Rom J Leg Med [23] 293-295 [2015]
DOI: 10.4323/rjlm.2015.293
© 2015 Romanian Society of Legal Medicine
293
Tethered digital photography with built in Wi-Fi memory cards brings beneits
to the environment of an autopsy room
Petr Hejna
1,*
, Martin Janík
2
, Petra Urbanová
3
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Abstract: Forensic pathologists ought to take photographs of all important external and internal indings revealed at
autopsy. Tethered photography ofers a sophisticated strategy for direct visualization of captured images in an autopsy room, either
wired or wirelessly, on larger screens (e.g., smartphones, tablets, monitors). It involves transmitting captured images from a digital
camera to a computer or a mobile device, where the image iles are saved to a hard drive and displayed on the device’s screen. We
present a simple technique for tethered photography suitable for an autopsy room environment based on using memory cards
that can create an ad hoc Wi-Fi network to which a preferred screen device can be then connected. Wireless transfer of image
iles according to their size showed delays of seconds. he maximum distance between a camera and a selected device for efective
transmission of the image iles was established as 20 meters.
Key Words: forensic pathology, autopsy, photography, photo-documentation, tethered photography, wireless idelity.
1) Charles University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, Prague and University Hospital, Hradec
Králové, Czech Republic
* Corresponding author: MD, PhD, MBA, Tel.: 00420 495 816 801, Fax: 00420 495 816 833, Email: hejnap@lhk.cuni.cz;
dr.petrhejna@gmail.com
2) Institute of Legal Medicine and Medico-legal Expertises, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University, Martin,
Slovakia
3) Masaryk University, Faculty of Science, Department of Anthropology, Brno, Czech Republic
T
ethered photography is an advanced
photographic strategy that has been applied
by professional photographers for years. he principle
of tethered photography lies in transmitting captured
images from a digital camera into a computer or a mobile
device, where the image iles are saved to a hard drive
and displayed on the device’s screen within seconds. he
connection between the digital camera and the selected
display device (e.g., tablet, phablet, smartphone) may be
established either with a cable (e.g., USB cable, Firewire
connection) or wirelessly [1].
Real-time visualization of captured images on a
larger screen instead of the small rear screens of digital
cameras permits immediate control of the required
quality of photographs (e.g., framing, composition,
depth of ield, focus, exposure, color balance, etc.).
Despite evident advantages, the lack of records in recent
medicolegal literature suggests that tethered photography
still has not been properly introduced into forensic
pathology.
his technical note aims to demonstrate a simple
tethered photographic approach allowing permanent
and real-time visual control of all photographs taken
in an autopsy room. he technique is based on using a
memory card with built-in wireless idelity (Wi-Fi) for
digital cameras. Such memory cards have the capacity to
establish own local wireless connection to either a mobile
device or a local computer. he transfer of captured