[Videomimicography: a new objective evaluation of facial motor function].

OBJECTIVE To develop a new method, videomimicography (VMG), to evaluate facial motor function. METHODS During VMG, 11 landmarks were placed on the face, and 5 movements (forehead lifting, eye closure, nose wrinkling, lip puckering and smiling) with maximal contraction were requested. A digital video film was recorded then fed in a computer to be analyzed. Ten normal subjects were used as normal control. RESULTS Area measures were found better than distance measures in evaluating facial movements. The best measure for each movement was determined. Then a global index of facial motor function was derived from these measures. This index was found well correlated with the facial paralysis House-Brackmann grade in 48 patients with facial paralysis (r = -0.928). CONCLUSION VMG is an objective, quantitative, relative simple method. It has good reproducibility. So it can be used in clinic for evaluating facial motor function.