Experimental assessment of the surface quality of 3D printed bones

ABSTRACT

3D printed replicas of human remains are useful tools in courtroom demonstrations. Presently, little published research has investigated the surface quality of printed replicas for use in the presentation of forensic anthropology evidence. In this study, 3D printed replicas of nine human bones were reconstructed from computed tomography (CT) scan data using selective laser sintering (SLS). A three-phased approach assessed: i) the metric accuracy of the 3D prints; ii) the viability of applying age and sex estimation methods (with multiple observers (n = 8); and, iii) the surface quality using a customized scoring method (with multiple observers (n = 8)). The results confirmed that the prints in this study were accurate to within 2.0 mm of the original dry bone. Observers were able to confidently assess the gross features of the prints; however fine surface details were not always well represented compared to the dry bones. These findings confirm the applicability of 3D printed replicas for courtroom exhibition of gross features but offer caution against their use when fine detailing is important for evaluative interpretation.

KEYWORDS:

• Forensic science
• forensic anthropology
• evidence reconstruction
• 3D printing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).