Forensic applications of micro-computed tomography: a systematic review

Abstract

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.

The applications of MicroCT in studying age‐related tooth morphological change and dental age estimation: A scoping review

“…Currently, to our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive scoping review of the application of microCT technology on dental age‐related change and dental age estimation. Existing review articles have discussed the general applications of microCT in forensics in general [42, 43] as well in the field of dentistry [44–46], but have yet to discuss the applications of microCT in studying age‐related changes and dental age estimation. Making use of publicly accessible research databases, this scoping review was able to screen published articles worldwide.…”

“…Currently, to our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive scoping review of the application of microCT technology on dental age-related change and dental age estimation. Existing review articles have discussed the general applications of microCT in forensics in general [42,43] as well in the field of dentistry [44][45][46],…”

Plastic Fruit Stickers in Industrial Composting─Surface and Structural Alterations Revealed by Electron Microscopy and Computed Tomography

“…Surface imaging techniques via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) are well-established methods of analyzing the effects of composting on plastics. ,, Such analyses have been performed for various plastics under different pretreatments and composting conditions. − Depending on the plastic type and the conditions, composted plastics show surface alterations and adhesion of microbes to the surface, as well as changes in FTIR spectra to a varying degree. − Other methods to reveal surface, as well as structural, changes are high-resolution cross-sectional imaging techniques, such as micro-X-ray computed tomography (micro-CT) and nano-X-ray computed tomography (nano-CT). Both methods are established techniques in a variety of scientific fields − but are rarely used for plastic analyses. Bittner and Endres for instance successfully applied micro-CT imaging to reveal surface changes in a polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) plastic sample covered by biofouling after exposure to a marine environment.…”

“… 25 − 28 Other methods to reveal surface, as well as structural, changes are high-resolution cross-sectional imaging techniques, such as micro-X-ray computed tomography (micro-CT) and nano-X-ray computed tomography (nano-CT). Both methods are established techniques in a variety of scientific fields 29 − 31 but are rarely used for plastic analyses. Bittner and Endres 32 for instance successfully applied micro-CT imaging to reveal surface changes in a polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) plastic sample covered by biofouling after exposure to a marine environment.…”

Analysis of fixation materials in micro-CT: It doesn’t always have to be styrofoam

“…These include material sciences [2][3][4][5][6][7][8], mineral and soil science [9][10][11][12], or life sciences [13][14][15] like the analysis of small structures of various animal models [16][17][18][19][20][21]. Furthermore there are many more clinical use cases such as forensics [22] and bone analysis [23][24][25][26][27][28].…”