Main photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/getty Images

the murder victim. Her identity will be revealed tomorrow after police have spoken with next of kin.

Detective Chief I nspector Keith Hardie described the image produced by experts at CAHID as the “last piece in the jigsaw”.

It is the latest success for the centre, which has gained a global reputation for such work, producing similar pictures of historical figures including Mary, Queen of Scots, Robert Burns and Richard III based on CT scans.

Establishing the identity of the Corstorphine murder victim means police now can begin to piece together what happened to her.

Black, who has gained international recognition for her work, including investigation of war crimes in Kosovo and Iraq, said: “When you have a deceased person and you don’t know who they are, it is one of the most difficult things for the police to investigate. If you don’t know who the dead person is, you can’t go and talk to friends, family, colleagues to try and figure out what has happened.”

She said they deal with about 50 “challenging” murder cases a year across the UK, helping police when identification of a person is not a straightforward process.

Among high-profile cases Dundee has dealt with in recent years include that of former EastEnders actress Gemma McCluskie, whose torso was found in a canal in east London in March 2012. McCluskie’s brother was found guilty of her murder in January this year.

But Black said a large part of the centre’s work deals with remains which turn out not to be human.

“When the weather gets better and people are out digging in their gardens, you would be amazed at the number of people who think they have found a dead body in the garden,” she said. “But it turns out to be a dog or cat or a bit of barbecue or something like that. We do about 350 cases of those every single year at no charge to the police, as it gives our young anthropologists the opportunities to train.”