of you has,’ Natasha Brown at the Victorian Clinical Genetic Service in Australia, who wasn’t involved in the work, told the New Scientist.
The tool uses databases with predominantly European Caucasian measurements at present.
Cliniface are hoping that the more users of the tool they have, the more they will augment their databases with their own findings.
The tool measures the distance between facial features and compares them with the average measurement for their ethnicity, sex and age. At the moment, it takes 18 measurements to distinguish a total of 25 different facial characteristics. Here, visualisation of surface curvature
The tool is still a long way from replacing human expertise, said Ms Brown. ‘No one tool is perfect, and so what we need to do is synthesise the information with our clinical experience and with the experience of our colleagues.’
They are currently researching how to incorporate the curves of the face and genomic data to observe underlying conditions.
One of the most interesting applications will be to use these 3D visualisations to get more accurate data on how faces change over time with different conditions, said Ms Brown.