Postmortem facial identification is one of the most common techniques for establishing a deceased person's identity. In victims suffering from devastating cranial injuries, the feasibility of facial identification tasks can be compromised by damage to or disfigurement of the identifying cranial features. Although there are several reconstructive approaches, which help experts to restore the essence of person's physical appearance, thus enhancing the chances of recognition, only a few of them involve restoring the fractured cranial bones as the foundation for the reconstructed soft tissues. Here, we propose a technique based on replacement of heavily damaged hard tissues with generic prosthetics manufactured by 3D printing. Our approach does not require medical imaging technologies or other costly lab equipment. It is simple, affordable and relatively labor-efficient. The deceased's reconstructed craniofacial features can be subsequently assessed, photographed, drawn or otherwise reproduced in order to help determine his or her identity. In addition, the imagery can be displayed, published or broadcasted in media without concerns of being overly graphic.

Department of Forensic Medicine Faculty of Medicine Masaryk University St Anne's Faculty Hospital Tvrdého 2a 662 99 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Forensic Medicine St Anne's Faculty Hospital Brno and Faculty of Medicine Masaryk University Tvrdého 2a Brno 662 99 Czech Republic

Institute of Pathologic Morphology and Parasitology University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences Brno Palackého třída 1946 1 Brno 612 42 Czech Republic

Laboratory of Morphology and Forensic Anthropology Department of Anthropology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Kotlářská 2 611 37 Brno Czech Republic

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