J 2017

The virtual approach to the assessment of skeletal injuries in human skeletal remains of forensic importance

URBANOVÁ, Petra, Ann H. ROSS, Mikoláš JURDA and Ivana ŠPLÍCHALOVÁ

Basic information

Original name

The virtual approach to the assessment of skeletal injuries in human skeletal remains of forensic importance

Authors

URBANOVÁ, Petra (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution), Ann H. ROSS (840 United States of America), Mikoláš JURDA (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution) and Ivana ŠPLÍCHALOVÁ (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution)

Edition

Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, Oxford, Elsevier Science, 2017, 1752-928X

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Článek v odborném periodiku

Field of Study

30501 Forensic science

Country of publisher

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

Impact factor

Impact factor: 1.103

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14310/17:00096806

Organization unit

Faculty of Science

DOI

UT WoS

000405484300012

Keywords in English

Perimortem skeletal injuries;Reassembly;Virtual approach;3D printing

Tags

Tags

International impact, Reviewed
Změněno: 12/4/2018 15:26, Ing. Nicole Zrilić

Abstract

V originále

While assessing skeletal injuries in human skeletal remains, forensic anthropologists are frequently presented with fractured, fragmented, or otherwise modified skeletal remains. The examination of evidence and the mechanisms of skeletal injuries often require that separate osseous elements be permanently or temporarily reassembled or reconstructed. If not dealt with properly, such reconstructions may impede accurate interpretation of the evidence. Nowadays, routine forensic examinations increasingly incorporate digital imaging technologies. As a result, a variety of PC-assisted imaging techniques, collectively referred to as the virtual approach, have been made available to treat fragmentary skeletal remains. The present study employs a 3D virtual approach to assess mechanisms of skeletal injuries, and provides an expert opinion of causative tools in three forensic cases involving human skeletal remains where integrity was compromised by multiple peri- or postmortem alterations resulting in fragmentation and/or incompleteness. Three fragmentary skulls and an incomplete set of foot bones with evidence of perimortem fractures (gunshot wounds) and sharp force trauma (saw marks) were digitized using a desktop laser scanner. The digitized skeletal elements were reassembled in the virtual workspace using functionalities incorporated in AMIRA® version 5.0 software, and simultaneously in real physical space by traditional reconstructive approaches. For this study, the original skeletal fragments were substituted by replicas built by 3D printing. Inter-method differences were quantified by mesh-based comparison after the physically reassembled elements had been re-digitized. Observed differences were further reinforced by visualizing local variations using colormaps and other advanced 3D visualization techniques. In addition, intra-operator and inter-operator error was computed. The results demonstrate that the importance of incorporating the virtual approach into the assessment of skeletal injuries increases with the complexity and state of preservation of a forensic case. While in relatively simple cases the virtual approach is a welcome extension to a traditional approach, which merely facilitates the analysis, in more complex and extensively fragmentary cases such as multiple gunshot wounds or dismemberment, the virtual approach can be a crucial step in applying the principles of gunshot wounds or sharp force traumatic mechanisms. The unrestricted manipulation with digital elements enabling limitless repairs and adjustments to a “best-case scenario” also produced smaller inter-operator variation in comparison to the traditional approach.