TABLE 4.

Comparison of important properties of photogrammetry, 3D surface scanning, CT scanning, and MicroScribe digitizer

	Photogrammetry	3D surface scanning	Clinical CT scanning	MicroScribe digitizer
Type of information	Surface (triangulated point cloud)	Surface (triangulated point cloud)	Volume (voxel)	3D coordinates of landmarks
Texture available	Yes	Yes (light‐scanners only)	No	No
Maximum resolution (in μm)	100	20	500 (ca. 5 for micro‐CT)	300
Total work time	1 h (+3 h of passive computer processing time)	5.5 h	1 h	30–45 min
Work time of subtasks	Photographs: 15 min Passive computer processing time to calculate a surface mesh: 3 h Post processing: 10 min Landmark placement: 30 min	Scanning time: 2 h Post processing: 3 h Landmark placement: 30 min	Scanning time: 2 min Post processing: 30 min Landmark placement: 30 min	Landmark placement: 30–45 min. For approx. 100 landmarks
Transportation	Portable	Portable	Samples need to be taken to the scanner	Portable
Scaling of the model	Not scaled	Scaled	Scaled	Scaled
Challenges	Reflective surfaces, small holes, sharp edges, translucent material	Hair, reflective surfaces, small holes, sharp edges, translucent material, dark colors	Metal, living individuals may be harmed, partial volume effect	Landmark placement requires physical object, might harm the object, difficult to check and correct measurements