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Related Experiment Videos

Outer ear temperature and time of death

E Baccino1, L De Saint Martin, Y Schuliar

  • 1C.H.U. Morvan, Service Médecine Legale, Brest, France.

Forensic Science International
|December 2, 1996
PubMed
Summary

Outer ear temperature measurement offers a simple yet effective method for estimating time of death. This approach demonstrated superior accuracy compared to rectal temperature methods, especially in controlled indoor environments.

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Area of Science:

  • Forensic Science
  • Thanatology
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Accurate post-mortem interval (PMI) estimation is crucial in forensic investigations.
  • Existing methods for PMI determination have limitations in accuracy and practicality.
  • Outer ear temperature has not been extensively evaluated as a primary indicator for PMI.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of outer ear temperature measurement for estimating post-mortem interval.
  • To compare the accuracy of outer ear temperature formulae with established rectal temperature-based methods.
  • To develop and validate regression formulae for time of death (TOD) estimation using outer ear temperature.

Main Methods:

  • Development of linear regression formulae ('interval' and 'global') based on outer ear temperature and ambient temperature from a sample of 138 corpses.

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  • Comparison of outer ear temperature formulae with rectal temperature methods (Henssge nomogram, rule of thumb 1 & 2) on a separate sample of 141 corpses.
  • Analysis of method performance across different ambient temperatures and post-mortem interval durations.

    • Main Results:

    • Outer ear temperature formulae showed better correlation coefficients than other single-measurement methods.
    • Outer ear temperature methods outperformed rectal temperature methods, including the Henssge nomogram.
    • Outer ear temperature measurements avoided the post-mortem plateau issue observed with rectal temperatures above 15°C.

    Conclusions:

    • Outer ear temperature measurement presents the best simplicity/quality ratio for PMI estimation in indoor settings.
    • The proposed formulae are recommended for use at crime scenes with similar environmental conditions.
    • A software-equipped thermometer is necessary for accurate application of the formulae and confidence intervals.