Age estimation is a crucial element of forensic medicine to assess the chronological age of living individuals without or lacking valid legal documentation. Methods used in practice are labor-intensive, subjective, and frequently comprise radiation exposure. Recently, also non-invasive methods using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have evaluated and confirmed a correlation between growth plate ossification in long bones and the chronological age of young subjects. However, automated and user-independent approaches are required to perform reliable assessments on large datasets. The aim of this study was to develop a fully automated and computer-based method for age estimation based on 3D knee MRIs using machine learning. The proposed solution is based on three parts: image-preprocessing, bone segmentation, and age estimation. A total of 185 coronal and 404 sagittal MR volumes from Caucasian male subjects in the age range of 13 and 21 years were available. The best result of the fivefold cross-validation was a mean absolute error of 0.67 ± 0.49 years in age regression and an accuracy of 90.9%, a sensitivity of 88.6%, and a specificity of 94.2% in classification (18-year age limit) using a combination of convolutional neural networks and tree-based machine learning algorithms. The potential of deep learning for age estimation is reflected in the results and can be further improved if it is trained on even larger and more diverse datasets.

/pdf/automated-age-estimation-of-young-individuals-based-on-3d-1i49hznlk9.pdf

Automated age estimation of young individuals based on 3D knee MRI using deep learning

Age estimation is an actual topic in the area of forensic medicine with a special focus on the age limits of 16 and 18 years. Current research on this topic relies on retrospective data of inhomogeneous populations relating to sex, age range, and socioeconomic status. In this work, we present a 2-year follow-up study for the evaluation of an age estimation method on a prospective magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) knee data collective of a homogeneous population. The study includes 40 male subjects from northern Germany aged 14 to 21 years. Three MRI examinations were evenly acquired within 2 years for each subject. As a first evaluation, a three-stage system was used to assess the ossification status of the knee (I:“open”, II:“partially ossified”, III:“fully ossified”). Three raters assessed the growth plate of the distal femur, proximal tibia, and proximal fibula based on central 2D slices. A good inter-rater agreement was attained (κ = 0.84). All subjects younger than 18 years were rated as stage I and had a cumulative knee score (SKJ) ≤ 5. Based on the follow-up datasets, new parameters quantifying the intra-individual ossification process were calculated. The results of this follow-up analysis show a different start, end, and speed of each growth plate’s maturation as well as an ossification peak for individuals at the age of 16. The generated MRI database provides new insights into the ossification process over time and serves as a basis for further evaluations of age estimation methods.

A 2-year follow-up MRI study for the evaluation of an age estimation method based on knee bone development

“From growth in height to growth in breadth”: The changing body shape of Swiss conscripts since the late 19th century and possible endocrine explanations

Introduction. Environmental conditions have been changing over the years and the body’s capacity to adapt affects human development, its growth and typogenesis. Aim. To confirm the secular trend in the population of children and adolescents aged 4 to 18 from Rzeszów in the last 35 years in terms of growing and differentiation body proportions. Materials and methods. In 2013/2014, a total of 1,563 children from Rzeszów were examined. The length of the trunk, the upper limb, the lower limb, the width of the shoulders and the width of the hips were measured and the following indices were calculated: trunk length, upper limb length, lower limb length, inter-limb, hip-shoulder and shoulder width. The data was subjected to statistical analysis and compared to the data collected in 1978/79, 1993/1994 and 2003/2004. Results. During the 35-year period, the following symptoms were observed: elongation of upper and lower limbs in both sexes, increase in shoulder width in boys from 15-18 years of age, and in girls generally in the entire examined age, tendency to decrease in hip width in both sexes in most age classes. Conclusions. The secular trend in the population of children and adolescents aged 4 to 18 from Rzeszów in the last 35 years regarding growth process and differentiating body proportions was confirmed.

Changes in body proportions of children and adolescents from Rzeszów during a 35-year period from 1978/79–2013/14

Auxology has developed from mere describing child and adolescent growth into a vivid and interdisciplinary research area encompassing human biologists, physicians, social scientists, economists and biostatisticians. The meeting illustrated the diversity in auxology, with the various social, medical, biological and biostatistical aspects in studies on child growth and development.

Diversity in auxology: between theory and practice. Proceedings of the 18th Aschauer Soiree, 13th November 2010.

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Diversity in auxology: between theory and practice. Proceedings of the 18th Aschauer Soiree, 13th November 2010.