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Reliability of frontal sinus by cone beam-computed tomography (CBCT) for individual identification

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An Erratum to this article was published on 18 July 2015

Abstract

Analysis of the frontal sinus is an important tool in personal identification. Cone beam-computed tomography (CBCT) is also progressively replacing conventional radiography and multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) in human identification. The aim of this study is to develop a reproducible technique and measurements from 3D reconstructions obtained with CBCT, for use in human identification. CBCT from 150 patients (91 female, 59 male), aged between 15 and 78 years, was analysed with the specific software program MIMICS 11.11 (Materialise N.V., Leuven, Belgium). Corresponding 3D volumes were generated and maximal dimensions along 3 directions (x, y, z), X M, Y M, Z M (in mm), total volume area (in mm3), V t, and total surface (in mm2), S t, were calculated. Correlation analysis showed that sinus surfaces were strongly correlated with their volume (r = 0.976). Frontal sinuses were separate in 21 subjects (14 %), fused in 67 (44.6 %) and found on only one side (unilateral) in 9 (6 %). A Prominent Middle of Fused Sinus (PMS) was found in 53 subjects (35.3 %). The intra- (0.963–0.999) and inter-observer variability (0.973–0.999) showed a great agreement and a substantial homogeneity of evaluation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the staff of the Unit of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, University of Milan (Italy) for their assistance on this project, and also Ms. Gabriel Walton for editing the English text. Thanks also to the editor and the reviewers for helpful comments that have improved this paper.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, Unit of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, University of Milan, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy

    Gianguido Cossellu, Roberto Biagi & Giampietro Farronato

  2. AgEstimation Project, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Macerata, Macerata, Italy

    Stefano De Luca & Roberto Cameriere

  3. Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Macerata, Macerata, Italy

    Mariano Cingolani

  4. Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy

    Luigi Ferrante

  5. Calle las moreras 77, 28971, Griñón, Madrid, Spain

    Stefano De Luca

Authors
  1. Gianguido Cossellu
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  2. Stefano De Luca
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  3. Roberto Biagi
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  4. Giampietro Farronato
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  5. Mariano Cingolani
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  6. Luigi Ferrante
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  7. Roberto Cameriere
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Correspondence to Stefano De Luca.

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Cossellu, G., De Luca, S., Biagi, R. et al. Reliability of frontal sinus by cone beam-computed tomography (CBCT) for individual identification. Radiol med 120, 1130–1136 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-015-0552-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-015-0552-y

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