Virtual forensic anthropology: Novel applications of anthropometry and technology in a child death case.

Full-body 3D virtual reconstructions were generated using 3D technology and anthropometry following the death of a young girl, allegedly from severe malnutrition as a result of abuse and neglect. Close range laser scanning, in conjunction with full colour digital texture photography, was used to document the child's condition shortly after death in order to demonstrate the number and pattern of injuries and to be able to demonstrate her condition forensically. Full-body digital reconstructions were undertaken to illustrate the extent of the malnutrition by comparing the processed post mortem scans with reconstructed images at normal weight for height and age.

Virtual determination of sex: metric and nonmetric traits of the adult pelvis from 3D computed tomography models.

Examination of the adult os coxae and sacrum is one of the most common methods of sex estimation from bone. Medical imaging, such as computed tomography (CT), provides the opportunity for three-dimensional (3D) imaging of the skeleton from clinical scans of known individuals in situ. In this study, a randomly selected subset of abdominopelvic CT-derived models were used to evaluate simple, repeatable metric methods of sex estimation based on a combination of obstetric measurements and the traditionally nonmetric Phenice-derived traits.