Preliminary radiological assessment of age-related change in the trabecular structure of the human os pubis

Abstract

This preliminary study examines correlations between age-at-death and changes in the trabecular architecture of the human os pubis, utilizing continuous, quantitative data from plain film radiography, computed tomography (CT), and micro-CT scans of 65 male innominates. Radiography provides nondestructive options for assessment, digital preservation, and presentation of human skeletal remains; important for forensic and culturally sensitive archaeological materials, which must remain unmodified for opposing experts, future researchers, or repatriation and reburial. Radiographic techniques permit analysis of remains that cannot be disarticulated (e.g., religious proscription, mummies), and trabecular measures provide data where traditional surface indicators are obscured or damaged. Potentially, robust predictive models derived herein achieve R-values of 0.522, 0.447, and 0.731, respectively. Further testing of these methods may validate these techniques as further lines of evidence in age estimation, with the potential to improve on the accuracy of traditional qualitative techniques by providing quantitative, continuous variables in predicting skeletal age-at-death. © 2010 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.