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Using diagnostic radiology in human evolutionary studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2000

FRED SPOOR ,
NATHAN JEFFERY  and
FRANS ZONNEVELD
FRED SPOOR
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Anatomy Unit, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, UK
NATHAN JEFFERY
Affiliation:
Evolutionary Anatomy Unit, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, UK
FRANS ZONNEVELD
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Utrecht University Hospital, The Netherlands
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Abstract

This paper reviews the application of medical imaging and associated computer graphics techniques to the study of human evolutionary history, with an emphasis on basic concepts and on the advantages and limitations of each method. Following a short discussion of plain film radiography and pluridirectional tomography, the principles of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and their role in the investigation of extant and fossil morphology are considered in more detail. The second half of the paper deals with techniques of 3-dimensional visualisation based on CT and MRI and with quantitative analysis of digital images.

Keywords

Human evolutioncomputed tomographymagnetic resonance imaging3-D visualisationhominin fossilsfetal morphology
Type
Review
Information
The Journal of Anatomy , Volume 197 , Issue 1 , July 2000 , pp. 61 - 76
Copyright
© Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2000

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