Soft tissue thickness estimation for head, face, and neck from CT data for product design purposes

Analysing the contact area between head-related products and the corresponding craniofacial profile is necessary to make such products more comfortable. The study of soft tissue biomechanical experiments provides a reliable perspective for understanding such contact areas and improving the comfort. In order to obtain more accurate and visualized craniofacial biological information that can be used to guide product design, CT data of the head, face, and neck of 50 Chinese aged 18-35 years were obtained in this paper. For each subject, an individual thickness map is calculated by segmentation of the soft tissue layer and wall-thickness calculation via Mimics. The individual maps superimposed on the outer surface area of the head, face, and neck are brought into correspondence using a non-rigid iterative closest point technique. From the correspondence an average head, face, and neck geometry and soft tissue thickness map was calculated. Statistics of the overall soft tissue thickness of the head, face, and neck is extracted, and an accurate soft tissue thickness map of the Chinese head, face, and neck is generated. This study not only lays the groundwork for future simulation experiments on head-related product design, but it also has significant implications for the fields of facial reconstruction in China.