Date: January 2017 (ONLINE).
Source: Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery.
Background: With rejuvenation treatments of the skin gaining more and more popularity, the inquiry for rejuvenation of the hand grows. Until now, no imaging tool exists to analyze the aging process of the hand. Three-dimensional (3D) stereophotogrammetry is a reliable technique which is used among other purposes in soft tissue analysis of the upper extremity. The goal of this pilot study was to investigate the possibility of visualizing the hand aging process using 3D stereophotogrammetry.
Methods: A total of 64 healthy volunteers were divided into four groups based on age and sex, and a 3D photograph of both hands was captured. Differences in the aspect of the dorsum of the hands were quantified and visualized using two methods. The first method quantified the smoothness of the old and young dorsa. The second method visualized the differences between an average young and old hand by creating a color-coded distance map.
Results: The first method showed that the young hands were smoother than the old hands, however this was not statistically significant (p=0.30). The distance map resulting from the second method showed a relative volume loss in the intermetacarpal spaces of the average old hand. These differences were not present when comparing the male with female hands.
Conclusions: This pilot study shows that 3D stereophotogrammetry can be used to visualize the exact areas of volume loss on the dorsum of the aging hand. Therewith, specific treatment areas can be identified and the results of different aesthetic hand surgery procedures can be objectively analyzed and compared.
Article: The impact of aging on the three-dimensional aspect of the hand: a pilot study.
Authors: IA Hoevenaren, TS Wesselius, JW Meulstee, RD Vreeken, TJJ Maal, DJO Ulrich. Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre Nijmegen, the Netherlands.