As part of their master’s degree project, students in the third semester of the Geoinformatics and Surveying master’s degree program are currently researching the possible applications of photogrammetry for documenting autopsies. The project is being carried out in cooperation with the Institute of Legal Medicine at Goethe University Hospital in Frankfurt. The aim is to develop a workflow that makes it possible to record various states of a dead body, including while the body is being opened up, in the best manner possible using a precise 3D model.
Student creating reference points for the subsequent use of photogrammetry
for autopsy documentation, photo: Kerstin Jeppe, i3mainz, CC BY SA 4.0
This innovative method enables forensic experts to produce more precise documentation and analyses to assist in court proceedings. In addition, the 3D models enable findings to be transferred to a virtual reality setting, making it possible to visualize morphological relationships between trace evidence at crime scenes as part of a virtual crime scene inspection. The link between the fields of surveying and forensic medicine is proving to be extremely interesting. We are looking forward to the results of this interdisciplinary research.
The project work is connected to the research project VCSA3D – Virtual Crime Scene Assessment and Analysis in Cyber Space at i3mainz.
Written by students Janine Kelkel, Florian Kreitmeier, Steve Palzer, and Anna-Lena Trapp