A Deep Kiss of the Lips with Dynamic Three-Dimensional Ultrasound

We have recently been developing new techniques for visualisation of the anatomy and functionality of human orofacial area (or any other superficial area) using 3D and dynamic 3D ultrasound. Our new approaches have enabled us to reconstruct the morphology and physiology without deforming / distorting the delicate structures during scanning as conventional approaches usually do.
 
Read Display Info if you have difficulty browsing these graphics-orientated pages.To view a movie, click on an image with a [GIF] or [AVI] link)
Real-Time 3D Kissing Lips
kissing - female lips
 kissing - female and male lips
Above: The left image shows the coronal view of the orbicularis oris of the female lips without the skin. The right image also shows the (left lateral) sagittal view of the same named muscle in the (pouting) male lips. Click on either image above for a 4D movie (AVI, 2.5MB), or click here for a smaller movie (WMV, 640KB). Note that the two pairs of lips do not appear in the same scene in the movie.
Normal 3D & 4D View
How do you pout?
4D lips - a side view
Dynamic 3D (4D) a front view [GIF 90 KB] & a rotational view [AVI 472KB] with right-side lip muscles disclosed.
Functional 2D images reformatted from the same 4D data (upper [GIF 135 KB]). See how the tiny muscles in your lips (two sets of the folding deeper & superficial orbicularis oris) straighten out when you pout.
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Pathological 3D 
mal-functioned lip - gif movie 138KB Compare to the normal movement seen above, the motion difficulty in the lips (left [GIF 138 KB]) after cleft repair is still obvious.
Need to know what to remove before plastic or cosmetic surgery?
The patient's right cheek [GIF 340 KB] shows thickened curvature compared to her left side [GIF 280 KB]. Below are reformatted 2D images from the corresponding 3D data sets, clearly delineating the excessive proliferation of subcutaneous connective tissues on her right cheek (between opposite arrows). The bright dermal layer is as normal as that in her left side.

* 3D/4D data sets through this page were acquired with Philips Live 3D Ultrasound (images in the first row) or TomTec's 4D Echo Scan; 3D/4D images & movies were reconstructed with either 4D Echo Scan or MGI's 3D Imaging Workstation