Statistical Evaluation of the Cleft Lip Nose Deformity Image

Cleft lip is a congenital deformity condition with separation of the two sides of the lip and results in nose deformity Evaluation of surgical corrections and outcome assessments in nose deformity resulting from the cleft lip depend mainly on doctor's objective judgment. Development of an objective assessment tool in evaluation of the condition and surgical outcome of cleft lip nose deformity patients will help in advancement and evaluation of surgical techniques of cleft lip. Hence, our study aimed at quantitative assessment of a cleft lip nose deformity condition by comparing following parameters gathered from a photographic image of a cleft lip patient: (1) angle difference between two nostril axis, (2) center of the nostril and distance between two centers, (3) overlapped area of two nostrils and (4) the overlapped area ratio of two nostrils. Assessment results of the nose deformity were determined by statistical analysis of evaluation results from three experienced plastic surgeons. In addition, regression model was developed using correlation relationship and factor analysis of parameters from results of the image analysisope