A web application for sex and stature estimation from radiographic proximal femur for a Thai population.

In both forensic and archaeological domains, the discovery of incomplete human remains is a frequent occurrence. Nevertheless, the estimation of biological profiles from such remains presents a challenge due to the absence of crucial skeletal elements, such as the skull and pelvis. This study aimed to assess the utility of the proximal femur in the forensic identification process by creating a web application for osteometric analysis of the proximal femur. The aim was to determine the sex and stature of an individual from radiographs of the left anteroposterior femur. To accomplish this, an automated method was developed for acquiring linear measurements from radiographic images of the proximal femur using Python tools. The application of Hough techniques and Canny edge detection was utilized to generate linear femoral dimensions from radiographs. A total of 354 left femora were radiographed and measured by the algorithm. The sex classification model employed in this study was the Naïve Bayes algorithm (accuracy = 91.2 %). Results indicated that Gaussian process regression (GPR) was the most effective method for estimating stature (mean error = 4.68 cm, SD = 3.93 cm). The proposed web application holds the potential to serve as a valuable asset in the realm of forensic investigations in Thailand, particularly in the estimation of biological profiles from fragmentary skeletal remains.

Proximal femur in biological profile estimation - Current knowledge and future directions.

This review presents an overview of the forensic utilities of the proximal femur in the existing literature. The proximal epiphysis of the femur bone is characterized as a skeletal structure that articulates with an acetabulum of a pelvic bone, forming the hip joint and generally accounted for one-fourth of the whole femoral length. Features that are seen in proximal femora include femoral head, fovea capitis, neck, greater and lesser trochanters, and proximal shafts. These can be viable alternatives for assessing the following biological parameters: stature, sex, age, and ancestry. Therefore, if the proximal femur is the only skeletal element that is available for examination, all four of the constituent parts of a biological profile of an unknown individual can be retrieved from analyzing proximal femora using quantitative approaches.