Blau Soren, Robertson Shelley, Johnstone Marnie
Centre for Human Identification, Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine/Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash University, 3006 Vic., Australia.
J Forensic Sci. 2008 Jul;53(4):956-61. doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2008.00742.x.
Mass fatalities can present the forensic anthropologist and forensic pathologist with a different set of challenges to those presented by a single fatality. To date radiography has played an important role in the disaster victim identification (DVI) process. The aim of this paper is to highlight the benefits of applying computed tomography (CT) technology to the DVI process. The paper begins by reviewing the extent to which sophisticated imaging techniques, specifically CT, have been increasingly used to assist in the analysis of deceased individuals. A small scale case study is then presented which describes aspects of the DVI process following a recent Australian aviation disaster involving two individuals. Having grided the scene of the disaster, a total of 41 bags of heavily disrupted human remains were collected. A postmortem examination was subsequently undertaken. Analysis of the CT images of all body parts (n = 162) made it possible not only to identify and side differentially preserved skeletal elements which were anatomically unrecognizable in the heavily disrupted body masses, but also to observe and record useful identifying features such as surgical implants. In this case the role of the forensic anthropologist and CT technology were paramount in facilitating a quick identification, and subsequently, an effective and timely reconciliation, of body parts. Although this case study is small scale, it illustrates the enormous potential for CT imaging to complement the existing DVI process.
大规模死亡事件给法医人类学家和法医病理学家带来了一系列与单人死亡事件不同的挑战。迄今为止，放射成像在灾难受害者身份识别（DVI）过程中发挥了重要作用。本文旨在强调将计算机断层扫描（CT）技术应用于DVI过程的益处。本文首先回顾了先进成像技术，特别是CT，在协助分析死者个体方面的应用程度。然后介绍了一个小规模案例研究，描述了在澳大利亚最近一起涉及两人的航空灾难后DVI过程的各个方面。在对灾难现场进行网格化处理后，共收集了41袋严重破碎的人体遗骸。随后进行了尸检。对所有身体部位（n = 162）的CT图像分析不仅能够识别并区分在严重破碎的尸体中解剖上无法辨认的保存程度不同的骨骼元素，还能够观察并记录诸如外科植入物等有用的识别特征。在这个案例中，法医人类学家和CT技术在促进快速识别以及随后有效及时地拼接身体部位方面发挥了至关重要的作用。尽管这个案例研究规模较小，但它说明了CT成像在补充现有DVI过程方面的巨大潜力。
