qualitative technique for routine human identification by using lateral x-ray images of head

ABSTRACT

A qualitative identification technique was designed and performed on 200 adultmale cadavers. Lateral X-ray images were taken for the head in each case andthe unrequired spaces of the images were minimized. The X-ray images werethen photographed in group [6-10 cases in each picture]. The pictures werearranges in a file form [10 cases in each row of the page, making it possibleto group 100 cases in one page]. Contact tracing was then performed onfrontal sinus, forehead boundary, jaws and teeth. Zoom pictures were alsotaken for those compartment. The study revealed that the contrast of frontalsinus and its details were high in lateral X-ray film, and there were no twopersons identical in the appearance of this sinus. Examination and contracttracing of forehead boundaries and linear details of jaws, teeth and spacesbetween them showed also great variations in these details among persons. Thetechnique designed in this study is simple, reliable, and economic. It doesnot require high technical or professional procedures. It could be applied asan identification system in routine fields particularly in mass disasters aswell as in criminal identification