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•Virtual bones generated from ‘clinical’ CT scans are larger in size than the dry skeletal element.•Correctly locating landmarks on virtual bones differs per modality and landmark.•Methods derived from virtual bones may not always be applied to dry bones. Clinical radiology is increasingly used as a source of data to test or develop forensic anthropological methods, especially in countries where contemporary skeletal collections are not available. Naturally, this requires analysis of the error that is a result of low accuracy of the modality (i.e. accuracy of the segmentation) and the error that arises due to difficulties in landmark recognition in virtual models. The cumulative effect of these errors ultimately determines whether virtual and dry bone measurements can be used interchangeably. To test the interchangeability of virtual and dry bone measurements, 13 male and 14 female intact cadavers from the body donation program of the Amsterdam UMC were CT scanned using a standard patient scanning protocol and processed to obtain the dry os coxae. These were again CT scanned using the same scanning protocol. All CT scans were segmented to create 3D virtual bone models of the os coxae (‘dry’ CT models and ‘clinical’ CT models). An Artec Spider 3D optical scanner was used to produce gold standard ‘optical 3D models’ of ten dry os coxae. The deviation of the surfaces of the 3D virtual bone models compared to the gold standard was used to calculate the accuracy of the CT models, both for the overall os coxae and for selected landmarks. Landmark recognition was studied by comparing the TEM and %TEM of nine traditional inter-landmark distances (ILDs). The percentage difference for the various ILDs between modalities was used to gauge the practical implications of both errors combined. Results showed that ‘dry’ CT models were 0.36–0.45mm larger than the ‘optical 3D models’ (deviations −0.27mm to 2.86mm). ‘Clinical’ CT models were 0.64–0.88mm larger than the ‘optical 3D models’ (deviations −4.99mm to 5.00mm). The accuracies of the ROIs were variable and larger for ‘clinical’ CT models than for ‘dry’ CT models. TEM and %TEM were generally in the acceptable ranges for all ILDs whilst no single modality was obviously more or less reliable than the others. For almost all ILDs, the average percentage difference between modalities was substantially larger than the average percentage difference between observers in ‘dry bone’ measurements only. Our results show that the combined error of segmentation- and landmark recognition error can be substantial, which may preclude the usage of ‘clinical’ CT scans as an alternative source for forensic anthropological reference data.

It is currently unknown whether morphological sex estimation traits are accurately portrayed on virtual bone models, and this hampers the use of virtual bone models as an alternative source of contemporary skeletal reference data. This study determines whether commonly used morphological sex estimation traits can be accurately scored on virtual 3D pelvic bone elements. Twenty-seven intact cadavers from the body donation program of the Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, were CT scanned; this data was used to produce virtual bone models. Thereafter, the dry bones were obtained. Three traits by Klales (2012) and five traits from the Workshop of European Anthropologists (WEA) (1980) were scored on the virtual bone models and their dry skeletal counterparts. Intra- and inter-observer agreement and the agreement between the scores for each virtual bone model-dry bone pair were calculated using weighted Cohen’s kappa (K). For all Klales (2012) traits, intra- and inter-observer agreement was substantial to almost perfect for the virtual- and dry bones (K = 0.62–0.90). The agreement in scores in the virtual-dry bone pairs ranged from moderate to almost perfect (K = 0.58–0.82). For the WEA (1980) traits, intra-observer agreement was substantial to almost perfect (K = 0.64–0.91), but results were less unambiguous for inter-observer agreement (K = 0.24–0.88). Comparison of the scores between the virtual bone models and the dry bones yielded kappa values of 0.42–0.87. On one hand, clinical CT data is a promising source for contemporary forensic anthropological reference data, but the interchangeability of forensic anthropological methods between virtual bone models and dry skeletal elements needs to be tested further.

Almost all European countries lack contemporary skeletal collections for the development and validation of forensic anthropological methods. Furthermore, legal, ethical and practical considerations hinder the development of skeletal collections. A virtual skeletal database derived from clinical computed tomography (CT) scans provides a potential solution. However, clinical CT scans are typically generated with varying settings. This study investigates the effects of image segmentation and varying imaging conditions on the precision of virtual modelled pelves. An adult human cadaver was scanned using varying imaging conditions, such as scanner type and standard patient scanning protocol, slice thickness and exposure level. The pelvis was segmented from the various CT images resulting in virtually modelled pelves. The precision of the virtual modelling was determined per polygon mesh point. The fraction of mesh points resulting in point-to-point distance variations of 2 mm or less (95% confidence interval (CI)) was reported. Colour mapping was used to visualise modelling variability. At almost all (>97%) locations across the pelvis, the point-to-point distance variation is less than 2 mm (CI = 95%). In >91% of the locations, the point-to-point distance variation was less than 1 mm (CI = 95%). This indicates that the geometric variability of the virtual pelvis as a result of segmentation and imaging conditions rarely exceeds the generally accepted linear error of 2 mm. Colour mapping shows that areas with large variability are predominantly joint surfaces. Therefore, results indicate that segmented bone elements from patient-derived CT scans are a sufficiently precise source for creating a virtual skeletal database.

At the end of the 19th century, the discovery of diamonds resulted in a massive influx of migrant mine workers to Kimberley, South Africa. The skeletons of some of these migrant workers were excavated in 2003 and the analysis of these remains provided an interesting glimpse into their living conditions. The high prevalence of antemortem fractures and amputations within the population sample suggested harsh living conditions, but also indicated that basic medicai and social care was available to at least some of the individuals. Plain radiographkal and histologtcal analyses were conducted of the excavated migrant workers' antemortem fractures and amputations to assess posttraumatic survival time as a means of providing additional information on their living conditions and medical status around the time of death. Results showed a wide range of post-traumatic survival times in amputations and fractures. This finding supports the availability of medical care for the mine workers. The assessment of post-traumatic survival time allowed for assumptions on the cause of death, reasons for hospitalisation, and trauma sequence. In addition, the results showed that histology may have an additional value in differentiating between ante- and perimortem lesions, if compared to sole gross anatomical assessment.

As part of a bigger project aimed to stimulate further research and raise awareness regarding African remains housed in foreign skeletal collections, the catalogues of the Anatomical Museum of the Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum (AM-LUMC) were searched for skeletal remains of documented African origin. A total of 19 specimens housed in the AM-LUMC were documented to have originated from Africa — two from the \"Cape of Good Hope\", four from \"the Congo\"; three were of possible Khoe-San descent, and ten came from Makapan's Cave. The total sample consisted of ten females, six males and three for whom the sex could not be determined. Included were 1 juvenile, 14 younger adults (20-39 years) and four individuals estimated to have been over the age of 40 years at the time of death. Results obtained using population specific discriminant functions indicated that one individual documented to be a \"Dutch Cape of Good Hope Farmer\" was of European descent and that the rest of the individuals probably originated from Africa. Very little skeletal and dental pathology was observed. The ten individuals documented to come from Makapan's Cave were of special interest since the possibility exists that they may have been associated with a siege which took place at Makapan's Cave in 1854. These remains add significant information to the reconstruction of events surrounding this historical incident and corroborate reports that the deceased were never buried after the siege and that some remains, especially crania, were removed from the site and taken abroad. This paper illustrates the scientific value of African remains housed abroad and stresses the importance of cataloguing and describing these forgotten remains.