Contribution of postmortem multidetector CT scanning to identification of the deceased in a mass disaster: Experience gained from the 2009 Victorian bushfires

O’Donnell, Chris; Iino, Morio; Mansharan, K.; Leditscke, J.; Woodford, Noel

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2010.05.026

Cited by 133 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(28 reference statements)

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“…Furthermore, when skeletal samples are not available to create population specific formula, anthropologists may need to utilize a different source to acquire suitable data. The application of CT has also gained popularity in the forensic pathology community to assist in determining cause and manner of death and in preparation for a mass disaster situation [5][6][7]. In mass disaster operations and disaster victim identification investigations, forensic investigators frequently need to conduct extensive preparation and processing of remains to obtain data that assists with the identification process, such as age, ancestry, stature and sex [6,8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The application of CT has also gained popularity in the forensic pathology community to assist in determining cause and manner of death and in preparation for a mass disaster situation [5][6][7]. In mass disaster operations and disaster victim identification investigations, forensic investigators frequently need to conduct extensive preparation and processing of remains to obtain data that assists with the identification process, such as age, ancestry, stature and sex [6,8,9]. The application of CT rather than conventional X-ray allows for better contrast resolution that results in more detailed images of bones and soft tissues and offers a rapid processing time [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Accuracy and reliability of measurements obtained from computed tomography 3D volume rendered images

Stull

Tise

Ali

et al. 2014

Forensic Science International

142

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Forensic pathologists commonly use computed tomography (CT) images to assist in determining the cause and manner of death as well as for mass disaster operations.Even though the design of the CT machine does not inherently produce distortion, most techniques within anthropology rely on metric variables, thus concern exists regarding the accuracy of CT images reflecting an object's true dimensions. Numerous researchers have attempted to validate the use of CT images, however the comparisons have only been conducted on limited elements and/or comparisons were between measurements taken from a dry element and measurements taken from the 3D-CT image of the same dry element.A full-body CT scan was performed prior to autopsy at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the State of Maryland. Following autopsy, the remains were processed to remove all soft tissues and the skeletal elements were subject to an additional CT scan. Percent differences and Bland-Altman plots were used to assess the accuracy between osteometric variables obtained from the dry skeletal elements and from CT images with and without soft tissues. An additional seven crania were scanned, measured by three observers, and the reliability was evaluated by technical error of measurement (TEM) and relative technical error of measurement (%TEM).Average percent differences between the measurements obtained from the three data sources ranged from 1.4% to 2.9%. Bland-Altman plots illustrated the two sets of measurements were generally within 2mm for each comparison between data sources. Intra-observer TEM and %TEM for three observers and all craniometric variables ranged between 0.46 mm and 0.77 mm and 0.56% and 1.06%, respectively. The three-way interobserver TEM and %TEM for craniometric variables was 2.6 mm and 2.26%, respectively. Variables that yielded high error rates were orbital height, orbital breadth, inter-orbital breadth and parietal chord. Overall, minimal differences were found among the data sources and high accuracy was noted between the observers, which prove CT images are an acceptable source to collect osteometric variables.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accuracy and reliability of measurements obtained from computed tomography 3D volume rendered images

Stull

Tise

Ali

et al. 2014

Forensic Science International

142

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Since then, the detection, localization and identification of foreign bodies was the goal of many forensic radiologic examinations [2]. The introduction of cross-sectional imaging modalities to forensic medicine, most notably computed tomography (CT) [3][4][5], allowed for a more accurate localization of foreign materials than conventional radiographs [6]. The ability of CT to quantify X-Ray attenuation in Hounsfield Units (HU) [7,8] is beneficial for the identification of objects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material differentiation in forensic radiology with single-source dual-energy computed tomography

Ruder

Thali

Bolliger

et al. 2012

Forensic Sci Med Pathol

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The goal of this study was to investigate the use of dual-energy computed tomography (CT) in differentiating frequently encountered foreign material on CT images using a standard single-source CT scanner. We scanned 20 different, forensically relevant materials at two X-Ray energy levels (80 and 130 kVp) on CT. CT values were measured in each object at both energy levels. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to determine intra-reader reliability. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to assess significance levels between X-Ray attenuation at 80 and 130 kVp. T test was used to investigate significance levels between mean HU values of individual object pairings at single energy levels of 80 and 130 kVp, respectively. ANOVA revealed that the difference in attenuation between beam energies of 80 kVp compared to 130 kVp was statistically significant (p \ 0.005) for all materials except brass and lead. ICC was excellent at 80 kVp (0.999, p \ 0.001) and at 130 kVp (0.998, p \ 0.001). T test showed that using single energy levels of 80 and 130 kVp respectively 181/190 objects pairs could be differentiated from one another based on HU measurements. Using the combined information from both energy levels, 189/190 object pairs could be differentiated. Scanning with different energy levels is a simple way to apply dual-energy technique on a regular single-energy CT and improves the ability to differentiate foreign bodies with CT, based on their attenuation values.

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“…Soft tissue release can be performed in cases of burning. 26 It is likely that PMCT will become the primary advanced imaging modality for traumatic death in adults. 27 The PMCT and PM MRI (PMMR) balance is different in children for reasons relating to size and the types of relevant pathology suspected.…”

Section: Traumatic Death and Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adult post-mortem imaging in traumatic and cardiorespiratory death and its relation to clinical radiological imaging

Morgan¹,

Adlam²,

Robinson³

et al. 2014

BJR

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The use of post-mortem imaging is expanding throughout the world with increasing use of advanced imaging techniques, such as contrast-enhanced CT and MRI. The questions asked of post-mortem imaging are complex and can be very different, for example for natural sudden death investigation will focus on the cause, whereas for trauma the cause of death is often clear, but injury patterns may be very revealing in investigating the background to the incident. Postmortem imaging is different to clinical imaging regarding both the appearance of pathology and the information required, but there is much to learn from many years of clinical research in the use of these techniques. Furthermore, it is possible that post-mortem imaging research could be used not only for investigating the cause of death but also as a model to conduct clinically relevant research. This article reviews challenges to the development of post-mortem imaging for trauma, identification and cardiorespiratory death, and how they may be influenced by current clinical thinking and practice.

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Contribution of postmortem multidetector CT scanning to identification of the deceased in a mass disaster: Experience gained from the 2009 Victorian bushfires

Cited by 133 publications

References 28 publications

Accuracy and reliability of measurements obtained from computed tomography 3D volume rendered images

Accuracy and reliability of measurements obtained from computed tomography 3D volume rendered images

Material differentiation in forensic radiology with single-source dual-energy computed tomography

Adult post-mortem imaging in traumatic and cardiorespiratory death and its relation to clinical radiological imaging

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