Rapid 3-dimensional anthropometry by semiautomatic data acquisition and processing.

A semiautomatic anthropometric caliper was developed to accelerate and simplify anthropometric data acquisition. A technical slide caliper, connected via optical data cable interface to a standard PC, was amended with a data-input switch. A data sheet was filled in with consecutive measurements in 30 volunteers and compared with 30 fully manually performed and transmitted examinations on the identical volunteer population. To examine the reliability of the semiautomatic measurements, repeat measurements were performed interindividually and intraindividually in 10 volunteers. The time required for a cephalometric measurement routine was reduced from 16 +/- 3 minutes to 6 +/- 2 minutes. The intraindividual standard/relative error was reduced from 2.1 +/- 1.9% to 1.4 +/- 1.7%, interindividually from 3.2 +/- 2.1% to 2.2 +/- 0.9%. The presented semiautomatic anthropometric caliper promises to be faster and reliable for anthropometric measurements of craniofacial conformation and will prospectively become applied for growth and treatment control. The relative measurement error seems to be smaller than in full-manual assessment; oversight error in manual recording can moreover be excluded effectively.