首页|Piece by piece—a computer-aided method for virtual re-association of commingled fragmented remains

Piece by piece—a computer-aided method for virtual re-association of commingled fragmented remains

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  • 国家科技期刊平台
  • NETL
  • NSTL
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Air crashes or explosions with numerous victims may result in thousands of fragmented human remains that present a massive challenge for disaster victim identification teams.Genetic identification may present important financial and technical limits,and the physical re-association of fractured bones by forensic anthropologists may require a time-consuming phase of cleaning and drying.A virtual re-association(VRA)of fragmented human remains using postmortem computed tomography(CT)-scan images could enhance the identification process and reduce the number of genetic analyses required.Therefore,this study investigated the advantages and limitations of a VRA protocol in comparison with physical re-association(PRA)in a laboratory setting and in a real case scenario.As a first step,six porcine femurs were scanned by multi-detector CT before and after physical fragmentation.PRA of the dry bones and VRA of the 3D models of the fragments were then performed.The physically reconstructed dry bones were then once more scanned with CT.The mean distance between intact and reconstructed models,the number of re-associated fragments,and the time needed for the reconstruction were evaluated.In a second step,87 fragmented remains resulting from a controlled pig bombing were collected,scanned,and virtually re-associated to test the feasibility of the protocol in a real context.The reconstruction of the femurs showed no difference in accuracy between PRA and VRA.Although the VRA was faster than PRA,the preparation of the material still needs to be taken into consideration.The VRA after the controlled pig bombing was limited to 8％of the total fragments.Differences in alveolar and cortical osseous structure and the presence of cartilage resulted in segmentation approximations and difficulties in the re-association itself.The explosion produced an important loss of intermediate bone elements.The VRA method still needs further evaluations with a larger sample size and different fragmentation mechanisms.However,the presented research shows promising results towards enhancing the efficiency of identifying individuals after a mass disaster.

forensic anthropologyfragmented human remainsdisaster victim identification3Dvirtual re-association

Lise Malfroy Camine、Virginie Magnin、Ruben Soto、Christine Bruguier、Silke Grabherr、Vincent Varlet、Negahnaz Moghaddam

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University Center of Legal Medicine Lausanne-Geneva,Geneva University Hospitals and University of Geneva,Lausanne,Switzerland

Swiss Human Institute of Forensic Taphonomy,University Center of Legal Medicine Lausanne-Geneva,Lausanne,Switzerland

Forensic Sciences Institute of the French Gendarmerie,Institutde Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale(IRCGN),Pontoise,France

Forensic Imaging and Anthropology Unit,University Center of Legal Medicine Lausanne-Geneva,Lausanne,Switzerland

Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology,Lausanne University Hospital,Lausanne,Switzerland

Forensic Pathology Unit,University Center of Legal Medicine Lausanne-Geneva,Lausanne,Switzerland

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2024

10.1093/fsr/owae035

法庭科学研究(英文)
司法鉴定科学研究院

法庭科学研究(英文)

ISSN：2096-1790
年,卷(期)：2024.9(3)