Quantitative Analysis of the Morphological Changes of the Pubic Symphyseal Face and the Auricular Surface and Implications for Age at Death Estimation

Abstract

Age estimation methods are often based on the age-related morphological changes of the auricular surface and the pubic bone. In this study, a mathematical approach to quantify these changes has been tested analyzing the curvature variation on 3D models from CT and laser scans. The sample consisted of the 24 Suchey-Brooks (SB) pubic bone casts, 19 auricular surfaces from the Buckberry and Chamberlain (BC) "recording kit" and 98 pelvic bones from the Terry Collection (Smithsonian Institution). Strong and moderate correlations between phases and curvature were found in SB casts (ρ 0.60-0.93) and BC "recording kit" (ρ 0.47-0.75), moderate and weak correlations in the Terry Collection bones (pubic bones: ρ 0.29-0.51, auricular surfaces: ρ 0.33-0.50) but associated with large individual variability and overlap of curvature values between adjacent decades. The new procedure, requiring no expert judgment from the operator, achieved similar correlations that can be found in the classic methods.

Quantification of Pubic Symphysis Metamorphosis Based on the Analysis of Clinical MDCT Scans in a Contemporary Malaysian Population

“…Recent research has applied the Suchey–Brooks method in the assessment of the symphysis in CT images (e.g. ). Telmon et al.…”

Surface Curvature of Pelvic Joints from Three Laser Scanners: Separating Anatomy from Measurement Error

“…The scatter plots in the column “a” (on the left) show the results obtained using the unmodified algorithm used in Villa et al. , with the same smoothing factor for all laser scanners. The curvature values show similar trends with increasing phases and scores: The curvature increases and decreases in the same manner in all three laser scanners, but with a systematic difference among the models of laser scanners.…”

“…Further analysis needs to identify other factors that can reduce measurement error: Process of decimation (i.e., reduction of the number of points in a mesh), or function to transform unstructured grid in structured one, and vice versa, could have a similar effect. We would underline that our results could not be generalized: applying the algorithm described in , we detected the features useful for age estimation in a similar way across different laser scanners. Depending on the nature of the investigation, a high‐resolution laser scanner can have an impact and perform better.…”

“…By applying an adequate amount of smoothing, it was possible to separate the anatomy signal from the instrumental measurement error, thus making the results of the technique developed in Villa et al. independent of the specific laser scanner.…”

“…The curvature values of 3D models from a Custom laser scanner were used as reference models, as they were used in previous work (Villa et al. ). To eliminate the measurement error of each laser, a different smoothing factor was used to reduce the total curvature differences to a maximum of 2%.…”