Evaluation of the accuracy of a mobile and a stationary system for three-dimensional facial scanning

Purpose: Numerous three-dimensional (3D) facial scanners have emerged on the market; however, publications evaluating their accuracies are sparse. In this study, the accuracy of two 3D scanners used in facial scanning was evaluated. Materials and methods: A test specimen was attached at the right cheek and the forehead of 41 volunteers. These volunteers were scanned with Artec EVA (R) and FaceScan3D (R). The acquired data were aligned to a 3D model of the test specimen for comparing the mean error, original length and width and angles to the measured values. Results: The mean error in Best Fit alignment is significantly lower using Artec EVA (p < 0.001) for both test specimens. The deviation from the original length and width is significantly lower for the test specimens (p < 0.01) when measured with Artec EVA. The aberration of the angles measured between the front plane and the side plane is significantly lower when measured with Artec EVA (p < 0.001). Captured with Artec EVA the discrepancy between the original angle and the angle measured between the side planes to each other is significantly lower (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Scanning with Artec EVA leads to more accurate 3D models as compared to scanning with FaceScan3D. The exactness achieved by both scanners is comparable to other scanners mentioned in literature. (C) 2016 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.