Positive Identification Using Frontal Sinus Comparisons: Developing Empirically-based Guidelines, 2021-2023

The goal of this project is to provide medicolegal practitioners with a set of guidelines and important considerations for frontal sinus identification that will be developed based on a comprehensive analysis of previously published identification methods, including factors that may affect the accuracy of those methods (e.g., intra/inter observer reliability, image modality, sinus size/complexity, individual's age). Ultimately results indicate that visual assessment remains one of the most efficient, accurate, and reliable methods when utilizing the frontal sinus for positive identification. There are 7 datasets associated with this study, each with their own DOI: FS_Ontogeny_Coded_Data: Dataset contains age of stabilization data for frontal sinus traits of 146 individuals. FS_EFA_Outline_Data: Outline data related to the Elliptical Fourier Analysis (EFA) method which includes a collection of scaled coefficients for all tracings that underwent EFA. FS_TD_Outline Data: Outline data related to the Total Difference method. FS_VisualAssess_Data: Survey responses regarding reliability of visual assessments when utilizing the frontal sinus for positive identification purposes. FS_Ontogeny_Outline_Data: Data associated with Elliptical Fourier Analyses coefficients, specifically regarding the outline data related to frontal sinus ontogeny. FS_Orientation_Outline_Data: Resulting normalized coefficients of Elliptical Fourier Analyses on frontal sinus outline data related to varying cranial orientation. FS_ImageMode_Coded_Data: String codes derived from frontal sinus traits following previously published methods related to the effect of varying image modality for forensic identification purposes.

本项目的宗旨在于为医事法律从业者提供一套基于全面分析已发表识别方法（包括可能影响这些方法准确性的因素，例如观察者间/内一致性、图像模式、窦腔大小/复杂性、个体年龄）的指导方针及重要考量标准，以实现额窦识别。研究结果表明，在利用额窦进行正向识别时，视觉评估依然是最为高效、准确且可靠的手段之一。本研究关联共有7个数据集，每个数据集均拥有独立的DOI编号：FS_Ontogeny_Coded_Data：包含146个个体额窦特征稳定年龄数据的集合。FS_EFA_Outline_Data：与椭圆傅里叶分析（EFA）方法相关的轮廓数据，包括所有进行EFA分析的轨迹的缩放系数。FS_TD_Outline Data：与总差异方法相关的轮廓数据。FS_VisualAssess_Data：关于利用额窦进行正向识别时视觉评估可靠性的调查反馈。FS_Ontogeny_Outline_Data：与椭圆傅里叶分析系数相关联的数据，特别是关于额窦发生学轮廓数据的轮廓数据。FS_Orientation_Outline_Data：针对不同颅骨方向，椭圆傅里叶分析在额窦轮廓数据上得出的归一化系数。FS_ImageMode_Coded_Data：根据先前发表的方法，从额窦特征中提取的与不同图像模式对法医识别目的影响相关的字符串代码。