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Communicating 3D data—interactive 3D PDF documents for expert reports and scientific publications in the field of forensic medicine

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Abstract

Introduction

Modern forensic investigations increasingly revert to 3D imaging techniques, such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and 3D surface imaging. Findings are therefore often based on 3D data sets; however, this information is commonly reported and communicated within 2D imagery. The use of interactive 3D PDFs is already established in the scientific community but has yet to be implemented in the field of forensic medicine.

Methods and materials

Three example cases were chosen to serve as exemplary data for the most commonly applied imaging techniques in postmortem imaging. 3D surface models were created from postmortem magnetic resonance imaging (PMMR), postmortem computed tomography (PMCT), and 3D surface imaging data sets.

Results

PMMR revealed a space-occupying subdural hemorrhage that led to ipsilateral compression of the brain tissue of the right hemisphere. PMCT displayed a defect in the skull on the left side of the temporal bone. 3D surface imaging data displayed a patterned discoloration on the inside of the left forearm.

Discussion

Interactive 3D PDFs offer the possibility to communicate 3D information to the reader while maintaining all the benefits of a regular 2D PDF. With Adobe Acrobat, the reader can interactively navigate through 3D data sets and create sufficient depth cues to generate a realistic 3D perception of the data.

Conclusion

The interactive 3D PDF is a useful extension of standard 2D PDFs and has the potential to communicate 3D data to the reader in a more complete, more comprehensible, and less subjective manner than 2D PDFs.

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Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to Dr. Emma-Louise Kessler, for her generous donation to the Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190/52, CH-8057, Zürich, Switzerland

    Sören Kottner, Dominic Gascho, Garyfalia Ampanozi, Michael Thali & Lars C. Ebert

  2. Clinic for Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Patricia Mildred Flach

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  1. Sören Kottner
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  2. Patricia Mildred Flach
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  3. Dominic Gascho
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  4. Garyfalia Ampanozi
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Correspondence to Sören Kottner.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

The scan data were acquired as part of a forensic judicial investigation into a case. Anonymized results of these data are used in this publication. That data usage is comformant with Swiss laws and ethical standards. Ethical approval was waived by the Ethics Committee Zurich (KEK ZH-No. 15–0686).

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Kottner, S., Flach, P.M., Gascho, D. et al. Communicating 3D data—interactive 3D PDF documents for expert reports and scientific publications in the field of forensic medicine. Int J Legal Med 134, 1175–1183 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-019-02156-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-019-02156-4

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