The Ministry of Justice on Wednesday launched three mobile units outfitted with forensic imaging systems to better support prosecutors and police investigations.
The first Forensic Mobile Radiography Truck was commissioned two years ago, but has now added new computed tomography (CT) scanners, X-ray machines and digital imaging devices to examine the human body, the ministry said.
The mobile units enable investigators to conduct “virtual autopsies” and provide much better images, and have helped coroners in a number of cases, Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) told a news conference at the ministry in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
The CT scanner and imaging devices were used in 38 cases requiring autopsies in the past year, and provided 97 percent accuracy in determining cause of death, compared with conventional autopsies, he said.
Due to the success of the trial period over the past year, the ministry has decided to expand the program, with public and private funding totaling NT$15 million (US$520,327) for two more trucks, Tsai said.
The three trucks are to be based in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung to service judiciary agencies across the nation, he added.
The program is being overseen by the ministry’s Institute of Forensic Medicine, with its coroners and specialists operating the trucks and mobile instruments, Tsai said, adding that the three units would begin operations by the end of the year.
Hsu Cho-hsien (許倬憲), a section chief at the institute, said that the truck can go wherever needed for post-mortem examinations, and the new scanning devices provide better-quality images, helping solve criminal cases and providing easy access to digital data for presentation at court hearings.
“It also keeps a body from going under the knife for examination,” Hsu said. “Victims’ families always demand not to have an autopsy, as it is Taiwan’s traditional culture to be buried intact.”
He estimated based on work experience that autopsies are only performed in 8 percent of criminal cases, impeding investigations.
Hsu said a CT scan helped find the culprit in a shooting case last year.
The victim was killed by two gunshots, and the imaging enabled investigators to verify the pathways of the bullets, he said.
In another case, a CT scan on a decomposed head assisted in making a 3D model, which helped police identify the body, Hsu said.
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