Virtual morphometric method using seven cervical vertebrae for sex estimation on the Turkish population.

Area of Science:

• Forensic Anthropology
• Skeletal Biology
• Radiology

Background:

• Sex estimation from skeletal remains is vital for biological profiling in forensic science.
• While the pelvis and skull are primary indicators, research explores other skeletal elements like vertebrae for sex determination.
• Developing population-specific standards is crucial for accurate forensic analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish sex estimation standards for the Turkish population using cervical vertebrae.
• To develop and validate a virtual method for sex estimation from CT scans of cervical vertebrae.
• To assess the accuracy and reliability of cervical vertebrae measurements for sex determination.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of CT scans from 294 Turkish individuals.
• Virtual measurement of seven cervical vertebrae, divided into training (N=210) and validation (N=84) sets.
• Logistic regression models were applied to explore combinations of vertebral parameters, assessing intra- and inter-observer error.

Main Results:

• Low intra- and inter-observer errors were observed, indicating high measurement reliability.
• All measured cervical vertebral parameters showed statistically significant sex differences.
• Generated models achieved accuracies ranging from 83.30% to 91.40%, with the highest accuracy from a multivariate model using three parameters from four vertebrae.

Conclusions:

• Cervical vertebrae provide a reliable basis for sex estimation in the Turkish population using a virtual method.
• The developed virtual method demonstrates accuracy comparable to traditional postcranial skeletal analyses.
• This study contributes population-specific standards and advances virtual forensic anthropology techniques.