Virtobot - A Robot System for Optical 3D Scanning in Forensic Medicine - 13.084

R. Breitbeck et al., "Virtobot - A Robot System for Optical 3D Scanning in Forensic Medicine", in Proc. of 4th Int. Conf. on 3D Body Scanning Technologies, Long Beach CA, USA, 2013, pp. 84-91, https://doi.org/10.15221/13.084.

Title:

Virtobot - A Robot System for Optical 3D Scanning in Forensic Medicine

Authors:

Robert BREITBECK 1, Wolfgang PTACEK 2, Lars EBERT 1, Martin FÜRST 2, Gernot KRONREIF 2, Michael THALI 1

1 Institute of Forensic Medicine, Virtopsy, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;
2 ACMIT - Austrian Center for Medical Innovation and Technology, Integrated Microsystems Austria GmbH, Wiener Neustadt, Austria

Abstract:

In this article, we present the second prototype of a robotic system, for use in forensic medicine. Among others, the system is able to perform automated whole body surface and wound documentations by using digital close-range photogrammetry and optical 3D surface scanning. Based on the 3D data collected, analysis and reconstruction of forensically relevant events, such as traffic accidents, criminal assaults or homicides can be performed. The newly applied high-tech methods can provide new knowledge about a case, compared to traditional methods.
The purpose of the Virtobot project is to develop a robot prototype that provides fast and accurate, 3D measurement capabilities for documenting external injuries of corpses in three-dimensions and color, supporting forensic investigations.
The system is routinely used at our institute for surface documentation, resulting in 24 surface documentations over the course of 11 months. The main focus was on streamlining the workflow and increasing the level of automation, reducing the scanning times from approximately 40 to 11 minutes. This makes the Virtobot a potentially valuable tool for case documentation in the field of virtual autopsy.

Keywords:

virtopsy, forensic imaging, surface scanning, photogrammetry, post mortem, biopsy, tissue sampling, liquid sampling, CT, robotic, radiology, autopsy

Details:

Full paper: 13.084.pdf
Proceedings: 3DBST 2013, 19-20 Nov. 2013, Long Beach California, USA
Pages: 84-91
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15221/13.084

License/Copyright notice:

Proceedings: © Hometrica Consulting - Dr. Nicola D'Apuzzo, Switzerland, hometrica.ch.
Authors retain all rights to individual papers, which are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
The papers appearing in the proceedings reflect the author's opinions. Their inclusion in the proceedings does not necessary constitute endorsement by the editor or by the publisher.

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