Identification of Metallic Trace Particles of Injuring Fe-Mn Steel Hammer from Body Trauma

Abstract

We describe an effective method for extracting metallic trace particles from injured tissue. As a validation test, we used scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry with the INCAFeature software package to analyze metallic trace particles deposited by different Fe-Mn steel hammers. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method. Based on the proposed method, an effective index is suggested for evaluating elemental composition. This index can be used for determining the nature and composition of residue metallic particles, which is likely to be of importance to forensic pathologists.

Keywords

• Injury
• particle analysis
• steel hammer
• trace residues