by
Pietruski, Piotr; Paskal, Wiktor; Paskal, Adriana M.; Jaworowski, Janusz;
Paluch, Lukasz; Noszczyk, Bartlomiej
Background: Because of its
subjective character, the term “breast attractiveness” is poorly defined and
thus its reliable standardized assessment can be particularly challenging.
Because of objective analysis of the observer’s gaze pattern, eye-tracking
technology may provide a better insight into the visual perception of breast
aesthetics and symmetry.
Methods: One hundred
observers, 50 women and 50 men, assessed the aesthetics and symmetry of eight
types of female breasts displayed as digital images on frontal, lateral, and
oblique projections. The gaze pattern of each observer was recorded using
eye-tracking technology, and gaze data were subsequently analyzed.
Results: Although sex
and breast type exerted an effect on attention capturing by some areas of interest,
key characteristics of gaze patterns in female and male observers were
essentially the same. Irrespective of observers’ sex, the longest fixation
duration and the highest fixation number were recorded for lower breast
regions, in particular, for the nipple-areola complex. Mean fixation duration
in this area corresponded to 58 and 57 percent of overall observation time for
female and male observers, respectively, during the assessment of breast
aesthetics; and to 56 and 52 percent of overall observation time for female and
male observers, respectively, during the assessment of breast symmetry.
Conclusions: Nipple-areola
complex and lower breast are key focus areas for the assessment of breast
aesthetics and symmetry. Gaze data collected during this study may constitute a
valuable source of reference values for future eye-tracking research on various
patient groups’ visual perception of breast attractiveness and deformities.
