Reliability of Craniofacial Superimposition Using Three-Dimension Skull Model

Journal of Forensic Sciences
Daniel GaudioCristina Cattaneo

Abstract

Craniofacial superimposition is a technique potentially useful for the identification of unidentified human remains if a photo of the missing person is available. We have tested the reliability of the 2D-3D computer-aided nonautomatic superimposition techniques. Three-dimension laser scans of five skulls and ten photographs were overlaid with an imaging software. The resulting superimpositions were evaluated using three methods: craniofacial landmarks, morphological features, and a combination of the two. A 3D model of each skull without its mandible was tested for superimposition; we also evaluated whether separating skulls by sex would increase correct identifications. Results show that the landmark method employing the entire skull is the more reliable one (5/5 correct identifications, 40% false positives [FP]), regardless of sex. However, the persistence of a high percentage of FP in all the methods evaluated indicates that these methods are unreliable for positive identification although the landmark-only method could be useful for exclusion.

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Citations

Sep 14, 2016·Journal of Forensic Sciences·Daniel GaudioCristina Cattaneo
Apr 9, 2017·The Anatomical Record : Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology·Frane MihanovićŽeljana Bašić
Mar 28, 2019·Forensic Sciences Research·Carl N StephanPeter Claes
Sep 25, 2020·Forensic Science International : Synergy·Maria SaadehFouad Ayoub

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