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Estimation of stature from femur length measured using computed tomography after the analysis of three-dimensional characteristics of femur bone in Korean cadavers

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Abstract

Estimation of stature is a basic and important forensic procedure in identifying decomposed or skeletonized bodies. Due to advances in radiologic equipment, forensic science frequently uses computed tomography (CT) and software to apply these findings to investigations. Technical developments have increased the accuracy of the measurement of various bones. However, there are still some inaccuracies, such as defining correct landmarks in three-dimensional (3D) images. Femur length is frequently used for calculation of stature, but because it is a 3D structure, the digital image may not always correlate with the femur length measured with an osteometric board. However, more studies are now showing that the maximum femur length calculated in 3D imagery is comparable to the maximum femur length calculated using an osteometric board. This study used digitalized data of the femur obtained from the CT image through the specialized software. The digitalized femur images were put on the virtual osteometric board, which helped us to understand the anatomic characteristics of the femur and to confirm that the maximum femur lengths calculated in 3D images are similar to the results obtained using an osteometric board. These data were used to obtain a stature estimation formula for the Korean population.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Examiner’s Office, National Forensic Service, 139, Jiyang-ro, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, 08036, South Korea

    Sookyoung Lee, Young-shik Choi, Kyung-moo Yang & Byung Ha Choi

  2. Department of Forensic Investigation, National Forensic Service, 139, Jiyang-ro, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, 08036, South Korea

    Ho-hyeon Gong, Hyung-nam Koo & Han-young Lee

  3. Department of Forensic Medicine, National Forensic Service, 1524, Yuseong-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34054, South Korea

    Jin-young Hyun

  4. Medical Examiner’s Office, National Forensic Service, 10, Ipchun-ro, Wonju-si, Gangwon-do, 26460, South Korea

    Nak-eun Chung

Authors
  1. Sookyoung Lee
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  2. Ho-hyeon Gong
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  9. Byung Ha Choi
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Correspondence to Byung Ha Choi.

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Lee, S., Gong, Hh., Hyun, Jy. et al. Estimation of stature from femur length measured using computed tomography after the analysis of three-dimensional characteristics of femur bone in Korean cadavers. Int J Legal Med 131, 1355–1362 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-017-1556-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-017-1556-z

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