The contribution of CT scan examination in forensic anthropology: A systematic review

Introduction: This review explores the usage of radiological technique mainly, CT scan in bone for identification of human remains in different population. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify the relevant studies on human bone by CT scan. Methodology: A comprehensive search was conducted in Medline and Science Direct for relevant studies published between 1998 and 2017. The main inclusion criteria were research articles published in English, and studies which reported the usage of CT scan method in bones for identification of human remains (sex, age and stature). Results: The literature search identified 48 potentially relevant articles, whereby 14 had met the inclusion criteria. Six review articles, six case studies, two soft tissue thickness examination papers, one pathological CT scan study, eight duplicates, one not CT scan data and children specimens were excluded from this review. All the studies reported the usefulness of CT scan in different human bones for identification and collection of database in different populations. Conclusion: This evidence-based review highlighted the usefulness of CT scan as a secondary method other than postmortem examination to narrow down the identification of human remains. Further studies are required to identify the methods that use CT scan in forensic anthropology either by traditional or geometric morphometric. � 2018 Japan Health Sciences University & Japan International Cultural Exchange Foundation.