Three-dimensional video recordings: Accuracy, reliability, clinical and research guidelines - Reliability assessment of a 4D camera.

OBJECTIVES: In addition to studying facial anatomy, stereophotogrammetry is an efficient diagnostic tool for assessing facial expressions through 3D video recordings. Current technology produces high-quality recordings but also generates extremely excessive data. Here, we compare various recording speeds for three standardized movements using the 3dMDface camera system, to assess its accuracy and reliability. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A linear and two circular movements were performed using a 3D-printed cube mounted on a robotic arm. All movements were recorded initially at 60 fps (frames/second) and then at 30 and 15 fps. Recording accuracy was tested with best-fit superimpositions of consecutive frames of the 3D cube and calculation of the Mean Absolute Distance (MAD). The reliability of the recordings were tested with evaluation of the inter- and intra-examiner error. RESULTS: The accuracy of movement recordings was excellent at all speeds (60, 30 and 15 fps), with variability in MAD values consistently being less than 1 mm. The reliability of the camera recordings was excellent at all recording speeds. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that 3D recordings of facial expressions can be performed at 30 or even at 15 fps without significant loss of information. This considerably reduces the amount of produced data facilitating further processing and analyses.

Correlation between flexural and indirect tensile strength of resin composite cements.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate a potential correlation between flexural strength and indirect tensile strength in assessing the mechanical strength of resin composite cements. METHODS: Flexural strength (n = 5) and indirect tensile strength (n = 5) of 7 resin composite cements (RelyX Unicem 2 Automix [RXU], Panavia SA [PSA], Clearfil SA [CSA], Panavia F2.0 [PF2], Multilink Implant [MLI], DuoCem [DCM], Panavia 21 [P21]) were determined. Specimens were either auto-polymerized or dual-cured (except P21) and stored in water at 37 °C for 1 day prior to measurement. Flexural and indirect tensile strength of 4 cements (RXU, PSA, PF2, MLI) was additionally measured directly after curing and after 96 h water storage at 37 °C. RESULTS: Except for PF2, dual-cured specimens achieved higher flexural strength than auto-polymerized specimens. In the indirect tensile strength test differences in auto-polymerized and dual-cured specimens were only detected for RXU and DCM. A general non-linear correlation was found between flexural and indirect tensile strength values. However, strength values of auto-polymerized and dual-cured specimens did not generally correlate. CONCLUSIONS: Flexural strength and indirect tensile strength of resin composite cements are correlated. At high strength values the indirect tensile test is less sensitive than the flexural test. The results suggest that the indirect tensile test may only be recommended as a screening test especially for low or medium strength resin composite cements.