A new digital image analysis system for measuring blepharoptosis patients' upper eyelid and eyebrow positions.

Abstract

To accurately assess eyelid and eyebrow position, we have developed a new measurement method using a digital image analysis system. (1) Plotting the corneal limbus by transferring to the software digital images of the patient's eyes in the primary gaze position; (2) determining the corneal ring, center, and longitudinal diameter; and (3) measuring the upper eyelid and eyebrow position. The method was tested on 24 patients with senile blepharoptosis and 45 young healthy eyelids without ptosis. The upper eyelid position of patients with blepharoptosis was significantly lower, and their eyebrow position is significantly higher than those of healthy subjects. The upper eyelid and eyebrow position of the patients with blepharoptosis corelated, but no correlation was observed in the healthy subjects. Our measuring system is a simpler, easier, and more accurate way of measuring both upper eyelid and eyebrow position than are currently used techniques.