The feasibility and influencing factors of measuring the extracranial facial nerve in healthy individuals using ultra-high frequency ultrasound
ZUO Yan
TANG Xinyi
ZHANG Jingyi
QIU Li
Abstract：Objective To explore the feasibility of ultra-high frequency ultrasound to examine the extracranial segment of facial nerve,to describe the normal ultrasonic appearance and measurements of extracranial segment of facial nerve,and to study the influencing factors.Methods Ultra-high frequency ultrasound was used to explore the bilateral extracranial facial nerves of a total of 70 healthy volunteers recruited at West China Hospital of Sichuan University from February 10th to March 1st,2023.The consistency of the measurements was studied,and the differences in diameter,circumference,and visible length of the facial nerve at different sites between the left and right sides were compared.The effects of gender,age,BMI,occupation related daily voice use,and measurement sites on the facial nerve were also investigated.Results The inter group and intra group correlation coefficient values measured by ultrasound of the extracranial segment of the facial nerve are all greater than 0.75.There were no statistically significant differences in the diameter,circumference,and visible length of the bilateral extracranial segments of the facial nerve(P>0.05).These measurements were not significantly affected by the measurement sites,gender,age,or BMI(P>0.05).However,the circumference of the facial nerve was lower in the group with shorter daily voice use(P<0.05).Conclusion There is good consistency in ultra-high frequency ultrasound measurements of the diameter,circumference,and length of the extracranial segment of the facial nerve,and some of these measurements are influenced by occupation related daily voice use.
Keywords：extracranial facial nerveultra-high frequency ultrasoundultrasonic measurementinfluencing factor
Publication Date：2025-11-20
Online Publishing Date：2025-12-16(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 1339-1343 )