@article{ref1,
title="An experimental model of tool mark striations by a serrated blade in human soft tissues",
journal="American journal of forensic medicine and pathology",
year="2014",
author="Jacques, Rebekah and Kogon, Stanley and Shkrum, Michael",
volume="35",
number="1",
pages="59-61",
abstract="Tool mark analysis is a method of matching a weapon with the injury it caused. In a homicidal stabbing using a serrated knife, a stab wound that involves a cartilage may leave striations from the serration points on the blade edge. Assessing tissue striations is a means of identifying the weapon as having a serrated blade. This prospective study examines the possibility that similar striations may be produced in human soft tissues. Using tissues taken at the time of hospital-consented autopsies, stab wound tracks were assessed in a variety of human tissues (aorta, skin, liver, kidney, and cardiac and skeletal muscle). Stab wounds were produced postmortem with similar serrated and smooth-edged blades. The walls of the stab wounds were exposed, documented by photography and cast with dental impression material. Striations were identified by naked-eye examination in the skin and aorta. Photodocumentation of fresh tissue was best achieved in the aorta. Striations were not identified in wound tracks produced by the smooth-edged blade. Three blinded forensic pathologists were assessed for their ability to detect striations in photographs of wound tracks and had substantial interobserver agreement (κ = 0.76) identifying striations. This study demonstrates that tool mark striations can be present in some noncartilaginous human tissues.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0195-7910",
doi="10.1097/PAF.0000000000000078",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PAF.0000000000000078"
}