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International Conference on Syariah, Law and Science (CFORSJ i-CONF) - CFORSJ Procedia

FACIAL SOFT TISSUE THICKNESS (FSTT) AND ITS SEXUAL DIMORPHISM IN A MALAYSIAN SAMPLE: A CT-BASED APPROACH

Date Published : 11 December 2025

Contributors

Faiz Fauad

Author

Aspalilah Alias

Author

Choy Ker Woon

Author

Helmi Mohd Hadi

Author

Keywords

Sex Facial soft tissue thickness CT variations Jantina ketebalan tisu lembut wajah variasi

Proceeding

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2025): CFORSJ Procedia

Track

Article

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Copyright (c) 2025 Faiz Fauad; Aspalilah Alias; Choy Ker Woon; Helmi Mohd Hadi;

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Facial soft tissue thickness (FSTT) is a crucial element in forensic identification and facial reconstruction. Exploring its variations according to different sexes provides valuable information that is needed for an accurate identification. This study aimed to investigate FSTT variations between males and females of adult Malaysian populations. A total of 413 head and neck computed tomography (CT) scans (208 males, 205 females) of patients aged 18–65 years were selected.  Four mid-sagittal landmarks; nasion, mid-philtrum, subnasale, and upper lip were involved in the measurement, using 3D-Slicer software. The effect of sex on FSTT was analysed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). MANOVA showed a statistically significant difference in FSTT between sexes (Wilks’ Lambda = 0.020, p < 0.001). All four landmarks demonstrated significant variations between males and females (all p < 0.001). Males have greater FSTT compared to females at all landmarks. In conclusion, there were significant FSTT variations between the sexes of adult Malaysian population. This population-specific data could be applied as forensic reference that tailored to Malaysian population.

Ketebalan tisu lembut wajah (Facial Soft Tissue Thickness, FSTT) merupakan elemen penting dalam proses identifikasi forensik dan pembinaan semula wajah. Penelitian terhadap variasinya mengikut jantina memberikan maklumat kritikal yang diperlukan bagi memastikan ketepatan identifikasi. Kajian ini bertujuan menyiasat perbezaan FSTT antara lelaki dan perempuan dalam kalangan populasi dewasa di Malaysia. Sebanyak 413 imbasan tomografi berkomputer (CT) kepala dan leher (208 lelaki, 205 perempuan) melibatkan pesakit berumur 18–65 tahun telah dipilih. Empat titik penanda mid-sagital—nasion, mid-philtrum, subnasale dan bibir atas—digunakan dalam pengukuran melalui perisian 3D-Slicer. Kesan jantina terhadap FSTT dianalisis menggunakan analisis varians multivariat (MANOVA). Keputusan MANOVA menunjukkan perbezaan statistik yang signifikan dalam FSTT antara jantina (Wilks’ Lambda = 0.020, p < 0.001). Keempat-empat titik penanda menunjukkan variasi yang signifikan antara lelaki dan perempuan (semua p < 0.001). Lelaki mempunyai nilai FSTT yang lebih besar berbanding perempuan pada semua titik penanda. Kesimpulannya, terdapat variasi FSTT yang signifikan antara jantina bagi populasi dewasa Malaysia. Data khusus populasi ini boleh digunakan sebagai rujukan forensik yang disesuaikan dengan populasi Malaysia.

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Faiz, F., Aspalilah , A. ., Choy Ker, C. K., & Helmi , H. . (2025). FACIAL SOFT TISSUE THICKNESS (FSTT) AND ITS SEXUAL DIMORPHISM IN A MALAYSIAN SAMPLE: A CT-BASED APPROACH. International Conference on Syariah, Law and Science (CFORSJ I-CONF) - CFORSJ Procedia, 3(1), 95-102. https://alnadwah.usim.edu.my/cforsjprocedia/paper/view/162