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Pandora's box.
Journal article

Pandora's box.

  • Gascho D Department of Forensic Medicine and Imaging, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190/52, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland. dominic.gascho@irm.uzh.ch.
  • Bolliger SA Department of Forensic Medicine and Imaging, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190/52, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Enders M Department of Forensic Medicine and Imaging, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190/52, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Thali MJ Department of Forensic Medicine and Imaging, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190/52, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Fliss B Department of Forensic Medicine and Imaging, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190/52, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • 2018-02-10
Published in:
  • Forensic science, medicine, and pathology. - 2018
Bones
Computed tomography
Human remains
Metallic artifacts
Virtopsy
Animals
Artifacts
Bone and Bones
Dogs
Multidetector Computed Tomography
English Suitcases or other containers are occasionally involved in forensic investigations. If there is a suspicion that human remains are hidden inside such a container, medico-legal examinations are required. However, these containers are occasionally locked. Forced opening of a locked suitcase or container may cause damage to its contents. Additionally, the safety of the investigator has to be considered as such containers may be booby-trapped or contain other hazardous material. An overview of the contents before opening is desirable in order to avoid the possibility of encountering a Pandora's box. In forensic medicine, an established approach to examine the inside of a body before opening at autopsy is postmortem computed tomography (CT). However, there may be a reluctance to use this approach for suitcases or containers with metallic components because of the assumption that severe metal artifacts will result in inadequate images. In this article, we present a forensic case in which a CT scan of a metallic suitcase was performed in order to examine its contents. Additionally, we performed an experimental scan of a conventional safe in order to determine if CT is able to reveal the contents of such a highly radiopaque storage box.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/258621
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