Assessment Of Individual Age Research Articles

Skeletal age estimation based on medial clavicle—a test of the method reliability

In order to establish a reliable age indicator in the period when all other epiphyseal age indicators have already been inactivated, medial clavicle as the bone with the longest period of growth became the object of various investigations. However, the lack of population-specific method often made it unreliable in some regions. The current study involved a Balkan population and it was designed in order to examine whether morphological, radiological, and histological analyses of medial clavicles could be applied with success in age assessment of individuals beyond their twenties in anthropological and forensic practice. The medial clavicular specimens were collected from contemporary Serbian population, autopsied in the period from 1998 to 2001, encompassing 67 individuals (42 males and 25 females) with the age range from 20 to 90 years. The conducted analyses of morphological features identified the epiphyseal union timing, signs of lipping in the region of the notch for the first rib as well as exostoses and bone overgrowths of the articular surface margin as age-dependent attributes. Trabecular bone volume fraction and minimum trabecular width were also highlighted as age-distinctive microscopic features. Sex difference was ascertainable in epiphyseal union timing, morphology of the notch for the first rib, margin of the articular surface, and basic morphology of articular surface as well as in two microscopic characteristics: trabecular bone volume fraction and minimum trabecular width. The study managed to identify several age- and sex-related features that could be applied as additional guidance for age estimation in Serbian population.

Technical note: Standardized and semiautomated Harris lines detection

Arrest in long bone growth and the subsequent resumption of growth may be visible as radiopaque transverse lines in radiographs (Harris lines, HL; Harris, HA. 1933. Bone growth in health and disease. London: Oxford University Press). The assessment of individual age at occurrence of such lines, as part of paleopathological skeletal studies, is time-consuming and shows large intra- and interobserver variability. Thus, a standardized, automated detection algorithm would help to increase the validity of such paleopathological research. We present an image analysis application facilitating automatic detection of HL. On the basis of established age calculation methods, the individual age-at-formation can be automatically assessed with the tool presented. Additional user input to confirm the automatic result is possible via an intuitive graphical user interface. Automated detection of HL from digital radiographs of a sample of late Medieval Swiss tibiae was compared to the consensus of manual assessment by two blinded expert observers. The intra- and interobserver variability was high. The quality of the observer result improved when standardized detection criteria were defined and applied. The newly developed algorithm detected two-thirds of the HL that were identified as consensus lines between the observers. It was, however, necessary to validate the last one-third by manual editing. The lack of a large test series must be noted. The application is freely available for further testing by any interested researcher.