Modern possibilities and prospects of research of fluids and environments of the human organism for the time of death estimation

Abstract

The issue of determining the time of death has always been relevant among forensic doctors, since determining the exact moment of death allows the investigating authorities to clarify the circumstances of death and identify those, who are involved in crime.Objective –to analyze the methods used in practice in the regional bureaus of forensic medicine of Ukraine and abroad in order to identify their effectiveness for the establishment of time since death by studying biological fluids and environments of the human body, as well as to identify their problems for further development of new methods or modernization of existing ones.In recent decades forensic scientists have developed a number of different methods to determine the post-mortem interval. The possibility of studying biological fluids and environments of the human body, such as cerebrospinal fluid, vitreous body, synovial fluid, is especially relevant because they are isolated from the environment and the influence of external factors. Biochemical methods are mainly used for their research. For vitreous body one of the most studied and used indicators in practice by forensic experts is potassium. The dynamics of changes in its concentration with increasing time after death is also characteristic of other biological fluids of the human body.Conclusion. There is an active search for new methods that could simplify the study of biological fluids and human media to determine the time of death, as well as improve their accuracy. Such methods may be laser autofluorescence and multiparameter laser tomography.