Image analysis of pubic bone for age estimation in a computed tomography sample

Area of Science:

• Forensic radiology
• Medical imaging analysis
• Anthropology

Background:

• Traditional age estimation methods in radiology often rely on complex metrical and morphological analyses.
• There is a need for simpler, image-based techniques for age assessment in forensic contexts.
• Computed tomography (CT) offers detailed anatomical information for such analyses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a simple image analysis method for age estimation using CT scans.
• To correlate bony tissue ultrastructure variables from CT images with chronological age.
• To assess the utility of grey-level histogram (GLH) analysis of the pubic bone for age determination.

Main Methods:

• Utilized CT sagittal sections of the pubic symphysis and pubic body from 169 individuals with known age and sex.
• Extracted variables from the grey-level histogram (GLH) of the bony tissue.
• Applied multiple regression models to correlate GLH variables with age.

Main Results:

• Developed regression models demonstrating significant correlation between GLH variables and age.
• Achieved maximum R-squared values of 0.533 for females and 0.726 for males.
• Demonstrated high intra- and inter-observer agreement, indicating method reliability.

Conclusions:

• The proposed image analysis method provides a simple and effective approach for age estimation using CT scans.
• This technique is valuable for creating identification profiles in virtopsy and other forensic applications.
• The method allows for quantitative correlation of tissue ultrastructure with age without requiring complex or costly equipment.