ABFA
Definition
American Board of Forensic Anthropology. The primary US credentialing body for forensic anthropologists. Accepts frontal sinus radiographic comparison as an established personal identification method.
- Full name
- American Board of Forensic Anthropology
- Country
- United States
- Function
- Practitioner credentialing body
- Accepted method
- Frontal sinus radiographic comparison
Common questions
Why does ABFA recognition matter for frontal sinus identification specifically?+
ABFA accepting frontal sinus radiographic comparison as an established personal identification method lends professional and legal weight to its use, since frontal sinus outlines are considered highly individual and stable after adolescence.
What distinguishes ABFA-credentialed practitioners from other anthropologists?+
ABFA credentialing is a formal certification process on top of academic training, and it is the body's endorsement of specific methods, like frontal sinus comparison, that practitioners can point to when methods are challenged in court.
Related terms
- Comparative Radiography
- The forensic discipline of placing an antemortem radiographic image alongside a postmortem image and comparing feature by feature to determine whether they...
- DVI
- Disaster Victim Identification. The multi-agency identification process used in mass-casualty events. Comparative radiographic methods, including frontal sinus, dental and implant comparison, form...
- Exclusion
- The categorical conclusion that one or more examined features are clearly inconsistent in a way that cannot be explained by projection angle,...
- Frontal Sinus
- Bilateral air-filled cavities within the frontal bone, superior to the orbits, that pneumatise from the embryonic frontal recess of the nasal passages....
- Orthopantomogram (OPT)
- A panoramic dental radiograph that images all teeth and the surrounding jaw structures in a single curved-plane projection. Widely used in dental...
- Positive Identification
- The categorical conclusion in comparative radiography that all examined features are concordant, no feature is inconsistent, and the overall pattern of correspondence...
- SWGANTH
- Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology. A US expert panel that produced guidance documents (2008-2013) on standards for forensic anthropological practice, now...
- UDI
- Unique Device Identifier. A code mandated by the FDA (US) and EU MDR on every medical device, encoding manufacturer, model, lot and...
- Vertebral Osteophyte
- A bony outgrowth from the margin of a vertebral body, typically caused by degenerative disc disease or spondylosis. The size, shape, position...