RESUMO
Objective The chief aim of the present work is to investigate features of sternum of Chinese adults and to establish the sex determination method to evaluate its effect based on 3D recombinant morphology indicators. Methods Based on chest spiral CT scans, 2D images of multi-level recombination and 3D model of volume rendering, the experiment concludes an sex determination equation from 8 measurement indicators of the sternum and 3 ratio indicators. The 8 measurement indicators include full-length, handle length, body length, maximum width of the handle, maximum width of the body, maximum thickness of the handle, maximum thickness of the body, and thickness of the upper body. Results According to the 11 indicators of sex differences in statistics (P<0.05), especially indicators of the full-length, body length, maximum width of the handle and maximum thickness of the body, the body's sex is easier to be determined. All indicators equations, length indicators discriminant equations and stepwise discriminant equations have higher reliable rate (88.6%) which was consistent with the recent foreign research reports. Conclusion The method of sex determination based on multislice spiral CT 3D recombinant techniques is practicable and has an relatively high accuracy. It is expected to be applied to researches in age estimation by sternum and other virtual bones.