Computer-Aided Skull/Face Superimposition

Delfino, Pesce; Colonna, Massimo; Vacca, E.; Potente, F; Introna, Francesco

doi:10.1097/00000433-198607030-00006

Cited by 47 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…Such has been accomplished by decreasing and even eliminating to the greatest extent possible interferences due to photographic enlargement and orientation of the face and skull. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Nevertheless, computerized personal identification systems are by no means new, although past use has proved to be limited. Such former use included security systems in which restricted access to various places was reserved to authorized people only, as well as personal identification from closed-circuit shooting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Particularly, the columns correspond to the comparison between the photographic image of face 2 (subject 2) and the photographic images of the radiographies of the skulls 1-14 (subjects[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14], included the radiograph of the skull 2. The black column with the mean value of the distances of smallest movement of the crosses corresponds to the comparison between the photo of the face of the subject 2 and the radiography of the skull of the same subject(2).…”

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confidence: 99%

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A New Experimental Approach to Computer-Aided Face/Skull Identification in Forensic Anthropology

Ricci

Marella²,

Apostol³

2006

American Journal of Forensic Medicine &Amp; Pathology

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The present study introduces a new approach to computer-assisted face/skull matching used for personal identification purposes in forensic anthropology. In this experiment, the authors formulated an algorithm able to identify the face of a person suspected to have disappeared, by comparing the respective person's facial image with the skull radiograph. A total of 14 subjects were selected for the study, from which a facial photograph and skull radiograph were taken and ultimately compiled into a database, saved to the hard drive of a computer. The photographs of the faces and corresponding skull radiographs were then drafted using common photographic software, taking caution not to alter the informational content of the images. Once computer generated, the facial images and menu were displayed on a color monitor. In the first phase, a few anatomic points of each photograph were selected and marked with a cross to facilitate and more accurately match the face with its corresponding skull. In the second phase, the above mentioned cross grid was superimposed on the radiographic image of the skull and brought to scale. In the third phase, the crosses were transferred to the cranial points of the radiograph. In the fourth phase, the algorithm calculated the distance of each transferred cross and the corresponding average. The smaller the mean value, the greater the index of similarity between the face and skull.A total of 196 cross-comparisons were conducted, with positive identification resulting in each case. Hence, the algorithm matched a facial photograph to the correct skull in 100% of the cases.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Experimental Approach to Computer-Aided Face/Skull Identification in Forensic Anthropology

Ricci

Marella²,

Apostol³

2006

American Journal of Forensic Medicine &Amp; Pathology

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show abstract

“…Now that correct orientation of the two images which are to be superimposed has been obtained, it is necessary to find a method to achieve the best possible superimposition of the two images [14,15]. By using the various Photoshop functions the profile of the cast is enhanced and superimposed to that of the corresponding smiling individual rescaling the cast profile so as to superimpose A and B points of the cast to the corresponding points in the picture of the smiling individual (Fig.…”

Section: Superimposition Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental superimposition: a pilot study for standardising the method

2007

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Dental superimposition is becoming more and more important because of the increasing number of illegal immigrants (at least in Italy), with no clinical history, no personal effects or relatives useful for genetic comparison, whose friends and acquaintances can usually only produce photographs. Very few authors have been involved in devising and using this method. The goal of the present study is to establish whether it is possible, and under which conditions, to identify individuals by dental superimposition of teeth visible in an ante-mortem photograph and dental casts of an unidentified body, and to develop a protocol for the spatial orientation analysis of the dentition and qualitative and semi-quantitative analysis of superimpositions. A non-mathematical scoring system has been applied to each superimposition as a first step towards the optimisation of a cheap, quick, semi-quantitative method of identifying individuals when other more used methods are not applicable.

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“…FDs have been widely applied to structures ranging from sedimentology in geology (Thomas et al, 1995) to the biological sciences such as cell biology (Pesce Delfino et al, 1986;Strojny et al, 1987;Kieler et al, 1989;Diaz et al, 1990), botany (Kincaid and Schneider, 1983; to anatomy (Lestrel, 1974(Lestrel, , 1980(Lestrel, , 1982(Lestrel, , 1989bJohnson, 1985Johnson, , 1997Inoue, 1990;Kerr, 1992, 1993) to mention only a few.…”

Section: The Fourier Seriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Fourier-wavelet representation of 2-D shapes: sexual dimorphism in the Japanese cranial base

Lestrel

César

Takahashi

et al. 2004

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We present a new approach called computational shape analysis, which utilizes a Fourierwavelet representation for characterizing shape features of 2-D forms commonly encountered in a wide set of sub-disciplines within the biological sciences. The morphology of interest consists of the human cranial base (CB) as depicted on lateral cephalometric radiographs. Given a complex irregularly bounded form in Cartesian coordinate space, we first compute elliptical Fourier functions (EFFs) using a set of closely-spaced pseudo-homologous (x, y) points, starting at basion, to create a precise analog of the closed contour. This computed contour is then scaled (size-standardization) and rotated (positional-orientation) to provide for a common normalization. This insures that the representation is invariant with respect to starting point, size and orientation. Utilizing the EFFs, global aspects of the CB can then be extracted. The coordinates derived from the EFF were subsequently submitted to a continuous wavelet transform (CWT). Wavelet coefficients were then computed to identify localized features. The significant advantage of wavelets is that they are able to objectively identify changes in boundary curvature, thereby depicting localized aspects not easily attainable with other methods. Utilizing a sample of 297 Japanese cranial base outlines, statistically-significant differences in sex and archeological age were found. Although archeological age differences were present, they were small and largely random in character, suggesting stability in the CB structures. The presence of sexually dimorphic differences is consistent with earlier data derived from studies of Macaca nemestrina. In the current study, these differences in sexual dimorphism were present for every group starting with the Yayoi period and continuing up to the Modern period. Consequently, one may infer that the pattern of sexual dimorphism documented in the Japanese CB, is a primate pattern with an ancient evolutionary history. Wavelets were particularly useful in objectively identifying this sexual dimorphism. The results demonstrate that the Fourier-wavelet representation is a practical approach for numerically describing and visually depicting both global and localized features.

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Computer-Aided Skull/Face Superimposition

Cited by 47 publications

References 0 publications

A New Experimental Approach to Computer-Aided Face/Skull Identification in Forensic Anthropology

A New Experimental Approach to Computer-Aided Face/Skull Identification in Forensic Anthropology

Dental superimposition: a pilot study for standardising the method

A Fourier-wavelet representation of 2-D shapes: sexual dimorphism in the Japanese cranial base

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