Health Highlights: Sept. 10, 2007

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3D Face Scan Helps Detect Genetic Disorders

3D face scans can help identify children with rare genetic disorders, according to British researchers who developed software that compares a person's face with a catalogue of images of people with known genetic conditions,BBC Newsreported.

There are more than 700 genetic conditions that can affect facial traits. However, some of these conditions are rare, and because facial differences can be extremely subtle, initial diagnosis are sometimes difficult.

Professor Peter Hammond, of the University College London Institute for Child Health, collected 3D images of children with known genetic disorders. The software uses these images to produce the "average face" of a child with a genetic disorder,BBC Newsreported

"When we have a child with an unknown condition, we take a 3D picture of their face and we have developed techniques that allow us to compare their face with these averages," Hammond said.

Details about the technique, which has a 90 percent success rate, were presented at the BA Festival in York,BBC Newsreported.

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FDA Reviews Nutritional Symbols on Food Packaging

The usefulness of easy-to-understand symbols on the front of food packaging to quickly convey nutritional information is being assessed at a two-day U.S. Food and Drug Administration hearing that began Monday.

The agency will gather opinions from medical experts, watchdog organizations, food companies and trade groups, theAssociated Pressreported. The FDA is trying to determine whether this approach can provide consumers with clear, concise nutritional information instead of having to scan small print information usually located on the back of food boxes, cans or bags.

The agency wants to collect information on how consumers respond to such symbols and whether the symbols promote healthier eating habits. Any FDA action on the matter is likely years away, however.