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VirtoScan-on-Rails – an automated 3D imaging system for fast post-mortem whole-body surface documentation at autopsy tables

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Abstract

Two-dimensional photographic documentation is a substantial part of post-mortem examinations for legal investigations. Additional three-dimensional surface documentation has been shown to assist in the visualization of findings and contribute to the reconstruction of the sequence of events. However, 2D photo documentation and, especially, 3D surface documentation, are time-consuming procedures that require specially trained personnel. In this study a 3D imaging system, called VirtoScan-on-Rails, was developed to automate and facilitate 3D surface documentation for photo documentation in autopsy suites. The imaging system was built to quickly acquire photogrammetric image sets of whole bodies during different stages of external and internal examinations. VirtoScan-on-Rails was set up in the autopsy suite of the Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland). The imaging system is based on a movable frame that carries a multi-camera array. Data quality and the applicability of the system were analyzed and evaluated within two test series. Up to 200 overlapping photographic images were acquired at consecutive image-capturing positions over a distance of approximately 2000 mm. The image-capturing process took 1 min and 23 s to acquire a set of 200 images for one side of the body. During test series one and two, 53 photogrammetric image sets taken from 31 forensic cases were successfully reconstructed. VirtoScan-on-Rails is an automated, fast and easy-to-use 3D imaging setup for autopsy suits. It facilitates documenting bodies during different stages of forensic examinations and allows standardizing the procedure of photo documentation.

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Acknowledgements

Firstly, the authors express their gratitude to Emma Louise Kessler, M.D., for her generous donation to the Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland). Secondly, the authors would like to thank Mrs. Verena Jaggi and Mr. Thomas Jacoby from the University of Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland) and Mrs. Astrid Winkler from the Austrian Center for Medical Innovation and Technology (ACMIT Gmbh, Wiener Neustadt, Austria) for their expert advice and assistance during planning and installation of the system. Finally, the authors would like to acknowledge the autopsy teams from the Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland), who greatly contributed to this study by arranging and preparing the forensic cases.

Funding

This work was funded by the Investment Fund of the University of Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Sören Kottner, Sarah Schaerli, Michael Thali & Dominic Gascho

  2. Austrian Center for Medical Innovation and Technology, ACMIT Gmbh, Wiener Neustadt, Austria

    Martin Fürst & Wolfgang Ptacek

Authors
  1. Sören Kottner
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  2. Sarah Schaerli
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  3. Martin Fürst
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  4. Wolfgang Ptacek
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  5. Michael Thali
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  6. Dominic Gascho
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sören Kottner.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that co-authors of this manuscript are affiliated with the organization, which was assigned to develop, build and install the VirtoScan-on-Rails. This organization may be affected by the research reported in the enclosed paper and may have financial interests to commercialize VirtoScan-on-Rails systems in the future.

Ethical approval

The 3D datasets of humans were acquired as part of forensic judicial investigations. Anonymized results of these datasets are used in this publication. This data usage is conformant with Swiss laws and ethical standards as approved by the Ethics Committee of the Canton of Zurich (written approval, KEK ZH-Nr. 2015–0686).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Kottner, S., Schaerli, S., Fürst, M. et al. VirtoScan-on-Rails – an automated 3D imaging system for fast post-mortem whole-body surface documentation at autopsy tables. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 15, 198–212 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-019-00095-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-019-00095-5

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