title: Investigation into the merits of infrared imaging in the investigation of tattoos postmortem.
abstract: Infrared imaging has a history of use in the forensic examination of artwork and documents and is investigated here for its wider use in the detection of tattoos on the human body postmortem. Infrared photographic and reflectographic techniques were tested on 18 living individuals, displaying a total of 30 tattoos. It was observed that neither age, sex, age of the tattoo, nor, most significantly, skin color affected the ability to image the tattoos using infrared imaging techniques. Second, a piglet carcass was tattooed and the impact of the decomposition process on the visibility of the tattoos assessed. Changes were recorded for 17 days and decomposition included partial mummification and skin discoloration. Crucially, the discoloration was recorded as greatly affecting the image quality using conventional photography, but was insignificant to the infrared recording of these tattoos. It was concluded that infrared reflectography was beneficial in the investigation into tattoos postmortem.
authors.affiliation: School of Science & Engineering, Teesside University, Borough Road, Middlesbrough, Tees Valley TS1 3BA, UK. a.starkie@tees.ac.uk
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Starkie
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Birch
authors.forename: Roxana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ferllini
authors.forename: Tim J U
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006801:Humans; D007259:Infrared Rays; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D023421:Models, Animal; D010781:Photography; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D012880:Skin Pigmentation; D013552:Swine; D013653:Tattooing; D013696:Temperature; D014887:Weather; D055815:Young Adult