3D Imaging Technologies for Facial Plastic Surgery is a wonderful compilation of relevant and timely articles in the field of facial plastic surgery using 3D imaging systems and techniques. Synergism among articles is high with regard to covering the spectrum of the evolution and use of these technologies in the practice of facial plastic surgery.

The discipline of modern medical imaging is really quite young, having its landmark launch in the early 1970s with the development of CT scanning. With that advent, imaging became fully digital and 3D. This heralded the beginning of a rich future for imaging in the health care industry that computers and electronic imaging would facilitate and advance. Computers are so embedded in medical imaging that we have almost lost sight of them as the enabling technology, which has made multimodality, multidimensional, multifaceted medical imaging possible to do and impossible to be without. The roots of this swift, remarkable revolution remain important. An understanding of the principles, tenets, and concepts underlying modern medical imaging is critically necessary to realize its full potential. This timely compendium will contribute to that realization.

Craniofacial surgeons were early adopters of 3D medical imaging and facilitated its translation into routine clinical practice. In the early 1970s, as soon as CT scanners became commercially available, their first and almost immediate application was in the hands of neuroradiologists and craniofacial surgeons. A majority of the early clinical publications regarding 3D CT imaging emanated from these two disciplines. This researcher became involved in the 1970s and 1980s with craniofacial surgeons in developing techniques to use 3D CT scans for preoperative planning of complex facial reconstruction procedures. In those early years, only skeletal anatomy was used in preoperative planning. The current, now routine inclusion of soft tissue imaging, modeling, and manipulation not only facilitates more comprehensive preoperative treatment planning, but also yields faithful predictions of surgical outcomes. Now, multiple imaging modalities, such as magnetic resonance imaging and surface scanning lasers, are combined and integrated (“fused”) with CT imaging to provide powerful capabilities in facial plastic surgery only dreamed about in the early days of 3D imaging. Articles found in this review of the current state of 3D imaging attest to the exciting evolution of image fusion, interactive sculpting, analytic assessments of structure to function relationships, all in three dimensions, and even four dimensions (dynamic imaging systems can capture motion, biomechanical properties, and progression of tissue changes over time). 3D imaging has now cut a wide swath in acceptance and utilization by a number of disciplines in surgery and medicine, but valid claims to the earliest and most routine applications of this technology remain the purview of craniofacial plastic surgeons. The term “3D” as a modifier of the imaging technologies used is no longer necessary, so prevalent and routine has it become in modern practice.

The preceding explains the significance and timeliness of this review. It provides a cogent, neither overly simplified nor excessively complex, overview of the field. Indeed, there is something for everyone in the field contained in this publication. Students, trainees, young scientists, and practitioners, whether junior or experienced, can readily gain knowledge and useful insights. Such empowerment will inevitably lead to advancing the state of the art, as well as of the science, in 3D facial plastic surgery. It is reasonable to assume that the diligent reader who studies and peruses this information will be able to implement more productively the principles and technologies outlined. And the readers, who dive aggressively into the supporting material in the articles, including the references to both prior and current work, will find themselves in danger of becoming experts in the field, so comprehensive and relevant and up to date is the content presented. What interns and residents and junior surgical faculty can gain from this publication, senior faculty and practicing professionals can use as an expedient window to modern applications or as a refresher. I congratulate Dr John Pallanch, Guest Editor, who has pulled together this marvelous review, and believe that he, along with all the contributing authors, should be proud of this work and derive satisfaction from its publication.