Danilo De Angelis

A new computer-assisted technique to aid personal identification

The paper describes a procedure aimed at identification from two-dimensional (2D) images (video-surveillance tapes, for example) by comparison with a three-dimensional (3D) facial model of a suspect. The application is intended to provide a tool which can help in analyzing compatibility or incompatibility between a criminal and a suspect’s facial traits. The authors apply the concept of “geometrically compatible images”. The idea is to use a scanner to reconstruct a 3D facial model of a suspect and to compare it to a frame extracted from the video-surveillance sequence which shows the face of the perpetrator. Repositioning and reorientation of the 3D model according to subject’s face framed in the crime scene photo are manually accomplished, after automatic resizing. Repositioning and reorientation are performed in correspondence of anthropometric landmarks, distinctive for that person and detected both on the 2D face and on the 3D model. In this way, the superimposition between the original two-dimensional facial image and the three-dimensional one is obtained and a judgment is formulated by an expert on the basis of the fit between the anatomical facial districts of the two subjects. The procedure reduces the influence of face orientation and may be a useful tool in identification.

New method for height estimation of subjects represented in photograms taken from video surveillance systems.

The article describes a method developed and applied by the authors for the purpose of determining the height of subjects taped on video surveillance systems. The determination of height is obtained by developing a virtual telecamera having the same characteristics of the video surveillance system with which the images have been shot. The results demonstrate that height is a parameter that can be accurately estimated with the method proposed, in the experimental conditions described, and consequently, can be utilized in probatory inquiry.

Personal Identification by the Comparison of Facial Profiles: Testing the Reliability of a High-Resolution 3D–2D Comparison Model

Abstract:  Identification from video surveillance systems is frequently requested in forensic practice. The “3D–2D” comparison has proven to be reliable in assessing identification but still requires standardization; this study concerns the validation of the 3D–2D profile comparison. The 3D models of the faces of five individuals were compared with photographs from the same subjects as well as from another 45 individuals. The difference in area and distance between maxima (glabella, tip of nose, fore point of upper and lower lips, pogonion) and minima points (selion, subnasale, stomion, suprapogonion) were measured. The highest difference in area between the 3D model and the 2D image was between 43 and 133 mm2 in the five matches, always greater than 157 mm2 in mismatches; the mean distance between the points was greater than 1.96 mm in mismatches, <1.9 mm in five matches (p < 0.05). These results indicate that this difference in areas may point toward a manner of distinguishing “correct” from “incorrect” matches.

Personal Identification of Cadavers and Human Remains

Personal identification is a field where pathology, anthropology, odontology, and even genetics must merge. Specific features and descriptors (such as scars, moles, gross anomalies) may be sufficient for identification. However, in more complex cases, four main disciplines are involved in the identification of human remains: DNA, fingerprint analysis, odontology, and anthropology (or better yet, osteology). Genetic and fingerprinting methods give a quantitative result, or at least statistics have been performed on the specific traits studied, which allow one to answer in a quantitative manner on the probability of two individuals having similar characteristics in the first case, for the distribution of different alleles within a population, and in the second, for the frequency of minutiae on the finger. Forensic anthropology and odontology methods, which compare the status and shape of teeth and bones, are valid alternative methods. Methods include comparison of dental work, bone, and tooth morphology, in particular frontal sinus patterns, and craniofacial superimposition. They are advantageous methods because faster and less costly; however, they may suffer, in the view of some judges, from the qualitative and nonquantitative responses they give.

Age estimation from canine volumes

AbstractTechniques for estimation of biological age are constantly evolving and are finding daily application in the forensic radiology field in cases concerning the estimation of the chronological age of a corpse in order to reconstruct the biological profile, or of a living subject, for example in cases of immigration of people without identity papers from a civil registry. The deposition of teeth secondary dentine and consequent decrease of pulp chamber in size are well known as aging phenomena, and they have been applied to the forensic context by the development of age estimation procedures, such as Kvaal–Solheim and Cameriere methods. The present study takes into consideration canines pulp chamber volume related to the entire teeth volume, with the aim of proposing new regression formulae for age estimation using 91 cone beam computerized scans and a freeware open-source software, in order to permit affordable reproducibility of volumes calculation.

An Assessment of How Facial Mimicry Can Change Facial Morphology: Implications for Identification

The assessment of facial mimicry is important in forensic anthropology; in addition, the application of modern 3D image acquisition systems may help for the analysis of facial surfaces. This study aimed at exposing a novel method for comparing 3D profiles in different facial expressions. Ten male adults, aged between 30 and 40 years, underwent acquisitions by stereophotogrammetry (VECTRA‐3D®) with different expressions (neutral, happy, sad, angry, surprised). The acquisition of each individual was then superimposed on the neutral one according to nine landmarks, and the root mean square (RMS) value between the two expressions was calculated. The highest difference in comparison with the neutral standard was shown by the happy expression (RMS 4.11 mm), followed by the surprised (RMS 2.74 mm), sad (RMS 1.3 mm), and angry ones (RMS 1.21 mm). This pilot study shows that the 3D–3D superimposition may provide reliable results concerning facial alteration due to mimicry.

Sexual dimorphism of canine volume: A pilot study

Sex assessment is a crucial part of the biological profile in forensic and archaeological context, but it can be hardly performed in cases of commingled and charred human remains where DNA tests often are not applicable. With time literature have analyzed the sexual dimorphism of teeth (and especially canines), but very few articles take into consideration the teeth volume, although with time several technologies have been introduced in order to assess 3D volume (CT-scan, laser scanner, etc.). This study aims at assessing the sexual dimorphism of dental and pulp chamber volumes of a sample of canines. Cone beam computed tomography analyses were performed by 87 patients (41 males and 46 females, aged between 15 and 83 years) for clinical purposes, and were acquired in order to measure canine volumes. Results show that the dental volume amounted to 0.745 cm(3) (SD 0.126 cm(3)) in males, 0.551 cm(3) (SD 0.130 cm(3)) with a statistically significant difference (p<0.01). A diagnostic threshold of 0.619 cm(3) was stated, which provides a percentage of correct answer of 80.5% in the chosen sample. The novel method was then applied with success to 7 archaeological: where in all the cases the results were concordant with those provided by the assessment of the cranium and pelvis. The study adds a contribution to the wide analysis of dental sexual dimorphism confirming the statistically significant differences of volume between males and females and providing a method for the diagnosis of sex applicable to forensic cases.

A View to the Future: A Novel Approach for 3D–3D Superimposition and Quantification of Differences for Identification from Next‐Generation Video Surveillance Systems

Techniques of 2D–3D superimposition are widely used in cases of personal identification from video surveillance systems. However, the progressive improvement of 3D image acquisition technology will enable operators to perform also 3D–3D facial superimposition. This study aims at analyzing the possible applications of 3D–3D superimposition to personal identification, although from a theoretical point of view. Twenty subjects underwent a facial 3D scan by stereophotogrammetry twice at different time periods. Scans were superimposed two by two according to nine landmarks, and root‐mean‐square (RMS) value of point‐to‐point distances was calculated. When the two superimposed models belonged to the same individual, RMS value was 2.10 mm, while it was 4.47 mm in mismatches with a statistically significant difference (p < 0.0001). This experiment shows the potential of 3D–3D superimposition: Further studies are needed to ascertain technical limits which may occur in practice and to improve methods useful in the forensic practice.

Reliability of Craniofacial Superimposition Using Three‐Dimension Skull Model

Craniofacial superimposition is a technique potentially useful for the identification of unidentified human remains if a photo of the missing person is available. We have tested the reliability of the 2D‐3D computer‐aided nonautomatic superimposition techniques. Three‐dimension laser scans of five skulls and ten photographs were overlaid with an imaging software. The resulting superimpositions were evaluated using three methods: craniofacial landmarks, morphological features, and a combination of the two. A 3D model of each skull without its mandible was tested for superimposition; we also evaluated whether separating skulls by sex would increase correct identifications. Results show that the landmark method employing the entire skull is the more reliable one (5/5 correct identifications, 40% false positives [FP]), regardless of sex. However, the persistence of a high percentage of FP in all the methods evaluated indicates that these methods are unreliable for positive identification although the landmark‐only method could be useful for exclusion.

Thermal modifications of root transparency and implications for aging: a pilot study.

Root transparency has proven to be related to age and has been considered by different odontological methods for age estimation. Very little is known concerning possible variations of root transparency with heat, although the applicability of the method to burnt remains depends on the possible modifications of this specific variable. This pilot study presents the results of an experiment performed on 105 teeth obtained from dental patients and autopsy material, heated in an industrial oven at 50°C, 100°C, 150°C and 200°C. Root transparency was measured before and after the charring experiment. The heating process proved to radically modify root transparency, which decreased in 20% of samples at 50°C, in 34.6% at 100°C, in 50% at 150°C, in 77% at 200°C. The overall correlation index (CI) between decrease in root transparency and increase in temperature amounted to 0.96. These results show that heat may modify root transparency and suggest caution in using methods based on root transparency for age estimation.