Magnetic resonance imaging for forensic age estimation in living children and young adults: a systematic review

Abstract

Background The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in forensic age estimation has been explored extensively during the past decade.Objective To synthesize the available MRI data for forensic age estimation in living children and young adults, and to provide a comprehensive overview that can guide age estimation practice and future research.Materials and Methods MEDLINE, Embase and Web of Science were searched. Additionally, cited and citing articles and study registers were searched. Two authors independently selected articles, conducted data extraction, and assessed risk of bias. Study populations including living subjects up to 30 years were considered.Results Fifty-five studies were included in qualitative analysis and 33 in quantitative analysis. Most studies suffered from bias, including relatively small European (Caucasian) populations, varying MR-approaches and varying staging techniques. Therefore, pooling of the age distribution data was not appropriate.Reproducibility of staging was remarkably lower in clavicles than in any other anatomical structure. Age estimation performance was in line with the gold standard, which uses radiographs, with mean absolute errors ranging from 0.85 to 2.0 years. The proportion of correctly classified minors ranged from 65% to 91%. Multifactorial age estimation performed better than based on a single anatomical site. ConclusionMore multi-factorial age estimation studies are necessary, together with studies testing if the MRI data can safely be pooled. The current review results can guide future studies, help medical professionals to decide on the preferred approach for specific cases, and help judicial professionals to interpret the evidential value of age estimation results.

Evaluation of secondary dentin formation for forensic age assessment by means of semi-automatic segmented ultrahigh field 9.4 T UTE MRI datasets

“…A new development is the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology in dental imaging, as a radiation-free method [28][29][30]. Consequently, the technology has already been used for dental age assessment [31][32][33]. However, imaging of hard tissues like the bone or teeth is still challenging because of their limited water content and solid structure [34].…”

Age-dependent decrease in dental pulp cavity volume as a feature for age assessment: a comparative in vitro study using 9.4-T UTE-MRI and CBCT 3D imaging

“…Especially in view of the fact that CBCT is associated with higher radiation exposure compared to conventional dental imaging [43][44][45], the approach of the present study seems to be very reasonable. Thus, the study follows the trend to establish MRI as a radiation-free imaging modality in age assessment, which also includes dental imaging [46][47][48]. For example, studies are available to assess the mineralization of the third molars using MRI [49].…”

The influence of motion artefacts on magnetic resonance imaging of the clavicles for age estimation

“…Moreover, age estimation should always be based on the assessment of different anatomical structures, i.e. be multi-factorial [38,39]. If discrepancies are noted between the structures, experts need to beware of possibly distorted clavicle images by subtle motion artefacts.…”