Cone-beam computed tomography in paleoanthropology
Objective: to study the capabilities of cone-bean computed tomography (CBCT) in estimating the bone structure when ana­lyzing anthropological findings. Material and methods. Twenty-four bone fragments (remains) of Napoleon Bonaparte Imperial Army soldiers who had died at a Konigsberg military hospital during their retreat from Russia in the War of 1812 were examined by CBCT. A total of 28 tubular bones with different injury healing signs and a skull with maxil­lofacial trauma marks were investigated. Furthermore, an ob­ject from D.G. Rokh-lin's paleopathologi-cal collection was used to analyze a com­plicated humeral infec­tious process. was performed by individually selecting the scanning foldings, physicotechnical con­ditions and regimens in relation to the anatomic location and size of fragments. Results. Processing of the obtained images reveled fractures of different bones in 19 (65.5%) cases. The signs of ununited frac­tures were visualized in 20.7% of the samples. Image post-pro­cessing showed intraarticular consolidated fractures in 13.8% of the anthropological findings. The CBCT examination of bone fragments exhibited the signs of their fusion. A wound pattern was established in 31% of the samples. The specific features of a bone amputation stump could be characterized in detail in 17.2% of the anthropological findings. 51.7% of the cases were found to have signs of sustained bone inflammatory diseases of various genesis, which in 41.4% of them were presented by linear, bulbar, and assimilated periostal reactions and significantly detectable on CBCT scans. Sequestral cavities were imaged in 31% of the fragments. Conclusion. The CBCT images are characterized by high informative value (from 7.5 to 10.6 pixels/mm), optimal spatial resolution, definition, and hardness. The software of CBCT involves the parameters and possible postprocessing of images (building of panoramic and mulplanar reconstructions, assessment of the density characteristics of tissues), which allow an analysis of anthropological material, by needlessly destroying them.