Liverpool John Moores University's facial reconstruction lab to open this month

Facial reconstructions of wanted criminals and unidentified corpses will be made in Liverpool from next week after the official opening of the city’s Face Lab.

The pioneering facility, part of John Moores University, will also be used by archaeologists to work out how historical figures, who died thousands of years ago, would have looked.

The Face Lab, which opens on January 30, hit headlines last month after scientists used state-of-the-art software to recreate the face of St Nicholas, the Greek bishop who died nearly 1,700 years ago and became better known as Santa Claus.

The Face Lab will also be able to reconstruct profiles based on skeletons discovered during archaeological expeditions and produce facial images for forensic scientists following the discovery of decomposed bodies.

Police forces will also use the facility to make e-fits of criminals based on witness accounts or partial CCTV evidence.

Forensic anthropologist Prof Caroline Wilkinson, director of the Face Lab, said: “We look forward to working with the region’s police, forensic organisations and museums to reveal faces of the past and present, as well as a continuation of our national and international work.

“We also intend to make the research of the Face Lab accessible through our public engagement activity and exhibition contribution – and we plan to run a related art-science postgraduate course at Liverpool School of Art and Design in the near future.”

University vice-chancellor Prof Nigel Weatherill, added: “We are delighted to launch the Fab Lab, which will become renowned as a centre of excellence for craniofacial analysis and forensic art.

“The university already has outstanding relationships with police forces and museums across the North West and we hope the Face Lab will build upon these relationships.

“Through public lectures regarding the work of the Face Lab, we will also aim to further advance our position as a modern civic university.”

The Face Lab is located at Liverpool Science Park off Mount Pleasant.

Monday 26 January 2015

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/facial-reconstruction-lab-open-liverpool-8513545

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Police use sketches to ID disaster bodies

Facial sketches have helped identify some of the people killed in the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami, with 15 people identified since May from sketches drawn by police based on photos of the bodies.

According to the National Police Agency, 223 of the 15,802 bodies found in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures after the Great East Japan Earthquake remained unidentified as of Sept. 5.

The identities of 2,814 bodies--about 20 percent--were confirmed through DNA examination. Police are utilizing traditional techniques as well as modern scientific methods to identify the bodies about 1-1/2 years after the disaster.

The identities of 15,576 bodies, or 98.6 percent of those found in the three prefectures as of Aug. 8, have been confirmed. Soon after the disaster, bodies were identified mainly through their physical characteristics. About six months after the disaster, it became difficult to identify bodies through examination, so police have had to rely more on DNA tests.

However, it was difficult for the police to secure DNA samples of missing people for verification, such as hair or oil left on combs, as most of the missing people's houses were washed away. Samples from only 120 missing people have been obtained from items left in houses.

Since May 2011, the NPA has beefed up efforts to secure DNA samples through other channels, such as asking the Japanese Red Cross Society to provide blood samples of missing people who had donated blood. The NPA also asked medical institutions to provide cells from missing people collected during biopsies.

For those who left no DNA samples, the NPA has collected cheek swabs from relatives of missing people in hopes of a DNA match. Combining the results with other clues, such as teeth and other bodily characteristics, the agency has succeeded in identifying some of the unidentified bodies.

Since May, the prefectural police headquarters of Miyagi and Iwate have released 96 sketches of dead people, which were drawn from pictures of the dead bodies. Many of the bodies' eyes were closed and their faces were damaged, but police artists recreated the faces as if they were alive. The sketches were decisive in identifying the bodies of 15 people.

In June, a man from Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, was able to identify the body of his father-in-law, who was 79 years old when he was killed, from a facial sketch posted on a Miyagi prefectural police website.

"I visited the morgue where his body was many times, but I couldn't identify it and even seeing a picture didn't help. However, the facial sketch was identical to his face when he was alive," the man said.

A senior NPA official said: "People seem more comfortable looking at the sketches rather than shocking pictures of dead bodies. We can also alter the the sketches if we don't receive many tips."

About 1 million police officers--counting those who made multiple visits--from around the country have visited the three prefectures to search for those missing after the disaster. However, only 16 bodies were discovered in the six months up to Aug. 31. According to police, 2,925 people remain missing.

Friday 8 September 2012

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120907003565.htm

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Analysis technique could help to identify bodies more reliably

A new corpse-analysis technique could help forensic scientists identify bodies more reliably and cheaply than with current methods.

Researchers from the University of Granada in Spain developed a method of comparing a set of reference points on a skull and those on a picture of the subject while they were alive to see if they match.

Lead researcher on the project Fernando Merino said this craniofacial superimposition technique was faster and more reliable than other forensic identification methods.
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‘As this technique is much less expensive, forensic scientists might use it firstly and, only when necessary, resort then to other techniques.

‘This technique can be complementary to other techniques, as it can serve to discard potential identities before using more expensive or slower identification techniques, such as DNA analysis.’

In particular, the researchers think the new technique could be useful for identifying a corpse from among multiple bodies, for example following a mass disaster, by significantly reducing possible candidates.

To carry out the study, the researchers used a sample of CAT scan images from 500 people and determined the spatial relationship between each point on both the skull and the photo of the face to obtain a vector between them that could be applied to any sample.

The researchers then applied this technique to real cases where only a skull was available in order to verify their results using a 3D virtual model of the skull.

15/02/2012

Read more: http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/medical-and-healthcare/news/analysis-technique-could-help-to-identify-bodies-more-reliably/1011702.article#ixzz1mRwYScE1

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