Differentiating human versus non-human bone by exploring the nutrient foramen: implications for forensic anthropology

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dc.contributor.authorJohnson, V.
dc.contributor.authorBeckett, Sophie
dc.contributor.authorMarquez-Grant, Nicholas
dc.date.accessioned2017-09-04T11:39:33Z
dc.date.available2017-09-04T11:39:33Z
dc.date.issued2017-08-21
dc.descriptionThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)en_UK
dc.description.abstractOne of the roles of a forensic anthropologist is to assist medico-legal investigations in the identification of human skeletal remains. In some instances, only small fragments of bone may be present. In this study, a non-destructive novel technique is presented to distinguish between human and non-human long bones. This technique is based on the macroscopic and computed tomography (CT) analysis of nutrient foramina. The nutrient foramen of long bone diaphyses transmits the nutrient artery which provides much of the oxygen and nutrients to the bone. The nutrient foramen and its canal were analysed in six femora and humeri of human, sheep (Ovies aries) and pig (Sus scrofa) species. The location, position and direction of the nutrient foramina were measured macroscopically. The length of the canal, angle of the canal, circumference and area of the entrance of the foramen were measured from CT images. Macroscopic analysis revealed the femora nutrient foramina are more proximal, whereas humeri foramina are more distal. The human bones and sheep humerus conform to the perceived directionality, but the pig bones and sheep femur do not. Amongst the parameters measured in the CT analysis, the angle of the canal had a discriminatory power. This study shows the potential of this technique to be used independently or complementary to other methods in distinguishing between human and non-human bone in forensic anthropology.en_UK
dc.identifier.citationJohnson V, Beckett S, Marquez-Grant N. (2017). Differentiating human versus non-human bone by exploring the nutrient foramen: implications for forensic anthropology, International Journal of Legal Medicine 131/6 pp 1757-1763( https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-017-1662-y)en_UK
dc.identifier.cris18360244
dc.identifier.urihttp://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/12434
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-017-1662-y
dc.publisherSpringeren_UK
dc.titleDifferentiating human versus non-human bone by exploring the nutrient foramen: implications for forensic anthropologyen_UK
dc.typeArticleen_UK

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