A growth study of Chinese ears using 3D scanning

Abstract

Ears are important organs considering facial aesthetics and auditory function. Anthropometric data of ears can help in understanding the morphology, which can further be applied in medical and ergonomic research. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the variation of four selected ear dimensions along with other parameters such as gender, age and ear symmetry with the use of 3D scanned data. Sixty Chinese children (30 males and 30 females) aged 5 to 13 years were invited for the study. They were divided into three groups based on the age. Four dimensions (ear length, ear width, width from tragus to antihelix, and flipping angle from the base of the head to the helix) were measured for both ears from the point clouds data acquired from the 3D scans. Statistical analyses were performed to measure the growth and characteristics of ears’ morphology. These results provide a better understanding of variation in ear morphology based on different demographic parameters. In addition, this research would assist in providing some basic 3D anthropometric data of ears for Chinese children, which can be helpful in deciding sizing, and grading parameters of ear related products for children.