Carpals-The Tiny Markers of Age Estimation by Digital Radiography

Responsibilities of an individual increase as the age advances. Paediatric age group is very vulnerable to suffer as well as commit the crime. Estimating the age of a child plays crucial role in solving many medicolegal problems. Many studies have been carried out in the past for estimating age from conventional radiographs but very few have been done using digital radiographs. In present study, we used digital radiographs of wrist & hand in paediatric populations for estimating age by appearance of ossification centres of carpal bones. The results of the study show consonance with some studies but some difference with others. This shows that individual variations may be observed as a result of various factors like genetic make-up, geographical habitat and diet. So, an institutional database is to be formed by doing such study so that medico legal problems related to age estimation of children can be solved by comparing the findings of local database with the findings of a case in question, which shall make the exercise more accurate.