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01-11-2016 | Original Article

Estimating the postmortem interval of human skeletal remains by analyzing their optical behavior

Authors: V. Sterzik, T. Jung, K. Jellinghaus, M. Bohnert

Published in: International Journal of Legal Medicine | Issue 6/2016

Abstract

The aim of this study was to figure out a new practically applicable method to distinguish between historical and recent human skeletal remains. Therefore, the optical behavior of bone cross sections was investigated using the combination of two methods: a modification of an already established test (UV-induced fluorescence) and a new method (490 nm-induced fluorescence). We evaluated the areal extent of fluorescence of 30 bone cross sections with known postmortem interval (PMI) using ultraviolet light and 490 nm light. For analysis, the areal extend of fluorescent surface was determined using photos of the samples and an image editing software. The results prove that there is a correlation between PMI and the areal extent of fluorescent surface in both tests. Furthermore, the combination of both methods is a good indicator to distinguish within the forensic relevant post mortem interval between PMI < 30 years and PMI > 30 years.

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Title: Estimating the postmortem interval of human skeletal remains by analyzing their optical behavior
Authors: V. Sterzik
T. Jung
K. Jellinghaus
M. Bohnert
Publication date: 01-11-2016
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: International Journal of Legal Medicine / Issue 6/2016
Print ISSN: 0937-9827
Electronic ISSN: 1437-1596
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-016-1395-3

ACC 2024 Congress

Springer Medicine

Estimating the postmortem interval of human skeletal remains by analyzing their optical behavior

Abstract

ACC 2024 Congress

Springer Medicine

Abstract

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