The aim of this presentation is to demonstrate the recent innovations in stereophotogrammetry for accurate three-dimensional analysis of the face. The capture time for the face is 3 ms, it does not expose the patients to harmful radiation. A personal computer will require less than five minutes to build the 3D model of the face. A user interface has been developed which allows the operator to localise anatomical landmarks and analyse the craniofacial morphology in three dimensions.

The method has been utilised to capture a control group of children and before and after surgery in three groups:

• 1.

  Children with cleft lip and palate,

• 2.

  Patients with facial deformities who have had orthognathic surgery and

• 3.

  Patients who had eye lid surgery for reconstruction of orbital floor.

Landmarks were digitised, Procrustes analysis was applied to superimpose the 3D co-ordinates of anatomical landmarks at different time intervals. Principal component statistical analysis was applied to assess the magnitude of surgical changes in orthognathic patients and residual dysmorphology in cleft cases. The quantification of scarring following cleft repair has also been assessed using a novel approach.

The method is accurate to within 0.5 mm and reliable in infants. Facial appearance was improved following cleft repair but was significantly different from non-cleft children mainly around the alar base of the cleft side. Soft tissue changes following orthognathic surgery were stable at 6 months following surgery when compared with the immediate postoperative appearance. There was less morbidity associated with transconjunctival approach than with transcutaneous incisions.

Conflict of interest: None declared.