Team Number: 75
Team Number: 75
School Name: Santa Fe High School
Area of Science: Forensic Osteology
Project Title: Identification of Human Remains by Skeletal Measurements
Problem Definition:
For years forensic medicine has been limited in both speed and accuracy.
Forensic scientists may take
a few hours to a few weeks to identify the skeletal remains of a human.
During this time a killer can run
free, get away, or even strike again. Problems can also occur during the
actual calculation process;
trying to come up with former height, age sex, race, or weight of a
person. Sometimes these
calculations can go so astray and completely compromise a composite
sketch. An African-American
female can be easily mistaken for a Native American male if the analyzer
is on a tight schedule and can
only perform certain calculations. Our goal is to simply make it faster,
easier, and more efficient to
perform this task.
Problem Solution:
Our program will be an easy to use GUI (Graphic User Interface) which will
start off as a picture of a
skeleton. Once at this picture one will click on the appropriate bone
group (cranium, limb, thorax, etc.)
and will get a larger picture of this area. From here they will click on
a specific bone and get a prompt
box asking for certain measurements pertaining to that specific bone.
When the available measurements
are entered the user will then go back to the main menu and repeat the
process until all of their
measurements are entered. At this point they will click OK and the
computer (after making the
necessary calculations) will output an estimated age, race, sex, etc.
Progress to Date:
Currently our project is coming together after a long period of difficulty
in obtaining research materials.
We have determined our math model and are experimenting with the GUI
functions almost daily.
Though we have not yet actually written any of our program, we anticipate
no problems with the
program itself. We have also spent a lot of time in trying to locate Dr.
William M. Bass, a prominent
forensic anthropologist to be our mentor.
Expected Results:
In the next week we expect to have a functioning and complete series of
math models. The program
will be comprised of if - else statements that will simply filter the
inputted information until a match can
be made. Once the base program is done we may decide to continue with it
and make certain
improvements. For example, we will probably start fine tuning some of the
age estimation math, making
it a lot more accurate. We may also include sections of code that take
yes or no answers to certain
indicators and output things such as diet, bone exposures, or even
something that cross-checks
previously broken bones with hospital break records. If time allows we
will also include facial
reconstruction and dental record check sections.
Team Members: Sitki Polat, Angelo Chavez, Seena Eftekhari, Alex Clemmer, Miljen Aljinovic
Sponsoring Teacher: Anita Gerlach
Project Mentors: N/A
Bibliography:
Reichs, Kathleen J., ed. Forensic Osteology - Advances in the Identification of Human Remains Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas, 1998.
Scheuer, Louise, and Sue Black. Developmental Juvenile Osteology San Diego, California: Academic Press, 2000.
Forensic Osteology. 5 Dec. 2001.
Skull Module. 4 Dec. 2001.
Skeleton, Vertebrate. Encyclopedia Britanica Vol. 20 1961 ed.