3D-print as a template for reassembly of skull fragments in a homicide case

Abstract

In this technical note we report a case where 3D-printing aided the reassembly of skull fragments in a homicide with severe tampering of the bones. A young male was shot, the body was incinerated and crushed with garden tools resulting in hundreds of brittle, calcine bone fragments from the skull. An antemortem computed tomography (CT)-scan of the skull was available from a previous assault of the victim. To aid the process of reassembly we used the antemortem CT-data to develop a 3D fixture-grid of the cranial cavity. The 3D grid was utilized as an anatomically correct template for bone reconstruction. This novel technique was based solely on open-source software including 3D Slicer and Blender and could have the potential to aid similar cases.

Keywords

• Postmortem computed tomography
• Additive manufacturing
• Forensic medicine
• Segmentation
• Bone fragments