NCJ Number
162595
Journal
Science & Justice Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Dated: (January/March 1996) Pages: 47-54
Date Published
1996
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article describes a method of digital image enhancement of an injury and an overlay production method to improve comparison between the dentition of a suspect and the image of the injury.
Abstract
The digital image has many advantages over the conventional photographic image. The final image can be produced in a fraction of the time required for images to be processed chemically, and the results of any alteration to tone, color, and density of an image can be detected very rapidly. The two main practical applications of digital imaging are the improvement of pictorial information for human interpretation, and the processing of image data for autonomous machine interpretation. This study was concerned with the first application, whereby images of marks in the skin were enhanced and made clearer to assist in analysis, and the production of an intermediate template to compare the cast of a suspect's teeth with an injury. In addition to discussing a digital imaging technique to aid bite mark analysis, the article also illustrates a comparison method entirely within the digital image software. The use of digitally produced overlay appears to provide a more objective method of comparing suspect dentition and the image of an injury. The use of this method for shoe print, tire mark, and other blunt instrument injury analysis is noted. Figures, references