Thottungal Renitta Rajan, Harnádková Katarína, Dupej Ján, Velemínská Jana
Laboratory of 3D Imaging and Analytical Methods, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
Laboratory of 3D Imaging and Analytical Methods, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic; Department of Histology and Embryology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
Forensic Sci Int. 2025 Aug;373:112516. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112516. Epub 2025 Jun 3.
Recently, CT scans of the head are increasingly being used for a variety of forensic reasons, regardless of the head position in which the scans were taken. The study is aimed at monitoring differences in facial shape in vertical and horizontal positions caused by gravity. The first aim was to analyze variations in facial morphology due to gravity between sexes, looking into which regions are most affected. The second aim was to understand changes in the facial soft tissue position due to gravity with advancing age. The final objective was to investigate how variations in body fat percentage influence facial changes due to gravity.
The study uses 3D facial scans of 132 Czech and Slovak adults (85 females, 47 males), aged 20-72, captured in vertical and horizontal positions. Differences between both facial polygon networks representing the influence of gravity were analyzed by geometric morphometric methods (CPD-DCA, color-coded maps) and the Morphome3cs II software.
Both sexes showed a similar but otherwise intense shift of facial soft tissues in horizontal position. Males exhibited a stronger supero-lateral shift from the upper cheek to parotid-masseteric regions, whereas females showed greater buccal retrusion. Intensities of soft tissue displacement in these areas increase with increasing age. Almost the same trend can be observed when comparing soft tissue displacement with normal and increased body fat percentage.
Positional correction factors should be implemented in craniofacial identification for increased efficiency of facial reconstruction software towards creating realistic approximations.
最近，出于各种法医鉴定原因，头部CT扫描的使用越来越多，无论扫描时头部处于何种位置。本研究旨在监测重力导致的面部形状在垂直和水平位置上的差异。第一个目标是分析性别之间因重力导致的面部形态变化，探究哪些区域受影响最大。第二个目标是了解随着年龄增长，重力导致的面部软组织位置变化。最后一个目标是研究体脂百分比的变化如何影响重力导致的面部变化。
本研究使用了132名年龄在20至72岁之间的捷克和斯洛伐克成年人（85名女性，47名男性）的3D面部扫描数据，扫描时头部处于垂直和水平位置。通过几何形态测量方法（CPD-DCA，彩色编码图）和Morphome3cs II软件分析了两个代表重力影响的面部多边形网络之间的差异。
男女在水平位置时面部软组织均表现出相似但程度不同的移位。男性表现出从脸颊上部到腮腺咬肌区域更强的上外侧移位，而女性则表现出更大的颊部后缩。这些区域软组织移位的程度随年龄增长而增加。在比较软组织移位与正常和增加的体脂百分比时，几乎可以观察到相同的趋势。
在颅面识别中应实施位置校正因子，以提高面部重建软件创建逼真近似值的效率。
