CASE REPORTS   

Minerva Medicolegale 2008 March;128(1):31-40

Copyright © 2008 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Acquisition of the scene crime with a 3D optical digitizer: a new perspective for forensic science

Cattaneo C. ¹, Sansoni G. ², Maldarella M. ¹, Trebeschi M. ², Porta D. ¹, Poppa P. ¹, Picozzi M. ³

¹ Labanof, Laboratorio di Antropologia e Odontologia Forense Istituto di Medicina Legale e delle Assicurazioni Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy 2 Laboratorio di Optoelettronica Dipartimento di Elettronica per l’Automazione Università degli Studi di Brescia, Brescia, Italy 3 LIUC – Università Carlo Cattaneo Castellana, Varese, Italy

The purpose of the present work is to assess the feasibility of using a 3D optical digitizer, usually employed in industrial applications, building, archaeology, medicine, to accomplish the “in field” documentation of different crime scenes. The laser scanner Vivid 910 system (Konica Minolta, Inc.) was used to accomplish the acquisition of three different crime scenes: a fresh cadaver, a skeletonised buried body and a burnt remains. The first two instances proved to be successful, whereas burnt remains presented some difficulty due to variation in consistency and color of the subject. Thus the laser scanner is a potent means for registering data on crime scene, not only for fresh preserved bodies but also in cases of buried skeletonised remains.