Contour- and Texture-based analysis for victim identification in forensic odontology

Abstract

Purpose

Forensic dentistry is the application of dentistry in legal proceedings that arise from any facts relating to teeth. The ultimate goal of forensic odontology is to identify the individual when there are no other means of identification such as fingerprint, Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), iris, hand print and leg print. The purpose of selecting dental record is for the teeth to be able to withstand decomposition, heat degradation up to 1600 ^°C. Dental patterns are unique for every individual. This work aims to analyze the contour shape extraction and texture feature extraction of both radiographic and photographic dental images for person identification.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve an accurate identification of individuals, the missing tooth in the radiograph has to be identified before matching of ante-mortem (AM) and post-mortem (PM) radiographs. To identify whether the missing tooth is a molar or premolar, each tooth in the given radiograph has to be classified using a k-nearest neighbor (k-NN) classifier; then, it is matched with the universal tooth numbering system. In order to make exact person identification, this research work is mainly concentrate on contour shape extraction and texture feature extraction for person identification. This work aims to analyze the contour shape extraction and texture feature extraction of both radiographic and photographic images for individual identification. Then, shape matching of AM and PM images is performed by similarity and distance metric for accurate person identification.

Findings

The experimental results are analyzed for shape and feature extraction of both radiographic and photographic dental images. From this analysis, it is proved that the higher hit rate performance is observed for the active contour shape extraction model, and it is well suited for forensic odontologists to identify a person in mass disaster situations.

Research limitations/implications

Forensic odontology is a branch of human identification that uses dental evidence to identify the victims. In mass disaster circumstances, contours and dental patterns are very useful to extract the shape in individual identification.

Originality/value

The experimental results are analyzed both the contour shape extraction and texture feature extraction of both radiographic and photographic images. From this analysis, it is proved that the higher hit rate performance is observed for the active contour shape extraction model and it is well suited for forensic odontologists to identify a person in mass disaster situations. The findings provide theoretical and practical implications for individual identification of both radiographic and photographic images with a view to accurate identification of the person.

Citation

Jaffino, G. and Prabin Jose, J. (2022), "Contour- and Texture-based analysis for victim identification in forensic odontology", Data Technologies and Applications, Vol. 56 No. 1, pp. 146-160. https://doi.org/10.1108/DTA-03-2021-0075