Reproducibility of human landmark identification in morphological mandible prototypes: major parameters for a 3D CBCT approach

The establishment of anthropometric measurements is of fundamental importance for the correct identification of human bodies. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of two-dimensional craniometric landmarks obtained from three-dimensional cone beam computed tomography reconstructions for forensic identification of humans. Computed tomography images with voxel sizes of 0.25, 0.3, and 0.4 mm were obtained using i-CAT (R) three-dimensional equipment. Ten landmarks were randomly selected, and 10 measurements were demarcated in the three-dimensional reconstruction to evaluate the mandibular condyle, ramus, and body. This study demonstrated that protocols with voxels of 0.3 mm should be preferentially indicated for the evaluation of linear and angular measurements. Implementing our methodology using prototypes for clinical and forensic simulations allows comparisons with human databases in identification issues.