Student, second year
Thesis on confocal microscopy and statistical analysis of dental wear
My thesis studies the micro-wear of teeth using confocal microscopy and statistical analysis, to reconstruct the diet and some everyday activities of past populations. At the moment I read and compare the scientific literature and, on an archive of existing images, I am developing a MATLAB software that combines established methods with new techniques to detect the marks on teeth; later I will use the confocal microscope to acquire new images.
The algorithm performs a semi-automatic 2D analysis of the images: calibrating the scale in microns, selecting the region of interest, converting to greyscale and increasing the contrast. To identify the micro-traces I use image-processing techniques — edge detection (Canny-type method) and the Hough transform for the striations — computing the length, density and direction of the marks.
What surprised me is how much this work brings together archaeology, biology and computer science: it isn’t enough to observe, you have to calibrate, tell real traces from artefacts and check everything by hand. Since I was a child I have loved archaeology, but I had taken a different path, working as a software engineer; this programme has allowed me, even as an adult, to finally combine my two passions and turn a long-postponed dream into a real project.
