People aged 18 years could be punished lightly or diminished criminal responsibility, even be spared the death sentence, which has important meaning in Chinese judicatory adjudication. The epiphysis of long bones from human limbs and the secondary sexual characteristics almost have developed completely before 18 years old. Clavicle epiphysis is one of the articular metaphysis which has a late epiphyseal closure. The recent studies in exploring the rule of clavicle epiphyseal by multi-imaging technology shows that the development of clavicle epiphysis has some value in age estimation of 18 years old. CT, especially thin-section CT, is widely used at present. However, thin-section CT scanning has great net radiation, which is not ethically acceptable if it is not for diagnosis and treatment. MRI is nonradioactive tomographic imaging and easy to evaluate, which is one of the future research directions in forensic age estimation using the medial clavicle. This paper summarizes the progress on the rule of clavicle epiphyseal closure, and analyzes and summarizes the feasibility of rule of clavicle epiphyseal closure applies on age estimation.
Adolescent ; Age Determination by Skeleton ; Asian People ; Clavicle/physiology* ; Death ; Epiphyses/physiology* ; Forensic Anthropology ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Osteogenesis ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

OBJECTIVE: To study the difference of bone development of the Han male adolescents in Hainan, Henan and Zhejiang provinces. METHODS: All radiographs including sternal end of clavicle, pelvis and six main bone joints taken from 877 Han male adolescents aged between 12.00 and 20.00 in Hainan, Henan and Zhejiang provinces were reviewed. Twenty-four indices of skeletal development were analyzed based on "The Grading Standards" of skeletal growth of teenagers and then the bone age were calculated using mathematical model functions. The ratios of the bone age and the chronological age were then analyzed by statistical software. RESULTS: The development of Hainan male adolescents' skeleton were about 1.09 years and 1.26 years earlier than that in Henan and Zhejiang at the age group of 12.00-12.99 years. The development of Hainan male adolescents' skeleton were about 0.70 years and 1.38 years earlier than that in Henan and Zhejiang at the age group of 13.00-13.99 years, while the development of Henan male adolescents' skeleton were about 0.68 years earlier than that in Zhejiang in this age group. The development of Hainan male adolescents' skeleton were about 0.79 years later than that in Henan at the age group of 18.00-18.99 years. The development of Hainan male adolescents' skeleton were about 0.70 years and 0.95 years later than that in Henan and Zhejiang at the age group of 19.00-20.00 years. CONCLUSION There are significant differences in the skeleton development of Han male adolescents between the provinces of Hainan, Henan and Zhejiang. These results provide potential value for the practice of forensic medicine, anthropology and clinical medicine.
Adolescent ; Age Determination by Skeleton/methods* ; Age Factors ; Asian People/ethnology* ; Body Height ; Bone Development/physiology* ; Bone and Bones/diagnostic imaging* ; Child ; China/ethnology* ; Clavicle/diagnostic imaging* ; Environment ; Forensic Anthropology/methods* ; Humans ; Male ; Models, Theoretical ; Pelvic Bones/diagnostic imaging* ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To study the difference of Han female adolescent bone development in Henan and Zhejiang province. METHODS: All radiography including sternal end of clavicle and six main bone joints were taken from 599 female adolescents with age between 12 to 19 in Henan and Zhejiang province. Twenty four skeletal development indexes were analyzed based on "The Grading Standards" of skeletal growth of teenagers and then the bone age were calculated using mathematical model functions. The ratios of the bone age and the chronological age were analyzed by statistical software. RESULTS: The development of Henan female adolescents' skeleton was about 0.39 years earlier than that in Zhejiang at the age of 14-15 years old. The development of Henan female adolescents' skeleton was about 0.37 years later than that in Zhejiang at the age of 15-16 years old. The development of Henan female adolescents' skeleton was about 0.38 years later than that in Zhejiang at the age of 18-19 years old. There was no statistics significance in other age group. CONCLUSION The female adolescent bone development in Henan province is faster at earlier stage and then slower than that in Zhejiang province. The results provide potential value for the forensic medicine, anthropology and clinical medicine.
Adolescent ; Age Determination by Skeleton/methods* ; Age Factors ; Analysis of Variance ; Bone Development/physiology* ; Child ; China/ethnology* ; Clavicle/diagnostic imaging* ; Epiphyses/physiology* ; Female ; Forensic Anthropology/methods* ; Humans ; Joints/physiology* ; Models, Theoretical ; Sampling Studies ; Sternum/diagnostic imaging* ; Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: To further improve the accuracy of bone age identification using the time of secondary ossification center appearance and epiphyseal fusion of 7 joints to estimate the age of living individuals. METHODS: DR films were taken from 7 parts including sternal end of clavical and the left side of shoulder, elbow, carpal, hip, knee and ankle joints of 1 709 individuals who came from eastern China, central China and southern China, whose ages were between 11.0 and 20.0 years. From those 7 joints 24 osteal loci were selected as bone age indexes, which could better reflect age growth of teenagers. The characteristics of secondary ossification center appearance and epiphyseal fusion were observed, and the mean and age range of secondary ossification center appearance and epiphyseal fusion were calculated. RESULTS: The fusion time of the 24 epiphyses were advanced at different degrees, the most obvious epiphyses the sternal end of clavicle, scapular acromial end, distal end of the radius, distal end of the ulna, iliac crest, ischial tuberosity, the upper and lower end of tibia and fibula. The appearance time of sternal end of clavicle, scapular acromial end, iliac crest and ischial tuberosity epiphyses were all found to be after the age of 12, and the female's age, approximately 1 year ahead of schedule in comparison with the male's. CONCLUSION The relevant forensic information and data for bone age identification should be updated every 10-15 years so as to provide accurate and objective evidence for court testimony, conviction and sentencing.
Adolescent ; Age Determination by Skeleton/methods* ; Asian People/ethnology* ; Bone Development/physiology* ; Bone and Bones/diagnostic imaging* ; Child ; China/ethnology* ; Clavicle/growth & development* ; Epiphyses/growth & development* ; Female ; Forensic Anthropology/methods* ; Humans ; Joints/growth & development* ; Male ; Sex Characteristics ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Young Adult