Visual and Statistical Modeling of Facial Movement in Patients with Cleft Lip

by Carroll-Ann Trotman, Julian Faraway and Ceib Philips.
To appear in Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal

Abstract

Objective: To analyze and display facial movement data from non-cleft subjects and patients with a cleft lip using a new dynamic approach. The hypothesis was that there are differences in facial movement between the patients with a cleft lip and the non-cleft subjects.
Setting: Subjects were recruited from the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry Orthodontic and Craniofacial Clinics Patients, Participants: Sixteen patients with a cleft of the lip and palate and eight non-cleft 'control’ subjects.
Interventions: Video-recordings and measurements in three-dimensions of facial movement.
Main Outcome Measure(s): Principal component scores for each of six animations/movements and dynamic modeling of mean animations.
Statistics: Multivariate statistics were used to test for significant differences in the principal component mean scores between the patient and non-cleft groups.
Results: There were no statistically significant differences in principal component mean scores between the patient and non-cleft groups; however, the variability of the effect of clefting on the soft tissues during animation was noted when the non-cleft data was used to establish a 'normal’ movement scale. Compensatory movements were seen in some of the patients with cleft lip and palate and the compensation was not unidirectional.
Conclusion: Measures of mean movement differences as summarized by principal component scores between patients with cleft lip and palate and non-cleft subjects may be misleading because of extreme variations about the mean in the patient group that may neutralize group differences. It may be more appropriate to compare patients to a non- cleft 'normal’ scale of movement.
KEY WORDS. Cleft impairment, dynamic analysis, circumoral movement

Software

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Related Work

You can find out about related work and more details on the statistical methodology here.

Last modified on 06/01/04