The Development and Application of a Digitized Image Database for the Estimation of Age Based on Bone Histology

In this study, digital image analysis was incorporated into existing regression formulas for age estimation. Previous studies in forensic anthropology have utilized only the manual counting of Basic Structural Units (BSUs) within the bone matrix for age estimation. The integration of an image database with the accepted regression formulas (Kerley 1965 and Kerley and Ubelaker 1978) allows for data to be reexamined without having to be sampled from the original slides. Thus, the data will have a more dynamic nature, where it could be investigated by other researchers from the original readings. In addition, the data can help train future observers and be capable of more efficient communication to other researchers electronically.

The sample consisted of thirty (30) femoral thin-section slides from the histological collection in University of Tennessee Forensic Center, which is part of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. The slides were chosen based on their clarity for image analysis. Of the thirty slides, nineteen had known ages, which were indicated in the Forensic Center records. The data was collected according to the prescribed methodology (Kerley 1965 and Kerley and Ubelaker 1978) and the regression equations were generated.

The resulting age estimates for eighteen (18) of nineteen (19) slides with known ages were within the standard error of the regression equations. In fourteen (14) of nineteen (19) slides with known ages, the age estimate was within six years of known age. In Case #30 (O82-2), the estimated age was more than ten years from the actual age of 6 to 7 years. As a result, it is believed that the eleven (11) unknown slides will have accurate estimated ages, as long as the slides did not come from young subjects.