title: A method for studying knife tool marks on bone.
abstract: The characteristics of knife tool marks retained on hard tissues can be used to outline the shape and angle of a knife. The purpose of this study was to describe such marks on bone tissues that had been chopped with knives. A chopping stage with a gravity accelerator and a fixed bone platform was designed to reconstruct the chopping action. A digital microscope was also used to measure the knife angle (θ) and retained V-shape tool mark angle (ψ) in a pig skull. The κ value (elasticity coefficient; θ/ψ) was derived and recorded after the knife angle (θ) and the accompanied velocity were compared with the proportional impulsive force of the knife and ψ on the bone. The constant impulsive force revealed a correlation between the V-shape tool mark angle (ψ) and the elasticity coefficient (κ). These results describe the tool marks--crucial in the medicolegal investigation--of a knife on hard tissues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Pathology, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Ministry of Justice, Taipei, Taiwan. kpshaw596@gmail.com
authors.forename: Kai-Ping
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Ju-Hui
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Fang-Chun
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Bo-Yuan
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: Chih-Hsin
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Kai-Ting
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chun-Pang
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D004548:Elasticity; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008853:Microscopy; D023421:Models, Animal; D012886:Skull / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D013552:Swine; D054041:Weapons; D014951:Wounds, Stab / Q000473:pathology*