+ Models FSI-5024; No of Pages 9 Application of 3D documentation and geometric reconstruction methods in traffic accident analysis: With high resolution surface scanning, radiological MSCT/MRI scanning and real data based animation Ursula Buck a,b, * , Silvio Naether a , Marcel Braun c , Stephan Bolliger a , Hans Friederich b , Christian Jackowski a , Emin Aghayev a , Andreas Christe a,d , Peter Vock d , Richard Dirnhofer a , Michael J. Thali a a University of Bern, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Buehlstrasse 20, 3012 Bern, Switzerland b State Police Bern, Accident Service, Schermenweg 9, 3001 Bern, Switzerland c Zuerich City Police, Accident Service, 8021 Zuerich, Switzerland d University Hospital of Bern, Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, 3010 Bern, Switzerland Received 20 April 2006; received in revised form 19 July 2006; accepted 30 August 2006 Abstract The examination of traffic accidents is daily routine in forensic medicine. An important question in the analysis of the victims of traffic accidents, for example in collisions between motor vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists, is the situation of the impact. Apart from forensic medical examinations (external examination and autopsy), three-dimensional technologies and methods are gaining importance in forensic investigations. Besides the post-mortem multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the documentation and analysis of internal findings, highly precise 3D surface scanning is employed for the documentation of the external body findings and of injury-inflicting instruments. The correlation of injuries of the body to the injury-inflicting object and the accident mechanism are of great importance. The applied methods include documentation of the external and internal body and the involved vehicles and inflicting tools as well as the analysis of the acquired data. The body surface and the accident vehicles with their damages were digitized by 3D surface scanning. For the internal findings of the body, post-mortem MSCT and MRI were used. The analysis included the processing of the obtained data to 3D models, determination of the driving direction of the vehicle, correlation of injuries to the vehicle damages, geometric determination of the impact situation and evaluation of further findings of the accident. In the following article, the benefits of the 3D documentation and computer-assisted, drawn-to-scale 3D comparisons of the relevant injuries with the damages to the vehicle in the analysis of the course of accidents, especially with regard to the impact situation, are shown on two examined cases. # 2006 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Keywords: Virtopsy; Accident reconstruction; Metric wound documentation; Photogrammetry; 3D optical scanning; Forensic radiology 1. Introduction For the reconstruction of traffic accident events in the case of collisions between a motor vehicle and a pedestrian or cyclist, the correlation of injuries of the body to the injury causing object and the accident mechanism are of great importance. Besides the photographic documentation and representation to scale of the accident scene and the involved vehicles, as well as the investigation of traces, the results obtained by the forensic www.elsevier.com/locate/forsciint Forensic Science International xxx (2006) xxx–xxx * Corresponding author at: University of Bern, Institute of Forensic Medicine, IRM, Buehlstrasse 20, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland. Tel.: +41 31 631 84 12; fax: +41 31 631 38 33. E-mail address: ursula.buck@irm.unibe.ch (U. Buck). 0379-0738/$ – see front matter # 2006 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2006.08.024 Please cite this article as: Ursula Buck et al., Application of 3D documentation and geometric reconstruction methods in traffic accident analysis: With high resolution surface scanning, radiological MSCT/MRI scanning and real data based animation, Forensic Science International (2006), doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2006.08.024