Computerized assembly of neurocranial fragments based on surface extrapolation

Bibliographic Data

ID6135768
AuthorsTakeo Kikuchi (0000-0003-2759-9167, Keio University), Naomichi Ogihara (0000-0002-1697-9263, Keio University)
Year2013
Volume121
Issue2
Pages115-122
Publication date2013-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthropological Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0918-7960 • E-ISSN: 1348-8570
PublisherAnthropological Society of Nippon (PUBLISHER • JP)
DOI10.1537/ase.130618
OpenAlexW2036758106
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited16

Fossil crania are often fractured and fragmented due to compaction and diagenesis. To restore the antemortem appearance of a fossil cranium, it is necessary to correctly assemble the fragments into their original anatomical positions. In this study, we propose a concept for computerized reconstruction that employs surface extrapolation to aid the assembly of fossil neurocranial fragments. Specifically, we approximate the surface of each neurocranial fragment using a bicubic Bézier surface to extrapolate the surface and mathematically predict the shape of adjacent fragments. The positions and orientations of adjacent fragments were calculated by minimizing the fitting errors. To evaluate the usefulness of this concept, we virtually divided modern human and chimpanzee neurocrania into pieces and used the proposed method to reassemble the generated virtual fragments. The neurocranial fragments were smoothly and correctly assembled. Comparison of the results obtained using the proposed method and conventional manual assembly revealed that the proposed method delivered similar performance in terms of differences between the original and reassembled shapes. However, the accuracy of the reassembly was found to be worse in the chimpanzee case because the fragments were more curved than those for the human cranium. Although there are some methodological limitations, the proposed concept may be useful for development of digital reassembly of fossil neurocranial fragments

Biology · Crania · Extrapolation · Geometry · Statistics · Surface (topology · 3D Shape Modeling and Analysis · 3D Surveying and Cultural Heritage · Computer Science · Image Processing and 3D Reconstruction · Mathematics · Anatomy · Artificial Intelligence · Geology · Paleontology

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access