Thirteen traditional craniofacial landmarks were obtained from each CT scan using the coordinate option in the software Aviso. These coordinates were then compared with the coordinates digitized directly from the dry skulls as two separate samples and individually. Similarities were found between the two coordinate samples, with the first principal component representing only 23.97 percent of the total variation associated with the data acquisition methods, and were found to be statistically significant (P = 0.0223). Differences were more prevalent along the midline landmarks. In contrast, the individual specimen comparisons exhibited the largest amount of variation within the symmetric landmarks with the bilateral landmarks that were more medially located in the CT sample, but no individual specimens were significantly different (e.g., P = 0.9883) when comparing both data acquisition modalities. The bilateral coordinates were not found to be significantly different for either analysis (P = 0.4165). The significant differences found for the entire data set suggest that the combination of CT-extracted and digitized individuals needs to be further explored with respect to the reference frames and sample composition; however, the individual specimen comparison results of this study validate the utility of CT-extracted landmarks when used for putative identifications in a forensic setting and when clinically applied. (Publisher abstract modified)
Geometric Morphometric Validation Study of Computed Tomography-Extracted Craniofacial Landmarks
NCJ Number
249182
Journal
Journal of Craniofacial Surgery Volume: 25 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2014 Pages: 231-237
Date Published
January 2014
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the variation between craniofacial landmarks extracted from computed tomographic (CT) scans and those collected from direct digitization of dry skulls.
Abstract