title: Preliminary assessment of facial soft tissue thickness utilizing three-dimensional computed tomography models of living individuals.
abstract: Facial approximation is the technique of developing a representation of the face from the skull of an unknown individual. Facial approximation relies heavily on average craniofacial soft tissue depths. For more than a century, researchers have employed a broad array of tissue depth collection methodologies, a practice which has resulted in a lack of standardization in craniofacial soft tissue depth research. To combat such methodological inconsistencies, Stephan and Simpson 2008 [15] examined and synthesized a large number of previously published soft tissue depth studies. Their comprehensive meta-analysis produced a pooled dataset of averaged tissue depths and a simplified methodology, which the researchers suggest be utilized as a minimum standard protocol for future craniofacial soft tissue depth research. The authors of the present paper collected craniofacial soft tissue depths using three-dimensional models generated from computed tomography scans of living males and females of four self-identified ancestry groups from the United States ranging in age from 18 to 62 years. This paper assesses the differences between: (i) the pooled mean tissue depth values from the sample utilized in this paper and those published by Stephan 2012 [21] and (ii) the mean tissue depth values of two demographically similar subsets of the sample utilized in this paper and those published by Rhine and Moore 1984 [16]. Statistical test results indicate that the tissue depths collected from the sample evaluated in this paper are significantly and consistently larger than those published by Stephan 2012 [21]. Although a lack of published variance data by Rhine and Moore 1984 [16] precluded a direct statistical assessment, a substantive difference was also concluded. Further, the dataset presented in this study is representative of modern American adults and is, therefore, appropriate for use in constructing contemporary facial approximations.
authors: Counterterrorism and Forensic Science Research Unit, Visiting Scientist Program, FBI Laboratory Division, 2501 Investigation Parkway, Quantico, VA 22135, USA.
authors: Connie L
authors: CL
authors: Parks
authors: Counterterrorism and Forensic Science Research Unit, Visiting Scientist Program, FBI Laboratory Division, 2501 Investigation Parkway, Quantico, VA 22135, USA.
authors: Adam H
authors: AH
authors: Richard
authors: Counterterrorism and Forensic Science Research Unit, FBI Laboratory Division, 2501 Investigation Parkway, Quantico, VA 22135, USA. Electronic address: Keith.Monson@ic.fbi.gov.
authors: Keith L
authors: KL
authors: Monson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D018732:Forensic Anthropology; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044469:Racial Groups; D012016:Reference Values; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Computed tomography; Facial approximation; Facial landmarks; Forensic anthropology; Soft tissue thickness