title: Computer simulation for postmortem cooling processes in the outer ear.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A simulation using a computer model was undertaken to investigate postmortem cooling patterns in the outer ear.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cooling patterns were analyzed using a 3-dimensional head model built from brain CT images of a volunteer. The simulation was verified with a case subject under constant environmental conditions to obtain an appropriate heat transmission coefficient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cooling pattern of the head model agreed with that of the case subject when the heat transmission coefficient was 6W/m(2) degrees C, and it could be approximated to a single exponential curve.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first simulative study to show the postmortem cooling pattern of the head of an adult human. Our head model will prove useful to predict the cooling patterns of not only the outer ear but also of the entirety of the head.
authors.affiliation: Division of Forensic Medicine, Department of Public Health and Forensic Medicine, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8575, Japan. ykanawaku@nifty.com
authors.forename: Yoshimasa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kanawaku
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kanetake
authors.forename: Atsuki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Komiya
authors.forename: Shigenao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Funayama
mesh_terms: D001831:Body Temperature; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004431:Ear, External; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D013997:Time Factors