Experimental sharp force injuries to ribs: Multimodal morphological and geometric morphometric analyses using micro-CT, macro photography and SEM

Komo, Larissa; Grassberger, Martin

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.04.048

Cited by 24 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…It is important to note that a variety of cut mark dimensions and morphological characteristics are expected when using different knife blade types; the difference in the blades’ cutting edge characteristics is reported earlier in Figure 1 ; cut marks created and examined in this study have characteristics which are in general agreement with previous studies [ 8 , 51 – 53 ]. The profile of the cut marks inflicted by a non-serrated blade was found to be linear-shaped, a narrow cross-section, and with no striations which are indications of this knife type.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…In this study, an increased percentage with kerf striations in the cut marks inflicted by fine-serrated (67%) and coarse-serrated (60%) blades and the lack of this characteristic in the cut marks inflicted by a non-serrated blade indicate that kerf striations are useful to distinguish knife class, as found by others [ 20 , 50 ]. In addition, the morphology of the striations varied with the two different types of serrated knives, indicating that the blade/teeth size and thickness influence the striations, as also found in other studies [ 14 , 53 ]. A fine-serrated blade usually produces smaller and more delicate kerf striations because it interacts closely with a bone surface.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…Previous studies have shown that a cut mark inflicted by a non-serrated blade tends to be narrower than those made by a serrated blade [ 18 , 50 , 53 ]. The results of this study were consistent and showed a significant statistical distribution (p<0.001) of the kerf width differences from non-serrated, coarse-serrated, and fine-serrated blades (Table 3 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Knife cut marks inflicted by different blade types and the changes induced by heat: a dimensional and morphological study

2021

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Detailed information on skeletal trauma analysis of burned bone is important to ascertain the manner and cause of death in forensic casework. This research used three different knife types, one with a non-serrated blade, one a fine-serrated blade, and one a coarse-serrated blade, to inflict trauma to manually macerated Sus scrofa ribs (n = 240), and these ribs were later exposed to heat. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted using macroscopic and microscopic techniques to assess specific characteristics of the cut marks. Differences in cut mark dimension and morphology of the ribs were investigated. After heat exposure, the cut marks on the rib samples remained recognisable and did not alter considerably. A level of dimensional and morphological preservation was reliant on the cutting action and the features of the knife blade as well as surrounding bone injury. The cut marks inflicted by the non-serrated blade remained recognisable despite exposure to the burning process. However, the cut marks inflicted by the coarse-serrated blade were likely to change significantly when exposed to heat. This study leads to two important results: (1) identification of pre-existing cut marks prior to heat exposure is possible in reconstructed burned bone fragments, and (2) cut marks from different types of knife blades showed dissimilar responses to heat. The outcomes obtained in this study stressed the need to adopt great care with the effects of heat on skeletal trauma analysis.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Knife cut marks inflicted by different blade types and the changes induced by heat: a dimensional and morphological study

2021

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“…2 In A, histogram showing the distribution of the included papers which have been published in the selected time interval (i.e., from 2001 to 2021) and demonstrating the increasing interest in the topic in the last five years; in B types of biological or non-biological materials investigated by micro-CT in the 93 included papers (i.e., in two of the included studies more than one biological or non-biological material was investigated; therefore, a total 99 classifiable items was considered. See Supplemental material for detailed classification data) light microscopy [33,34]. Together, the results of several experimental studies demonstrated the value of this technique for measuring saw mark features (i.e., top and bottom kerf width, depth, angles degrees, and floor width) validating its use for this type of injuries.…”

Section: Tool Markmentioning

confidence: 67%

Forensic applications of micro-computed tomography: a systematic review

Franchetti

Viel

Fais

et al. 2022

Clin Transl Imaging

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Purpose The aim of this systematic review was to provide a comprehensive overview of micro-CT current applications in forensic pathology, anthropology, odontology, and neonatology. Methods A bibliographic research on the electronic databases Pubmed and Scopus was conducted in the time frame 01/01/2001–31/12/2021 without any language restrictions and applying the following free-text search strategy: “(micro-computed tomography OR micro-CT) AND (forensic OR legal)”. The following inclusion criteria were used: (A) English language; (B) Application of micro-CT to biological and/or non-biological materials to address at least one forensic issue (e.g., age estimation, identification of post-mortem interval). The papers selected by three independent investigators have been then classified according to the investigated materials. Results The bibliographic search provided 651 records, duplicates excluded. After screening for title and/or abstracts, according to criteria A and B, 157 full-text papers were evaluated for eligibility. Ninety-three papers, mostly (64) published between 2017 and 2021, were included; considering that two papers investigated several materials, an overall amount of 99 classifiable items was counted when referring to the materials investigated. It emerged that bones and cartilages (54.55%), followed by teeth (13.13%), were the most frequently analyzed materials. Moreover, micro-CT allowed the collection of structural, qualitative and/or quantitative information also for soft tissues, fetuses, insects, and foreign materials. Conclusion Forensic applications of micro-CT progressively increased in the last 5 years with very promising results. According to this evidence, we might expect in the near future a shift of its use from research purposes to clinical forensic cases.

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“…In BSM taphonomy, GMM were initially introduced as a means of quantifying cut mark morphologies for both 2D derived data [ 50 ] and entire 3D models [ 51 ]. These advances have obtained exceptional resolutions, presenting means of identifying the lithic tool and raw material used to produce each cut mark in archaeology [ 50 – 52 , inter alia ], while also arising in forensic research for sharp force trauma identification [ 53 , 54 , inter alia ]. Likewise, initial efforts in the quantification of tooth score and pit morphologies reached up to 80% classification rates differentiating between carnivore agencies [ 55 – 58 ], with Machine Learning algorithms obtaining > 95% accuracy [ 58 , 59 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Obtaining new resolutions in carnivore tooth pit morphological analyses: A methodological update for digital taphonomy

et al. 2020

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Modern day investigation in fields of archaeology and palaeontology can be greatly characterised by an exponential growth of integrated new technologies, nevertheless, while these advances are of great significance to multiple lines of research, their evaluation and update over time is equally as important. Here we present an application of inter and intra-observer analysis in taphonomy based geometric morphometrics, employing robust non-parametric statistical analyses for the study of experimental carnivore tooth pit morphologies. To fully understand the influence of measurement errors in the collection of this data, our statistical assessment was performed on fully superimposed, partially superimposed and raw landmark coordinates collected from 3D surface scanning. Experimental samples used to assess these errors includes wolf and dog tooth pits used in modern day ecological livestock predation analysis. Results obtained from this study highlight the importance of landmark type in the assessment of error, emphasising the value of semi-landmark models over the use of ambiguous Type III landmarks. In addition to this, data also reveals the importance of observer experience for the collection of data alongside an interesting increase in error when working with fully superimposed landmarks due to the "Pinocchio Effect". Through this study we are able to redefine the geometric morphometric models used for tooth pit morphological analyses. This final hybrid Type II fixed landmark and semi-landmark model presents a significant reduction in human induced error, generating a more metrically reliable and replicable method that can be used for data pooling in future inter-institutional research. These results can be considered a fundamental step forward for carnivore inspired studies, having an impact on archaeological, palaeontological, modern-day ecological research as well as applications in other forensic sciences.

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Experimental sharp force injuries to ribs: Multimodal morphological and geometric morphometric analyses using micro-CT, macro photography and SEM

Cited by 24 publications

References 26 publications

Knife cut marks inflicted by different blade types and the changes induced by heat: a dimensional and morphological study

Knife cut marks inflicted by different blade types and the changes induced by heat: a dimensional and morphological study

Forensic applications of micro-computed tomography: a systematic review

Obtaining new resolutions in carnivore tooth pit morphological analyses: A methodological update for digital taphonomy

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