Stature estimation from skull measurements using computed tomography images in a contemporary Thai dry skull sample

Stature estimation is an essential component in medico-legal investigations. Traditionally, stature estimations rely on direct measurements of long bones. However, in many forensic scenarios, these elements are often absent, leaving cranial and mandibular structures as the remaining evidence. With the increasing integration of computed tomography (CT) imaging in forensic practice worldwide, the purpose of this study was to (i) examine the correlation between CT-derived cranial and mandibular measurements and stature and (ii) develop population-specific stature estimation models for a contemporary Thai dry skull sample. A total of 252 adult Thai skulls (126 males and 126 females), obtained from the Osteology Research and Training Center, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, were analyzed to develop regression equations. An independent test set of 26 samples was used for model validation. The results showed that all measurements were positively correlated with stature. Among these, cranial base length, bizygomatic breadth, and nasal height showed the highest correlation with stature (r=0.629, 0.615, and 0.604, respectively). The standard errors of estimate ranged from 6.06 to 6.77 cm for the combined sex, 6.35 to 6.77 cm for males, and 5.53 to 5.81 cm for females. Validation testing showed mean absolute errors between 3.86 and 4.59 cm. In conclusion, these results indicate that regression models based on cranial and mandibular measurements can provide information for stature estimation. Moreover, the proposed models in the present study may serve as a supplementary approach to stature estimation when long bones are unavailable, incomplete, or damaged.