25.04.2025

VERA 2.0 method for tracking muscle-driven bone changes now published

New open-access publication in PLOS ONE by junior research group leader Dr. Karakostis (with step-by-step protocol and video demonstration)

We are pleased to share the release of the new semi-automated VERA 2.0 method, now published open-access in PLOS ONE, by Junior Research Group Leader Dr. Karakostis: 

Karakostis, F. A. (2025). Introducing “Validated entheses-Based reconstruction of activity 2.0” (VERA 2.0): Semi-automated 3D analysis of bone surface changes. PLOS ONE, 20(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321479 
This is linked to a detailed step-by-step protocol (including a video demonstration), available here: https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.5jyl82z8dl2w/v3

VERA 2.0 builds on the original VERA method, first introduced in 2016 and later formally named in a 2021 literature review. This updated version offers a more accessible and rapid approach, taking only about 2 minutes per enthesis for experienced users, and focuses on semi-automatically tracking and quantifying subtle bone surface deformations caused by cumulative muscle or ligament activity during life.

The paper presents experimental validation using both animal lab models and extensively documented human skeletons. It also includes an anatomical dissection and virtual analysis of a cadaveric bone, suggesting that VERA 2.0 could even help reconstruct muscle locations on dry bone (thus perhaps also in extinct fossil species, something that remains largely speculative in the evolutionary literature). The method may also prove useful for quantifying any other types of subtle surface variability, beyond bone.