The value of radiometry in sex assessment of bone fragments:A study on the radius in a modern Greek population

Objectives: This paper highlights the different applications of Digital Radiology in forensic sciences and proposes an alternative sex estimation method based on digital radiographs of the proximal and distal epiphysis of the radius. Methods: A total of 101 (53 males and 48 females) adult left radii was used in this study. A digital portable X-ray machine (Technix TCA 4R PLUS) was used for taking the radiographs of the radii. Eight landmarks are selected on the radiograph of the proximal and six on the radiographs of the distal epiphysis generating in total 28 linear distances for the proximal and 15 for the distal epiphysis. Data acquisition was carried out using TpsUtil and TpsDig2 software and SPSS 19 was used for statistical analysis. Results: ANOVA detected 24 variables that differed significantly between males and females (p < 0.05). The best single discriminatory variable yielded 85% correct classification of the original sample. The best multivariate formula gave 88% correct classification of the original sample. More than half of the cases were correctly classified with 95% probability of correct classification. Conclusions: The study proposes the use of a rapid easy and inexpensive method for sex screening of forearm fragments based on digital radiographs of the radius. Results indicate that the proposed method can be used in addition to osteometric methods for sex estimation. This can be particularly advantageous in cases of mass disasters with numerous mutilated and/or burnt bodies where time is of crucial importance in forensic identification and maceration is not an option. It must be stressed here that the data derive from a documented sample of a modern Greek population thus it should not be considered applicable to other populations without previous validation studies

A novel method for pair-matching using three-dimensional digital models of bone:mesh-to-mesh value comparison

The commingling of human remains often hinders forensic/physical anthropologists during the identification process, as there are limited methods to accurately sort these remains. This study investigates a new method for pair-matching, a common individualization technique, which uses digital three-dimensional models of bone: mesh-to-mesh value comparison (MVC). The MVC method digitally compares the entire three-dimensional geometry of two bones at once to produce a single value to indicate their similarity. Two different versions of this method, one manual and the other automated, were created and then tested for how well they accurately pair-matched humeri. Each version was assessed using sensitivity and specificity. The manual mesh-to-mesh value comparison method was 100 % sensitive and 100 % specific. The automated mesh-to-mesh value comparison method was 95 % sensitive and 60 % specific. Our results indicate that the mesh-to-mesh value comparison method overall is a powerful new tool for accurately pair-matching commingled skeletal elements, although the automated version still needs improvement. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00414-016-1334-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users