Soft-Tissue Thickness
Definition
Distance from a cranial landmark to the overlying skin surface, measured in millimetres; varies with sex, age, BMI and population, and forms the input table for reconstruction.
- Unit of measurement
- Millimetres
- Measured from
- Cranial landmark to skin surface
- Varies with
- Sex, age, BMI, population
- Used in
- Facial reconstruction input table
Common questions
Why does population matter for soft-tissue thickness values?+
Average tissue depth at the same cranial landmark differs measurably between population groups due to variation in facial morphology and body composition, which is why forensic reconstruction relies on population-specific reference tables rather than a single universal set of values.
How are soft-tissue thickness values originally obtained?+
They come from direct measurement studies on cadavers or from imaging-based studies using CT or MRI on living subjects, building statistical averages at standard cranial landmark points across sex, age, and BMI categories.
Does using the wrong reference table meaningfully change a facial reconstruction?+
Yes. Because the pegs set at each landmark directly determine how far the modelled soft tissue extends from the skull, applying thickness data from a mismatched population or age group can visibly distort the reconstructed face's proportions.
Related terms
- Anatomical Landmarks
- Fixed cranial reference points (about 25 are used) including glabella, nasion, gonion, gnathion, zygion and prosthion that must align with corresponding soft-tissue...
- AnthropoScope
- Computerised three-dimensional skull and facial reconstruction system using laser scans of the skull and soft-tissue prediction from CT databases.
- FACES
- American computerised composite and reconstruction software (IQ Biometrix) used to generate two-dimensional faces from cranial and witness data.
- Glabella
- The midline prominence on the frontal bone between the superciliary arches. Scored 1 (flat, female) to 5 (highly prominent, male). Correlated with...
- Gonion
- The most posterior and inferior point of the mandibular angle, bilaterally. Used in superimposition to assess the width of the jaw angle...
- Manchester Method
- Three-dimensional facial reconstruction technique developed by Richard Neave at the University of Manchester, building clay muscle by muscle on a skull cast...
- Nasion
- The anatomical landmark at the junction of the nasal bones and the frontal bone (the bridge of the nose). One of the...
- Plastic vs Sculptured Reconstruction
- Plastic (two-dimensional) reconstruction draws the face on a photograph or sketch of the skull; sculptured (three-dimensional) reconstruction builds the face physically in...
- Superimposition
- Overlay technique that matches an unidentified skull with an antemortem photograph of a suspected individual to test anatomical consistency.
- Video Superimposition
- The updated superimposition workflow using a motorised skull turntable, a calibrated video camera, and real-time electronic mixing of the skull video image...