Validation of the utilisation of automatic placement of anatomical and sliding landmarks on three-dimensional models for shape analysis of human pelves

Estimating sex from unknown human skeletal remains is an important component in forensic anthropology. Currently, both morphological and morphometric methods are used for sex estimation. These methods employ landmarks to make morphological comparisons between and within groups. Manual landmarking has been regarded as time-consuming and subjective. To decrease observer subjectivity and reduce measurement errors, an automated three-dimensional (3D) method was developed. This study aimed to validate the utilisation of the automatic placement of anatomical and sliding landmarks on 3D pelvis models for shape analysis using Computed Tomography (CT) scans. Computed Tomography scans of adult South Africans were obtained from Steve Biko Academic Hospital, Pretoria, South Africa. In this study, automatic landmarking was validated on 130 3D reconstructions of the adult human pelvis.