Other the beating death, what is mankind's ultimate pursuit? Beating age. There is nothing one would not do to recapture their youth. And helping people look younger is a booming industry these days. From fillers to botox to expensive cosmetic surgeries, there is no dearth of age-reversing procedures targeting women. However, what if a less talked about cosmetic procedure could serve as an instrument to make women look younger?
According to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Rhinoplasty, cosmetic surgery of the nose, can make women look up to three years younger. They used Machine Learning (ML), a form of artificial intelligence, in the study to analyse this unexplored property of the cosmetic procedure.
"Rhinoplasty is widely recognized as a facial beautification procedure, but it isn't commonly known for its anti-aging effects," said Dr. Robert Dorfman, lead author of the study, in a statement.
What is rhinoplasty?
It is a cosmetic surgery where changes are made to the structure of the bone and cartilage of the nose by making small incisions within the nose. In some cases, incisions are made around the nostril. For the surgical procedure, the patients are administered general anesthesia.
Using ML to study changes in appearance
The researchers studied the before-and-after photos of 100 female patients who had undergone rhinoplasty for cosmetic reasons and were between the ages of 16 to 72, using ML. After 12 or more weeks, the technology was used to analyse the standardised photographs of the patients. The ML estimated the person's age by cropping the face from the photograph and then derived a prediction through another algorithm.
"This technology allows us to accurately estimate age in an objective way and has proven to recognize patterns and features of aging beyond what the human eye can perceive," said Dorfman.
Dramatic results in women above 40
According to Dorfman, the availability of objective scientific evidence backing the revitalizing effect of rhinoplasty is scarce. Therefore, the findings of the study are of significance in this regard.
One of the findings of the study was that in women over 40, the reduction in age was nothing short of dramatic—they were found to look seven years younger after the procedure. However, the researchers said that the results can be validated only after further studies, as the sample size of women above 40 was small at just 25 women.
An overlooked but integral part of youthful appearance
Much like other parts of the human body, the human nose also comprises of soft tissue, bone, and cartilage. Therefore, it also ages. However, most anti-aging treatments overlook the nose. "The nose loses support as it ages and can take on a more prominent or droopy appearance," said Dr. Jason Roostaeian, senior author of the study.
The appearance of the nose is also affected by the aging of other features of the face such as loss of facial fat and volume of the cheeks. This makes the nose more prominent said Roostaeian.
Therefore, refining of the nose can lead to the refining of the entire face and restore the youthfulness of the face, Roostaeian explained. "This is something we have subjectively thought for many decades but now we have objective evidence through artificial intelligence to support this," he concluded.
