Automated Classification of Epiphyses in the Distal Radius and Ulna using a Support Vector Machine

The aim of this study was to automatically classify epiphyses in the distal radius and ulna using a support vector machine (SVM) and to examine the accuracy of the epiphyseal growth grades generated by the support vector machine. X‐ray images of distal radii and ulnae were collected from 140 Chinese teenagers aged between 11.0 and 19.0 years. Epiphyseal growth of the two elements was classified into five grades. Features of each element were extracted using a histogram of oriented gradient (HOG), and models were established using support vector classification (SVC). The prediction results and the validity of the models were evaluated with a cross‐validation test and independent test for accuracy (P_A). Our findings suggest that this new technique for epiphyseal classification was successful and that an automated technique using an SVM is reliable and feasible, with a relative high accuracy for the models.     

Estimation of age-at-death for adult males using the acetabulum, applied to four Western European populations

Methods to estimate adult age from observations of skeletal elements are not very accurate and motivate the development of better methods. In this article, we test recently published method based on the acetabulum and Bayesian inference, developed using Coimbra collection (Portugal). In this study, to evaluate its utility in other populations, this methodology was applied to 394 specimens from four different documented Western European collections. Four strategies of analysis to estimate age were outlined: (a) each series separately; (b) on Lisbon collection, taken as a reference Coimbra collection; (c) on Barcelona collection, taken as a reference both Portuguese collections; and (d) on London collection taken as reference the three Iberian collections combined. Results indicate that estimates are accurate (83-100%). As might be expected, the least accurate estimates were obtained when the most distant collection was used as a reference. Observations of the fused acetabulum can be used to make accurate estimates of age for adults of any age, with less accurate estimates when a more distant reference collection is used.