Standardized Measurements of Radiographic Films of the Frontal Sinuses: An Aid to Identifying Unknown Persons

Abstract

Many methods have been used to identify unknown persons. The most common is the study of fingerprints, which is one of the few methods in which data can be stored and retrieved in a precise and cost-effective manner. The asymmetry of the frontal sinuses has stimulated several attempts to identify persons by analyzing measurements of the sinuses obtained from plain x-ray films. However, an objective and reproducible method has not been achieved. The objective of this paper is to report on a method of making standardized measurements of the frontal sinuses on radiographs and storing the resultant information in a computer databank. To test the system, the author made new measurements on 100 x-rays and entered the results into a computer databank that contained information on earlier measurements of the same 100 x-rays and on 400 others. With the aid of the databank, the author was able to rapidly and accurately match each new measurement with the earlier measurement. The author concludes that such a system is a simple and cost-effective method of establishing the identification of unknown persons for whom frontal sinus x-rays exist.