Proposal for photoanthropometric frontal facial analysis

The face is the part of the body that most synthesises the human being and, in order for it to be understood, it has been the target of studies in the most diverse fields of science, including the area of Forensic Facial Identification. The science responsible for studying the face and its relationships, called Cephalometry, although exhaustively studied for clinical and radiographic use, mainly by dental professionals, has not yet been standardised and validated for use in facial analysis on images and/or photographs. Due to the growth in technological and automated production in the era in which we live, it is necessary to develop methodologies that confirm the objectivity, reproducibility and reliability of their analyses, especially for areas that require precision and technical-scientific rigour, such as criminal investigation. With this in mind, the aim of this study was to propose a standardisation methodology for determining cephalometric points for facial examinations based exclusively on frontal images and to define which cephalometric points have the greatest and least variability in measurement, for possible application in human identification.