Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, SN6 8LA, UK.
Int J Legal Med. 2017 Nov;131(6):1757-1763. doi: 10.1007/s00414-017-1662-y. Epub 2017 Aug 21.
One of the roles of a forensic anthropologist is to assist medico-legal investigations in the identification of human skeletal remains. In some instances, only small fragments of bone may be present. In this study, a non-destructive novel technique is presented to distinguish between human and non-human long bones. This technique is based on the macroscopic and computed tomography (CT) analysis of nutrient foramina. The nutrient foramen of long bone diaphyses transmits the nutrient artery which provides much of the oxygen and nutrients to the bone. The nutrient foramen and its canal were analysed in six femora and humeri of human, sheep (Ovies aries) and pig (Sus scrofa) species. The location, position and direction of the nutrient foramina were measured macroscopically. The length of the canal, angle of the canal, circumference and area of the entrance of the foramen were measured from CT images. Macroscopic analysis revealed the femora nutrient foramina are more proximal, whereas humeri foramina are more distal. The human bones and sheep humerus conform to the perceived directionality, but the pig bones and sheep femur do not. Amongst the parameters measured in the CT analysis, the angle of the canal had a discriminatory power. This study shows the potential of this technique to be used independently or complementary to other methods in distinguishing between human and non-human bone in forensic anthropology.
法医人类学家的作用之一是协助法医学调查，以识别人类骨骼遗骸。在某些情况下，可能只存在少量的骨骼碎片。在这项研究中，提出了一种新颖的非破坏性技术，用于区分人类和非人类长骨。该技术基于营养孔的宏观和计算机断层扫描（CT）分析。长骨骨干的营养孔传输营养动脉，为骨骼提供大部分氧气和营养物质。在人类、绵羊（Ovies aries）和猪（Sus scrofa）的六根股骨和肱骨中分析了营养孔及其通道。宏观上测量了营养孔的位置、位置和方向。从 CT 图像测量了通道的长度、通道的角度、入口的周长和面积。宏观分析显示，股骨的营养孔更靠近近端，而肱骨的营养孔更靠近远端。人类骨骼和绵羊肱骨符合感知到的方向性，但猪骨骼和绵羊股骨则不符合。在 CT 分析中测量的参数中，通道的角度具有鉴别力。这项研究表明，该技术具有在法医人类学中独立或补充其他方法区分人类和非人类骨骼的潜力。
