Photometric measurement of color changes in livor mortis as a function of pressure and time. Development of a computer-aided system for measuring pressure-induced blanching of livor mortis to estimate time of death.

Until now, blanching of livor mortis in estimating time of death has generally been assessed based on subjective impressions, i.e. on whether blanching is visible after the application of pressure. We have developed a measuring system that uses digital processing to objectify the relationship between the pressure applied and blanching of postmortem lividity. The pressure is electronically registered by a strain gauge. At predefined levels (10, 20, 30, up to 100 N) the software triggers a color measurement by a commercially available tristimulus colorimeter. All parameters are measured in a single procedure and routed to the computer through a data interface. The pressure-induced color changes in the livor mortis are evaluated according to the L*, a*, b* system (CIE-LAB according to DIN 5033, DIN 6174), which closely approximates the physiology of sight. An additional color spacing formula (delta E) allows analysis of color changes irrespective of the basic skin tone. Initial measurements on cadavers showed that application of increasing pressure produced regular courses of color changes in livor mortis.