Digital matching of palatal rugae patterns for forensic identification in edentulous denture wearers.

Identifying edentulous victims in forensic contexts poses a significant challenge. It has been reported that having a denture to reproduce and compare Palatal Rugae (PR) patterns is crucial for identifying edentulous individuals, yet there are no validated protocols for conducting this procedure. In this study, a new method was developed and validated for plaster molding of the internal surface of upper dentures, along with a protocol involving focus-stacked photographs and reference scales.

Partial amputation due to tongue bite in death-associated with eclampsia.

Eclampsia is one of the most dangerous complications of pregnancy and has a high incidence in developing countries. It is characterized by coma and the occurrence of generalized tonic-clonic seizures in pregnant women with hypertension. Deep bites on the tongue and other orofacial injuries have been described as consequences of these seizures.

A novel conservative technique to allow oral opening and overcome rigor mortis during medicolegal autopsy.

This study presents a novel conservative technique to increase oral opening and overcome rigor mortis during medicolegal autopsy (MLA). The method proposes a myotomy of the temporalis and masseter muscles, taking advantage of the incisions of the cranial opening procedures, to achieve a significant oral opening (≥ 30 mm) in fresh cadavers with established rigor mortis without altering facial aesthetics. The study was performed on 48 individuals aged between 18 and 66 years (20 males and 28 females) who were autopsied at the Instituto Nacional de Patología Forense Dr.

Image quality evaluation of a new high-performance ring-gantry cone-beam computed tomography imager.

. Newer cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging systems offer reconstruction algorithms including metal artifact reduction (MAR) and extended field-of-view (eFoV) techniques to improve image quality. In this study a new CBCT imager, the new Varian HyperSight CBCT, is compared to fan-beam CT and two CBCT imagers installed in a ring-gantry and C-arm linear accelerator, respectively.

Evaluation of a cone-beam computed tomography system calibrated for accurate radiotherapy dose calculation.

Background And Purpose: Dose calculation on cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images has been less accurate than on computed tomography (CT) images due to lower image quality and discrepancies in CT numbers for CBCT. As increasing interest arises in offline and online re-planning, dose calculation accuracy was evaluated for a novel CBCT imager integrated into a ring gantry treatment machine.

Materials And Methods: The new CBCT system allowed fast image acquisition (5.

Integrating morphological, molecular and cytogenetic data for F2 sea turtle hybrids diagnosis revealed balanced chromosomal sets.

Hybridization could be considered part of the evolutionary history of many species. The hybridization among sea turtle species on the Brazilian coast is atypical and occurs where nesting areas and reproductive seasons overlap. Integrated analysis of morphology and genetics is still scarce, and there is no evidence of the parental chromosome set distribution in sea turtle interspecific hybrids.

Clinical benefit of range uncertainty reduction in proton treatment planning based on dual-energy CT for neuro-oncological patients.

Objective: Several studies have shown that dual-energy CT (DECT) can lead to improved accuracy for proton range estimation. This study investigated the clinical benefit of reduced range uncertainty, enabled by DECT, in robust optimisation for neuro-oncological patients.

Methods: DECT scans for 27 neuro-oncological patients were included.

AAPM WGDCAB Report 372: A joint AAPM, ESTRO, ABG, and ABS report on commissioning of model-based dose calculation algorithms in brachytherapy.

The introduction of model-based dose calculation algorithms (MBDCAs) in brachytherapy provides an opportunity for a more accurate dose calculation and opens the possibility for novel, innovative treatment modalities. The joint AAPM, ESTRO, and ABG Task Group 186 (TG-186) report provided guidance to early adopters. However, the commissioning aspect of these algorithms was described only in general terms with no quantitative goals.

Cameriere's open apices methodology for dental age estimation in children: a scoping review from a Latin American perspective.

Dental age estimation (DAE) is key to establishing an individual's identity, and this is relevant in minors. A widely used method for DAE in children is Cameriere's open apices (CAM). Despite its wide dissemination, there are no clear reports of its use in Latin American populations.

A MC-based anthropomorphic test case for commissioning model-based dose calculation in interstitial breast 192-Ir HDR brachytherapy.

Purpose: To provide the first clinical test case for commissioning of Ir brachytherapy model-based dose calculation algorithms (MBDCAs) according to the AAPM TG-186 report workflow.

Acquisition And Validation Methods: A computational patient phantom model was generated from a clinical multi-catheter Ir HDR breast brachytherapy case. Regions of interest (ROIs) were contoured and digitized on the patient CT images and the model was written to a series of DICOM CT images using MATLAB.

Age estimation by evaluation of obliteration of the palatine sutures: a scoping review.

The age estimation (AE) of human remains is a challenging task since it is dependent on the state in which these remains are found. Since the macroscopic evaluation of palatal sutures has been proposed as a method for AE, the aim of this study was to review the literature on this method, considering that the cases of edentulous elderly are among the greatest challenges in anthropological and forensic contexts. A scoping review was performed using a specific search strategy in PubMed, Web of Science, SciELO, LILACS, and Google Scholar.

Treatment verification in high dose rate brachytherapy using a realistic 3D printed head phantom and an imaging panel.

Purpose: Even though High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy has good treatment outcomes in different treatment sites, treatment verification is far from widely implemented because of a lack of easily available solutions. Previously it has been shown that an imaging panel (IP) near the patient can be used to determine treatment parameters such as the dwell time and source positions in a single material pelvic phantom. In this study we will use a heterogeneous head phantom to test this IP approach, and simulate common treatment errors to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the error-detecting capabilities of the IP.

Dual-energy CT evaluation of 3D printed materials for radiotherapy applications.

. There is a continuous increase in 3D printing applications in several fields including medical imaging and radiotherapy. Although there are numerous advantages of using 3D printing for the development of customized phantoms, bolus, quality assurance devices and other clinical applications, material properties are not well known and printer settings can affect considerably the properties (e.

Digital Reconstructions Using Linear Regression: How Well Can It Estimate Missing Shape Data from Small Damaged Areas?

Skeletal remains analyzed by anthropologists, paleontologists and forensic scientists are usually found fragmented or incomplete. Accurate estimations of the original morphologies are a challenge for which several digital reconstruction methods have been proposed. In this study, the accuracy of reconstructing bones based on multiple linear regression (RM) was tested.

Forensic odontology and dental age estimation research: a scoping review a decade after the NAS report on strengthening forensic science.

Dental age estimation (DAE) is one of the most reliable and useful scientific methods employed by forensic odontology (FO) for human identification. In 2009, the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report highlighted the need to deepen research in many disciplines, among which FO received strong criticism for specific expertise. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview in order to systematically map the latest original research done in FO, as well as identify DAE within this field.

Histological changes in lingual striated muscle tissue of human cadavers to estimate the postmortem interval.

Although there are physiological methods to determine the postmortem interval (PMI), interval forensic histopathology can be applied to obtain accuracy. The aim was to describe the histological changes in human lingual striated musculature at different PMI. Seven groups were formed according to increasing PMI of 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h postmortem (PM).

Undergraduate dental students and their potential role in disaster victim identification procedures: A scoping review under a Chilean perspective.

Background: A mass fatality incident is an unexpected event that can cause the death of many people, which has motivated careful analysis and development of appropriate strategies for planning and response with all available resources. As these events involve multiple victims, their identities must be confirmed using the highest possible quality standards. Forensic Odontology (FO) has proven to be a scientific resource for disaster victim identification (DVI) procedures; however, it is highly dependent on the proper management not only of material resources but also of human resources.

Oral corpse messaging in drug trafficking victims: A scoping review.

The mouth plays an important role in the self-representation and its damage threatens psychological integrity and self-perception. There is literature that reports the mouth as an intentional source of harm in different contexts of violence and torture. Mutilations in drug trafficking contexts (as "corpse messaging") have been recommended as necessary for evaluation and analysis in medicolegal environment as they can guide investigations, even favoring the identification of the criminal group involved.

Time-resolved QA and brachytherapy applicator commissioning: Towards the clinical implementation.

Purpose: Brachytherapy has a busy workflow relying on manual steps to ensure accurate delivery of the treatment. Systematic treatment errors have been reported due to faulty equipment, inadequate quality assurance (QA) and applicator commissioning methods. This study describes the use of a novel method, the Iridium Imaging System for QA (IrIS - QA), to automate and improve the applicator commissioning for HDR Ir brachytherapy.

Importance of physical detraining in functional capacity of individuals with chronic peripheral arterial occlusive disease: a cross-sectional pilot study.

Background: Physical training is a well-established strategy for rehabilitation of the functional capacity of individuals with chronic peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD). However, some individuals quit training after participating in a physical training program, undergoing detraining. There is scant literature on the effects of physical detraining in individuals with PAOD and it is therefore important to investigate the effects of this phenomenon.

Evaluation of novel AI-based extended field-of-view CT reconstructions.

Purpose: Modern computed tomography (CT) scanners have an extended field-of-view (eFoV) for reconstructing images up to the bore size, which is relevant for patients with higher BMI or non-isocentric positioning due to fixation devices. However, the accuracy of the image reconstruction in eFoV is not well known since truncated data are used. This study introduces a new deep learning-based algorithm for extended field-of-view reconstruction and evaluates the accuracy of the eFoV reconstruction focusing on aspects relevant for radiotherapy.