Contribution
Computed tomographic age estimation from the iliac crest and ischial tuberosity in an Indian population using supervised machine learning approaches
Warrier, Varsha; Shedge, Rutwik; Garg, Pawan Kumar; Dixit, Shilpi Gupta; Krishan, Kewal; Kanchan, Tanuj
Anthropologischer Anzeiger Volume 81 No. 3 (2024), p. 301 - 314
publié: Jun 3, 2024
publication en ligne: Oct 20, 2023
manuscrit accepté: Aug 26, 2023
revision du manuscrit reçu: Aug 18, 2023
révision du manuscrit demandée: Aug 15, 2023
manuscrit reçu: Mar 28, 2023
DOI: 10.1127/anthranz/2023/1723
ArtNo. ESP140008103005, Prix: 29.00 €
Abstract
Within the pelvis the iliac crest and ischial tuberosity display delayed ossification and fusion, thus, presenting as reliable maturity indicators. Amongst the different iliac crest and ischial tuberosity age estimation methods, the modified Kreitner-Kellinghaus stages constitute one of the more promising methods. The present study was directed towards establishing the applicability of the modified Kreitner-Kellinghaus method using five supervised machine learning approaches. Clinical CT scans of consenting individuals were collected and scored using the modified Kreitner-Kellinghaus method for the iliac crest and ischial tuberosity, independently. Age was subsequently estimated using different machine learning models. Cumulative scores computed from both markers were additionally employed for age estimation using machine learning. For iliac crest age estimation, Random Forest and Gradient Boosting Regression furnished lowest mean absolute error (2.42 years) and root mean square error (3.06 years). For ischial tuberosity age estimation, Gradient Boosting Regression garnered the lowest computations of mean absolute error (2.60 years) and root mean square error (3.09 years). For cumulative score based age estimation, Support Vector Regression and Gradient Boosting Regression yielded lowest mean absolute error (2.48 years) and root mean square error (3.07 years). Obtained error computations indicate that the iliac crest is a more accurate age marker in comparison to the ischial tuberosity. Additionally, cumulative score-based approaches garnered similar/ marginally more precise results in comparison to the iliac crest with all five models. This marginal improvement is not sufficient to justify employing the relatively more complicated cumulative score-based approach for age estimation. Hence, whenever available, the iliac crest should be preferred over the ischial tuberosity/ cumulative score-based approaches for age estimation.
Mots-clefs
forensic anthropology • human identification • age estimation • computed tomography • iliac crest • ischial tuberosity • modified Kreitner-Kellinghaus stages • machine learning