Postmortem 3D Documentation: From Manual to Automated Whole-Body Imaging

Comprehensive documentation of bodies is essential in medico-legal investigations, as it provides an objective record of all relevant findings. Traditional photographic documentation captures important details, but its two-dimensional nature can obscure depth and spatial relationships, limiting the ability to fully visualize injuries, pathologies, and body morphology. Three-dimensional documentation addresses these limitations by enabling accurate measurements of surfaces and preserving the spatial context of injuries. Both 2D and 3D approaches, however, are typically time-consuming, require specialized training, and may be prone to variability in quality. These challenges underscore the need for efficient, standardized methods that can reliably and reproducibly capture the complete external morphology of bodies.

This presentation provides practical guidance on performing comprehensive postmortem 3D body documentation within and beyond the visible spectrum. It will cover manual 3D documentation using single-camera photogrammetry, discussing strategies for image acquisition, camera positioning, lighting, filtering, and reconstruction. In addition, automated 3D documentation techniques using multi-camera photogrammetry are introduced, including a discussion of the advantages and challenges of using multiple synchronized cameras. Finally, the presentation will provide an overview of the VirtoScan Project, which focuses on 3D whole-body imaging and the development of automated solutions for forensic and medical facilities. Different systems will be presented, including a fully automated optical 3D documentation setup that operates alongside a CT scanner, combining photographic and radiological information.

The techniques presented provide practical solutions to improve the efficiency, reproducibility, and accuracy of postmortem 3D body documentation. The objective is to demonstrate how to implement manual photogrammetry for detailed surface documentation, as well as how automated multi-camera systems can streamline large-scale whole-body imaging. Furthermore, the presentation will demonstrate how to integrate multispectral imaging into 3D documentation workflows, providing additional information that goes beyond standard documentation and allows for the detection and documentation of otherwise hidden findings. By adopting these methods, forensic professionals can standardize documentation procedures, reduce operator-dependent variability, and optimize workflows in autopsy suites, imaging facilities, and at crime or accident scenes.