The potential of statistical shape modelling for geometric morphometric analysis of human teeth in archaeological research

Abstract

This paper introduces statistical shape modelling (SSM) for use in osteoarchaeology research. SSM is a full field, multi-material analytical technique, and is presented as a supplementary geometric morphometric (GM) tool. Lower mandibular canines from two archaeological populations and one modern population were sampled, digitised using micro-CT, aligned, registered to a baseline and statistically modelled using principal component analysis (PCA). Sample material properties were incorporated as a binary enamel/dentin parameter. Results were assessed qualitatively and quantitatively using anatomical landmarks. Finally, the technique’s application was demonstrated for inter-sample comparison through analysis of the principal component (PC) weights. It was found that SSM could provide high detail qualitative and quantitative insight with respect to archaeological inter- and intra-sample variability. This technique has value for archaeological, biomechanical and forensic applications including identification, finite element analysis (FEA) and reconstruction from partial datasets.

Predictive prosthetic socket design: part 1—population-based evaluation of transtibial prosthetic sockets by FEA-driven surrogate modelling

“…A statistical shape model (SSM) was used to introduce population-representative morphological variation into the FE model. SSM has previously been used extensively to characterise shape variation in biological tissues across an anatomical population (Barratt et al 2008 ; Bryan et al 2010 ; Woods et al 2017 ).…”

3d Images for Automated Digital Odontometry

“…That is why we pay special attention to imaging aspects. Among existing methods of morphologic description in odontology we should also mention geometric morphometrics as a method applied in various spheres for analysis of forms, shapes and sizes of biological or other objects (Richtsmeier et al, 2002), including teeth (Woods et al, 2017). The method of universality and wide coverage, having strong mathematical fundamentals depends, in terms its analytical results, largely on the input data; as if morphological features of an object are determined not by its morphology per se but rather by morphological features of group or groups.…”

Ancestry estimation in forensic anthropology: A review

“…These measurements have already been determined as useful for sex estimation (Kazzazi & Kranioti, ; Viciano, López‐Lázaro, & Alemán, ; Zorba, Moraitis, Eliopoulos, & Spiliopoulou, ) and show promise for ancestry estimation. Other novel measurement techniques and nontraditional data collection strategies, such as tooth angles and polygons (Bailey, ; Bailey, Glantz, Weaver, & Viola, ; Biggerstaff, , ), GM (Bernal, ; Kenyhercz et al, ; Woods, Fernee, Browne, Zakrzewski, & Dickinson, ; Yong et al, ), and enamel/dentin thickness (Feeney et al, ), also indicate promise for identifying minute metric differences in dentition.…”