Medical Equipment Used for Forensic Data Extraction: A low-cost solution for forensic laboratories not provided with expensive diagnostic or advanced repair equipment

Abstract

The data found on mobile phones, SIM cards, micro-SD cards, or Internet of Things devices are often decisive for judicial investigations because they provide a wealth of information to guide investigations; not to say solve them. However, investigators have to deal with two problems that greatly complicate the extraction of data from digital equipment: encryption of data and damage to the evidence (explosion, immersion, deliberate destruction, air crash, accidents). In these cases, investigators often have to be creative in order to successfully extract data from electronic devices in a judicial setting. Using medical equipment for data extraction is a new way that perfectly illustrates this creativity, which is necessary otherwise the investigator will be blocked by the new technology of protection and encryption.In this paper we will make use of four medical materials and equipment used routinely in the forensic autopsy field: the mobile 2D X-ray radiograph (used by dentists), the whole body 3D X-ray scanner, the dental control unit (burr and drill of dentists for legal odontolgy), and dental paste to model the teeth when identifying disaster victims. This work introduces medical materials and equipment that can be used by investigators for data extraction and introduces cheap alternatives for existing expensive solutions from the failure analysis industry. To demonstrate feasibility, we describe in detail experimental forensic cases in which medical devices could help data extraction: reverse-engineering, diagnostic samples, and preparation of mobile phones for forensic transplantation.In the final part, we look at the legal medicine of the future. We believe that the autopsy of tomorrow will definitely have to be supplemented by analysis of the electronic components present in the body (pacemaker, bio-sensor). Medical examiners and experts in electronics must now work together to put in place the forensic procedures of tomorrow.