U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Development of a Computer-Assisted Forensic Radiographic Identification Method Using the Lateral Cervical and Lumbar Spin

NCJ Number
248841
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 60 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2015 Pages: 5-12
Date Published
January 2015
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Six validation tests measured the repeatability, reliability, and sensitivity of the computer-assisted decedent method for medical examiners' identification of fleshed decedents, and the effects of age, sex, and number of radiographs in array composition.
Abstract
Medical examiners and coroners (ME/C) in the United States hold statutory responsibility to identify deceased individuals who fall under their jurisdiction. The computer-assisted decedent identification (CADI) project was designed to modify software used in diagnosis and treatment of spinal injuries into a mathematically validated tool for ME/C identification of fleshed decedents. In the current study, CADI returned a 92-100 percent success rate in identifying the true matching pair of vertebrae within arrays of five to 30 radiographs. Further development of CADI is expected to produce a novel identification method for use in ME/C offices that is reliable, timely, and cost-effective. (Publisher abstract modified)

Date Published: January 1, 2015