title: Image analysis of pubic bone for age estimation in a computed tomography sample.
abstract: Radiology has demonstrated great utility for age estimation, but most of the studies are based on metrical and morphological methods in order to perform an identification profile. A simple image analysis-based method is presented, aimed to correlate the bony tissue ultrastructure with several variables obtained from the grey-level histogram (GLH) of computed tomography (CT) sagittal sections of the pubic symphysis surface and the pubic body, and relating them with age. The CT sample consisted of 169 hospital Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) archives of known sex and age. The calculated multiple regression models showed a maximum R (2) of 0.533 for females and 0.726 for males, with a high intra- and inter-observer agreement. The method suggested is considered not only useful for performing an identification profile during virtopsy, but also for application in further studies in order to attach a quantitative correlation for tissue ultrastructure characteristics, without complex and expensive methods beyond image analysis.
authors.affiliation: Forensic Pathology Department, Institute of Legal Medicine of Huelva, Av. de Alemania 7, 21071, Huelva, Spain, mlalcaraz@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: López-Alcaraz
authors.forename: Pedro Manuel Garamendi
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: Inmaculada Alemán
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Aguilera
authors.forename: Miguel Botella
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: López
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000365:Age Determination by Skeleton / Q000379:methods*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D018732:Forensic Anthropology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011630:Pubic Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development; D011631:Pubic Symphysis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult