Multi-detector computed tomography—A ‘one stop shop’ for anthropological examination of juvenile remains? A study of reliability

Abstract This investigation provides vital data which supports the implementation of a virtual/near virtual anthropological examination for the identification of juvenile remains. Determining the accuracy and repeatability of age, sex, stature and ethnicity estimations made using only MDCT data, by comparison with documented demographics, would be a vital preliminary step in validating the utility of MDCT analysis in special situations such as forensic and disaster victim investigations (DVIs). This would accelerate the process of anthropological assessment and remove the necessity to de-flesh remains, which may also be more ethically and morally acceptable, particularly when dealing with young victims and offers significant health and safety benefits for practitioners. This study uses the measurements previously validated by the Developing Human Research Group and information from the current DVI INTERPOL form to construct a ‘one stop’ identification form for juvenile remains. 30 Juvenile forensic cases that had undergone a MDCT post-mortem scan were randomly selected and annonymised by an independent practitioner. The MDCT data was then used to create an identification form for each case. Age, sex, stature and ethnicity estimations made using only the ID forms were compared to the known demographics for each individual to determine the accuracy of this virtual method. This identification process is currently under blind review by a number of independent practitioners and the final results will be presented at the conference.