Metastatic carcinoma of presumed prostatic origin in cremated bones from the first century A.D.

A cremated pelvis dating from the first century A.D. showed evidence of osteosclerotic metastasis, presumably secondary to prostate carcinoma. The case demonstrates the importance of microradiography in palaeopathology as well as some of the structural changes seen in cremated bone.

Anatomical reconstruction of fragments of burned human bones: a necessary means for forensic identification.

The aim of any forensic inquiry concerning accidental or criminal cremations is to identify the victims. This identification depends on an essential approach: a careful collection and ultrasonic cleaning of the fragments and splinters of burned bones, and reconstruction--as far as possible--of bone specimens, which implies that forensic anthropologists are well experienced in the field of burned bones.

Method for identifying putrefied corpses by facial casting.

The authors developed an original method for casting the face of putrefied corpses, which allowed a three-dimensional facial cast of an individual to be made. This method used several stages: face restoration by subcutaneous injections of specific materials, casting by elastomer, then three-dimensional positive image building. This technique enabled the person to be recognized and then identified, and seems to be useful in such difficult cases.

Identification by frontal sinus pattern in forensic anthropology.

The authors report forensic cases from the literature, as well as two personal homicide cases, of identification through comparison of frontal sinus radiographs. A general discussion about identification using frontal sinus X-rays is presented, pointing out the reliability of the method, in reference to the uniqueness of the frontal sinus in humans, but also some difficulties, especially in reference to the distance, orientation and angle of the X-ray technique.

Contribution of microscopic plant anatomy to postmortem bone dating.

The authors describe a microscopical method of studying plant anatomy for estimating the age of vegetal organs which can help to date bones. This procedure was not based on counting the number of annual rings, as usually, but on demonstrating a completely primary structure without development of secondary formations; this material was considered as a part of a young root system whose development would correspond to about one year. The usefulness and limits of this procedure are discussed.

Facial casting as a method to help identify severely disfigured corpses.

The authors apply a previously reported method for facial casting of severely disfigured corpses, which allowed a three-dimensional cast to be made. This method involved several stages: face restoration, casting by elastomer, then three-dimensional positive image building. This technique seems to be useful in all cases of severe disfiguration of the face, particularly by trauma.

Experimental single controlled study of burned bones: contribution of scanning electron microscopy.

Burned bones were studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy. The samples were cut from a maxillary-mandibular block taken during an autopsy. These fragments were heated in a furnace under controlled temperature conditions for 60 minutes. The temperatures ranged from 150 to 1150 degrees Celsius. The results are as following: (i) there are significant alterations of the bone, more and more obvious as the temperature increases, (ii) it appears to be difficult to establish a precise correlation between the temperature and the scanning electron microscopy patterns.

A fully three-dimensional method for facial reconstruction based on deformable models.

Two facial models corresponding to two deceased subjects have been manually created and the two corresponding skulls have been dissected and skeletonized. These pairs of skull/ facial data have been scanned with a CT scanner, and the computed geometric three-dimensional models of both skulls and facial tissue have been built. One set of skull/facial data will be used as a reference set whereas the second set is used as ground truth for validating our method. After a semi-automatic face-skull registration, we apply an original computing global parametric transformation T that turns the reference skull into the skull to be reconstructed. This algorithm is based upon salient lines of the skull called crest lines: more precisely the crest lines of the first skull are matched to the crest lines of the second skull by an iterative closest point algorithm. Then we apply this algorithm to the reference face to obtain the "unknown" face to be reconstructed. The reliability and difficulties of this original technique are then discussed.