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Age estimation from median palatine suture using computed tomography reconstructed 3D images: a comparison of Northern and Southwestern Chinese populations

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Abstract

To investigate the potential of computed tomography (CT) images of median palatine suture (MP) for adult age estimation in the Northern and Southwestern Chinese populations. A total of 1110 cranial CT scans from individuals aged 10–79 years, including 557 northern Chinese and 553 southwestern Chinese, were collected for analysis. After volume reformation and multiplanar reconstruction, a total of 20 slices of median palatine suture were selected from each individual. The closure of sutures was analyzed into four stages, and the cumulative scores of 20 slices were recorded as the suture closure score (SCS). The correlations between SCS and age were compared among the two Chinese populations residing in diverse geographic regions. Regression models were established for age estimation. The estimation accuracy was evaluated based on the test set. The mean absolute error (MAE) and the correlation between predicted age and chronological age were calculated to evaluate estimation accuracy. The SCS of MP exhibited a significant correlation with age (0.613, northern male; 0.678, southwestern male; 0.730, northern female; 0.704, Southwestern female; 0.662, total). Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences in SCS among different regions and sex groups (p < 0.001). The cubic regression model had the highest R2 value in all subjects, especially among Northern females and Southwestern males, while the power and quadratic regression models showed the highest R2 value in Northern males and Southwestern females, respectively. In the test set, the Northern cohort demonstrated a lower MAE (9.06 ± 7.32 years, males; 9.17 ± 5.28 years, females) compared to the Southwestern cohort (9.19 ± 7.49 years, male; 10.61 ± 6.83 years, female). Additionally, it was observed that males exhibited a lower MAE than females in both regional groups. This study demonstrated the potential utility of CT images of the MP for age estimation in Chinese populations, emphasizing the significance of incorporating regional and sex factors within this context.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Key Research and Development Program of Sichuan Province (No. 24ZDYF0181); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82471915); the Key Laboratory of Forensic Science and Technology at College of Sichuan Province (2024ZD04); the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province (No. 2024NSFSC1517); the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Evidence Science (China University of Political Science and Law), Ministry of Education (NO. 2024KFKT02); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81971801).

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Author notes

  1. Ye Xue and Fei Fan contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. West China School of Basic Medical Sciences & Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, People’s Republic of China

    Ye Xue, Fei Fan, Shuai Luo, Huikun Yang, Yuxiao Sun, Mengjun Zhan, Yuchi Zhou & Zhenhua Deng

  2. College of Computer Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, People’s Republic of China

    Meng Liu

  3. Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, People’s Republic of China

    Zhao Peng

  4. Department of Radiology, Beidaihe Hospital, Qinhuangdao, Hebei, 066100, People’s Republic of China

    Zhigang Su

  5. Criminal Investigation Department of Sichuan Provincial Public Security Bureau, Chengdu, 610015, People’s Republic of China

    Hong Du & Yuchi Zhou

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Contributions

Conceptualization: Ye Xue, Fei Fan, Yuchi Zhou, Zhenhua Deng; Methodology: Ye Xue, Fei Fan, Meng Liu, Shuai Luo, Zhenhua Deng; Formal analysis and investigation: Ye Xue, Fei Fan, Meng Liu, Shuai Luo, Huikun Yang, Yuxiao Sun, Mengjun Zhan, Peng Zhao, Zhigang Su; Writing—original draft preparation: Ye Xue; Writing—review and editing: All authors; Funding acquisition: Hong Du, Fei Fan, Mengjun Zhan, Zhenhua Deng; Resources: Hong Du, Fei Fan, Mengjun Zhan, Yuchi Zhou, Zhenhua Deng; Supervision: Fei Fan, Zhao Peng, Yuchi Zhou, Zhenhua Deng.

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Correspondence to Yuchi Zhou or Zhenhua Deng.

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Xue, Y., Fan, F., Liu, M. et al. Age estimation from median palatine suture using computed tomography reconstructed 3D images: a comparison of Northern and Southwestern Chinese populations. Int J Legal Med 139, 187–196 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-024-03333-w

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