Technological advances in forensic evaluation of traumatic injuries: 3d/cad photogrammetry merged with 3d radiological scanning

Abstract

Photogrammetry is the process of making measurements and acquiring dense 3D geometric information from photographs or stereoscopic image overlaps, especially for recovering the exact positions of surface points. Three-dimensional/computer aided design (3D/CAD) photogrammetry has been shown to have extensive applications in a variety of fields, including for documentation of forensics-relevant traumatic injuries. Forensic, 3-D/CAD-supported photogrammetry creates morphologic data models of the injury and of the suspected injury-causing instrument allowing the evaluation of a match between the injury and the instrument [1, 2]. This enables comparing the virtual 3D model of the injury against the virtual 3D model of the possible injury-causing instrument. In subjects with traumatic injuries of the skin and bones, 3-D/CAD photogrammetry can help determine the shape and size of the injury as well as a true-to-scale correlation of the wound and inflicting tool.