Journal of Forensic Radiology and Imaging最新文献

Background

The morphology and dimensions of the frontal sinus (FS) are significant in the forensic, surgical and population context.

Purpose

The study aimed to compare linear FS measurements taken both on radiographs and virtual endocasts and to assess the impact of the skull angulation on the FS dimensions.

Material and Methods

Thirteen intact dry skulls of contemporary adult males were radiographed using industrial digital radiography while they were inclined in the Frankfurt plane, through the Caldwell's view up to the Water's view by angular steps of 5°. The width and height of both frontal lobes were measured in each projection. To verify the measurements on the radiographs, ten of the skulls were µCT-scanned and virtual endocasts of the FS were generated.

Results

The concordance between the measurements on the virtual endocasts and the radiographs in the Caldwell's view showed almost perfect concurrence for the width (0.998) and height on the left side (0.990), and substantial one for the height on the right side (0.961). Since the width is more sensitive compared to the height, any inclination from the initial position at the Caldwell's view caused a significant distortion of the FS measurements.

Conclusion

The industrial µCT-systems support both 2D and 3D imaging and could generate images with a high resolution. Therefore, if the industrial digital radiography is selected as an eligible imaging modality for FS investigation and documentation in conformity with the research goals, the appropriate skull positioning ensures reliable readings of the linear FS dimensions.

Inca bones are a recognised anatomical variant of the interparietal part of the occipital bone. They can be variable in appearance and along with other normal variants and artefacts, can be mistaken for skull fractures. A knowledge of anatomical variants which may mimic injury is important especially in the setting of post mortem examinations and cases of suspected non-accidental injury. This case report reviews a post mortem skeletal survey and CT head examination in an infant who presented with sudden and unexplained death. An unusually large, and depressed abnormality of the skull was found with a differential diagnosis of an unexplained, depressed skull fracture or an unusual variant of an Inca bone. The imaging and post-mortem findings are reviewed.

Purpose

The aim of this work is to examine the architectural configuration and the microstructural substrate of the cervical spine and its nerve roots with post-mortem (PM) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in non-fixed subjects and to compare these findings with histology.

Methods

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were acquired on a 1.5 T MRI scanner in five non-fixed non-trauma deaths. Two different areas were evaluated: 1) the cervical spinal cord and ventral and dorsal nerve roots with a “high in-plane” DTI and a multi-echo fast field echo protocol, and 2) the cervical peripheral nerves with an “isotropic” DTI and a 3D turbo spin echo protocol. Histology samples were obtained matching the anatomical level of the slices of the ‘high in-plane’ DTI protocol.

Results

We were able to show detailed reconstructions of the dorsal and ventral nerve roots with the ‘high in-plane’ protocol and identified a low fractional anisotropy (FA = 0.30 ± 0.08) in the grey matter and a high FA (0.51 ± 0.13) in the white matter. Both grey and white matter configurations correlated with the anatomical MRI, the diffusion MRI, and with the histological sections. Using the ‘isotropic’ DTI protocol, it was feasible to reconstruct the spinal cord, cervical nerves, and nerve roots in all PM subjects.

Conclusion

We were able to generate detailed architectural configurations of the ventral and dorsal nerve roots. Anatomical and diffusion MR scans showed good qualitative agreement with histology. We believe that PMDTI will be helpful in the assessment of head and neck injuries in a forensic setting.

This study presents a procedure for combining 3D models obtained from CT scanning (internal and external data) and photogrammetry (external data). 3D data were acquired at different times, without the support of reference points. The procedure has been tested on 30 injured areas caused by different wounding mechanisms. The alignment of the different 3D models was in most of the cases very precisely (mean distance around 1 mm, SD around or lower than 2 mm). Ad hoc procedures should be followed in case of injuries on the head, joints and back.

Background

Japan has one-third of the world's CT machines and the highest number of CT devices per million population. The lack of medical examiners to meet the needs of Japanese police authorities has therefore led to requests that CT scanners be used for both clinical and postmortem examination. However, hospitals believe that patients might feel uncomfortable with this dual use, so they usually advocate performing postmortem cases at night and not informing patients of the dual use of CT scanners. In this study, we investigated people's thoughts about the dual use of CT scanners.

Methods

In this internet-based questionnaire study, we wanted to understand public opinion about postmortem CT imaging. Specifically, we sought the opinions of the general public about the Japanese death investigation system and the use of CT machines for both the living and the dead.

Results

More than 70% of respondents wanted postmortem examinations to identify the cause of death, but only 34% were aware that CT was used for this purpose. Moreover, only 13% knew that postmortem CTs were performed at general hospitals using CT machines that are also used for patients, and 51.6% thought that hospitals should inform patients that CT machines are also used for postmortem examinations.

Conclusions

There are no rules for the use of the clinical CT machines for postmortem examination in Japan. However, we identified that half of our respondents wanted to be informed that hospitals use CT scanners to examine both the living and the dead.

Objectives

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of different embalming solutions including formalin, Genelyn, Thiel and Imperial College London- Soft Preserving solutions on the quality of radiological images taken from cadavers embalmed with the above mentioned techniques.

Materials and methods

Two cadavers per embalming technique were imaged pre and post-embalming using three different imaging modalities including ultrasound, plain radiography and computed tomography (CT). Imaging criteria and a qualitative grading system for each imaging modality were adapted from the European Guidelines on Quality Criteria for Computed Tomography, the European Guidelines on Quality Criteria for Diagnostic Radiographic Images, and according to the AIUM Practice Guideline for the performance of ultrasound. Qualitative analysis was performed independently by three readers on a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS). The readers were blinded to both the embalmment status and the embalming agent used to preclude bias.

Results

On comparison of images pre and post-embalming, brain CT images showed a significant deterioration in image quality post-embalming, while there was no significant change in chest and abdomen/pelvic images and some improvement was observed in Genelyn embalmed cadavers. No changes were observed when using ultrasound to image the spleen and aorta, while a significant improvement in image quality was observed when examining the kidney in all embalmed cadavers with a small improvement when imaging the liver. No significant difference was observed on plain radiography post-embalming, while a minor deterioration was observed mainly in the chest area.

Conclusion

Different embalming techniques had varying effects on image quality, in human cadavers, with the range of imaging modalities investigated in this study. Thus, no ideal embalming solution was identified, which would improve the quality of images on all imaging modalities. Further research is required to compare the quality of radiological images at different stages of decomposition taking into consideration antemortal pathologies with a larger number of donors.

Background

Estimation of the stature might be critical in the identification of skeletal remains. Usually, the small bones found among human remains are not only the most numerous, but also the best-preserved parts.

Objective

The primary aim of this work is to determine whether metatarsals can be used for the estimation of adult stature in an Egyptian population using radiologically determined metatarsal lengths and to propose regression equations and test the formulae for determining adult stature.

Subjects and methods

The 1st and 2nd metatarsals of the left foot of the 220 healthy adult participants were assessed by plain X-ray in a dorso-plantar position utilizing a digital radiography machine commonly used in hospitals. The measurements were obtained by default program on console of the machine that offers manipulation and measurements on the obtained images.

Results

The study clearly illustrated that the 1st metatarsal maximum length (M1) in males was the most noteworthy correlation with the true stature. The derived regression equation is as per the following: S = 851.52 + 12.26 M1, R = 0.8904 M1. Our findings in the current study were more accurate when comparing our study statistical findings with the results of other population groups.

Conclusion

the regression equations for stature estimation obtained in our study may be utilized for the identification of stature of skeletons among adult Egyptians from medicolegal point of view.