Civilian American and European Surface Anthropometry Resource Project--CAESAR^TM 3-D Landmarks

Automatic landmark recognition (ALR) technology will be used to automatically extract anatomical landmarks from the 3-D whole body scans. 3-D surface scans provide detailed range and color information about the skin's surface. However, identification of bony landmarks that are not visible on the surface is impossible. As a result, colored landmarks must be placed on the skin to identify these anatomical landmarks. The CARD laboratory has conducted studies to identify the optimal landmark color and size. The studies show that light blue provides the maximum contrast with the natural skin tones and that a 3/8-inch dot is required for accurate automatic landmarking.

To allow the database to be used for a wide variety of potential customers, a large number of landmarks have been chosen. Up to 80 blue landmarks will be placed on each subject in the CAESAR study. The proposed set are provided below. These landmarks will identify important anatomical positions, measurement locations, segmentation boundaries, and joint centers of rotation. Some anatomical positions could not be identified from the scanned data; therefore, landmarks like tibiale and iliocristale will be identified by palpation. Other landmarks are added to perform specific measurements. For example, the biceps landmark is used to identify where the biceps circumference measurement should be taken. Landmarks such as anterior and posterior axillary folds can be used to segment arms from the rest of the body. Still other landmarks will be used to locate joint centers of rotation. These landmarks could be used for future biomechanical or ergonomic studies.

Landmarks