The problems of determining of the age of bruises by modern diagnostic methods. Literature review

Abstract

Determination of the age of bruises is an important task forensic medicine. The article provide a review of the literature concerning the state of the study of this problem. Traumatic hemorrhages, the most frequent injuries encountered in practice by a forensic medical expert, are formed as a result of accumulation of blood in the lesion due to rupture of blood vessels. Traditionally, the leading methods for determining the age of traumatic effects are macroscopy, colorimetry, radiography, impedance measurement, ultrasonography, infrared thermometry, spectrophotometry, etc. The difficulties of using instrumental methods are associated with the operation of devices, the high cost of equipment, and often with the contradictory opinion of the authors, which does not allow choosing a certain method. In various publications, the advantage is given to those methods that analyze color as the main characteristic of a bruise. In order to objectify this characteristic, is actively underway on the development of spectroscopy technologies capable of determining the spectrum of substances beyond the control of the human eye. A promising approach to establish the prescription of traumatic hemorrhages can be the method of hyperspectral spectroscopy by simultaneously capturing the image of a bruise and obtaining spectral, including spatial data of the studied skin area. The expediency of using hyperspectral technologies in forensic medical practice lies in the non-invasiveness of the study, harmlessness to living persons, compactness of the device, as well as the prospects of studying the lifetime of bruises in corpses. The conducted analysis of the literature creates the need to explore the possibilities of this method.