Background: Age estimation of unidentified human remains is an essential for establishing the biological profile of unidentified human remains. Previous studies have investigated the value linear measurements of the frontal sinus for age estimation while the value of two-dimensional (2D) geometric morphometric measurements have not been explored for this purpose. Objective: This study aims to evaluate the morphological variation of frontal sinus among adults Malaysian for age estimation using 2D geometric morphometric methods. Methods: Lateral skull radiographs of 453 adult Malaysians, comprising 151 young adults (20–39 years old), 150 middle-aged adults (40–59 years old) and 152 old adults (60–79 years old), were retrieved retrospectively. Eight 2D landmarks were applied to digitalized radiographs using TPSDig2 software. 2D geometric morphometric analysis was performed by MorphoJ software. Results: Procrustes ANOVA revealed no significant differences in shape and size (p-value > 0.05) of frontal sinus between the three age groups. However, Canonical Variate Analysis showed significant differences for Mahalanobis and Procrustes distances (p-value < 0.05) between young and old adult groups. Discriminant Function Analysis after cross-validation demonstrated an age classification accuracy of 53.5 %. Conclusion: The study suggests that 2D geometric morphometric analysis of the frontal sinus cannot be reliably used to estimate the age of an unknown Malaysian individual.

Objective: Sex estimation is one of the crucial steps for human identification, which is evident in cases of commingled, eroded, and/or missing remains. When pelvis or skull are unavailable, scapula has been used as an alternative bone for determining sex. Besides, the scapula was shown to be population-specific in several studies. Limited dry bone collections in Malaysia have led to various recommendations of virtual anthropology studies of bone in human identification. The aims of this study were to investigate the sexual dimorphism of the scapula using three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) imaging and to generate population-specific equations for sex determination in the Malaysian population. Methods: A total of 66 CT thorax images of 33 males and 33 females were taken. Morphological breadth (MB) and morphological length (ML) on bilateral scapulae were measured on 3D CT reconstructed images. Independent t-test and discriminant function analysis (DFA) were performed for analysis. Results: Results revealed that both parameters showed sexual dimorphism of scapula but displayed no difference between the right and left scapulae. DFA showed that MB and ML had high accuracy for sex estimation. The equations were highly accurate when both parameters were used in combination, followed by MB only and ML only, in that sequence. Conclusion: In brief, scapula measurements may be useful for forensic assessment of sex in the Malaysian population.

Background The Phenice method is a reliable qualitative analysis of the pubis and ischium region of the innominate bone to assess an individual’s sex. Geometric morphometric provides methods of quantitative analysis of the region for identification purposes, which may be affected by environmental changes. This study analysed the Phenice method by utilising 3D (3 dimensional) CT (computed tomography) scans by geometric morphometrics for sex estimation. The CT scans of 231 adult individuals (148 males and 83 females) of the Malaysian population were landmarked by IDAV Landmark software and analysed by MorphoJ and SPSS. Results The first four principal components (PCs) accounted for 41.9% of the total changes when utilising the Phenice method. Widening in pubic symphysis in a U shape with a general widening of the border of the true pelvis, which is typically seen in females, accounted for 21.8% of the eigenvalues. Conclusions It was possible to quantify the changes seen in the ventral arc, subpubic concavity and the medial aspect of the ischio-pubic ramus for sex estimation utilising the Phenice method, and most of the changes were seen in PC1 at the pubic region, which accounted for 21.8%.

Research in forensic anthropology is recent in Malaysia due to limited access to documented skeletal collections. However, advanced imaging techniques provide virtual bone samples for use in morphometric studies to establish population-specific standards by virtual anthropology. This study examined sexual dimorphism in the subpubic angle using a three-dimensional computed tomography model of the pelvis, in a contemporary Malaysian population. The sample comprised multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) scans of 50 male and 50 female adults. Segmentation of the MDCT scans was performed using 3D Slicer, and four landmarks were acquired using Stratovan Checkpoint for the subpubic angle measurement. The technical error of measurement (TEM), relative TEM, and coefficient of reliability (R) exhibited high reliability in measurements. Results showed that the subpubic angle in males was 68.6°±7.6° and in females 87.4°±6.5°. The subpubic angle in females was significantly larger than in males (P<0.001). Inverse correlation was found between the subpubic angle and age, in both males (r=−0.449, P<0.01) and females (r=−0.385, P<0.01). The overall accuracy of sex estimation using the subpubic angle was 94% (P<0.001). The subpubic angle, with a demarcating point of 78.6°, showed a sensitivity and specificity of 94% in the classification of female individuals. In conclusion, sex estimation using the subpu bic angle is highly accurate, with a high degree of expected sensitivity and specificity in the Malaysian population.