STUDIO VIRTUALE DEI REPERTI SCHELETRICI UMANI: NUOVE TECNICHE E METODOLOGIE DIGITALI PER IL LABORATORIO DI ANTROPOLOGIA

In physical anthropology laboratories, the technical procedures used in bone treatment and analysis of human remains are crucial to guarantee good results in research. At the same time, the didactical explanation of laboratory procedures is important for students because it is useful in understanding anthropology concepts and research protocols. Recently, introduced computer-based techniques in physical anthropology have been examined by a number of researchers (Weber et al, 2001; Bruner and Manzi, 2006; Smith and Hublin, 2008; Dedouit et al, 2008). The focus of this work is to find new and effective methods to extract information from human skeletal remains. In doing so, they hope to improve the quality and resolution of results while at the same time, reduce the need for invasive analysis on skeletal remains. The technologies used in this research range from CT scannners for volumetric studies of human remains to microCT used for the morphological studies on teeth. The field of anthropological application of 3D modeling within a virtual environment is being improved rapidly thanks to the introduction of new software packages and equipments (Zollikofer and Ponce de Leon, 1995). The aim of this study is to investigate how new techniques could enrich and integrate the procedures used in a physical anthropology laboratory. An emphasis on laser-scanner acquiring and sharing of 3D models of human remains and virtual cranio-facial restoration, reconstruction, measurements of bones and location of craniometric landmarks will be examined. Many case studies have been presented in this work. Some of them deals with different types of 3D modeling and reconstruction of bones using computer software programs. To assess the efficiency of digital methods in locating the craniometric landmarks, a comparative study was done. Repeated measurements were used to standard results and confirm. The measurements were taken traditional means (via calipers) or by the digital equipment. Data collected were then compared to each other to observe if there were significant differences in the results obtained by each method. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) were employed to show the degree of difference between the methods. Finally, we created cranio-facial reconstructions based entirely in the digital data. The aim was to use the tools of some commercially available software to develop an original method for processing 3D-images in order to allow us to reconstruct the face following the procedures often used in traditional reconstruction methods.