Quantifying canine tissue stiffness change patterns using shear-wave elastography: implications for time of death estimation

This study investigates the applicability and reproducibility of shear-wave elastography (SWE) in detecting changes in tissue stiffness of canine carcasses. SWE was performed on six canines by two operators. The target organs were liver, spleen, kidney, and thigh muscles. SWE was performed ante-mort...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES
Main Authors: Ong, Wee Kee; Leong, Sook Sam; Azman, Raja Rizal; Shah, Mohammad Nazri Md; Vijayananthan, Anushya; Lau, Seng Fong
Format: Article; Early Access
Language:English
Published: TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www-webofscience-com.uitm.idm.oclc.org/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001303547100001
author Ong
Wee Kee; Leong
Sook Sam; Azman
Raja Rizal; Shah
Mohammad Nazri Md; Vijayananthan
Anushya; Lau
Seng Fong
spellingShingle Ong
Wee Kee; Leong
Sook Sam; Azman
Raja Rizal; Shah
Mohammad Nazri Md; Vijayananthan
Anushya; Lau
Seng Fong
Quantifying canine tissue stiffness change patterns using shear-wave elastography: implications for time of death estimation
Legal Medicine
author_facet Ong
Wee Kee; Leong
Sook Sam; Azman
Raja Rizal; Shah
Mohammad Nazri Md; Vijayananthan
Anushya; Lau
Seng Fong
author_sort Ong
spelling Ong, Wee Kee; Leong, Sook Sam; Azman, Raja Rizal; Shah, Mohammad Nazri Md; Vijayananthan, Anushya; Lau, Seng Fong
Quantifying canine tissue stiffness change patterns using shear-wave elastography: implications for time of death estimation
AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES
English
Article; Early Access
This study investigates the applicability and reproducibility of shear-wave elastography (SWE) in detecting changes in tissue stiffness of canine carcasses. SWE was performed on six canines by two operators. The target organs were liver, spleen, kidney, and thigh muscles. SWE was performed ante-mortem and up to 48-hours post-mortem at specific intervals. The Mann-Whitney U-test and Spearman correlation coefficient showed insignificant correlation between gender and weight with shear-wave velocity (SWV) in ante-mortem scans. The Kruskal-Wallis H-test showed significant differences in SWV for all organs. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) showed excellent correlation for all target organs except for kidneys. Pairwise comparison showed a similar SWV trend for abdominal organs. Accuracy metrics were calculated for determining the post-mortem interval using SWV values. The liver had the highest accuracy (0.69-0.83) across different post-mortem interval thresholds within the cut-off values of >= 2.0 m/s, 1.8-2.0 m/s, <1.8 m/s indicating <= 6 hours post-mortem, 12-18 hours post-mortem and >18 hours post-mortem. The spleen, kidney and thigh muscle demonstrated moderate-to-poor accuracy within the same cut-off parameters. Post-mortem SWV changes in canine solid organs, and soft tissues, particularly the liver, demonstrate a reproducible pattern, which may have value in determining the post-mortem interval.
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
0045-0618
1834-562X
2024


10.1080/00450618.2024.2394414
Legal Medicine

WOS:001303547100001
https://www-webofscience-com.uitm.idm.oclc.org/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001303547100001
title Quantifying canine tissue stiffness change patterns using shear-wave elastography: implications for time of death estimation
title_short Quantifying canine tissue stiffness change patterns using shear-wave elastography: implications for time of death estimation
title_full Quantifying canine tissue stiffness change patterns using shear-wave elastography: implications for time of death estimation
title_fullStr Quantifying canine tissue stiffness change patterns using shear-wave elastography: implications for time of death estimation
title_full_unstemmed Quantifying canine tissue stiffness change patterns using shear-wave elastography: implications for time of death estimation
title_sort Quantifying canine tissue stiffness change patterns using shear-wave elastography: implications for time of death estimation
container_title AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES
language English
format Article; Early Access
description This study investigates the applicability and reproducibility of shear-wave elastography (SWE) in detecting changes in tissue stiffness of canine carcasses. SWE was performed on six canines by two operators. The target organs were liver, spleen, kidney, and thigh muscles. SWE was performed ante-mortem and up to 48-hours post-mortem at specific intervals. The Mann-Whitney U-test and Spearman correlation coefficient showed insignificant correlation between gender and weight with shear-wave velocity (SWV) in ante-mortem scans. The Kruskal-Wallis H-test showed significant differences in SWV for all organs. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) showed excellent correlation for all target organs except for kidneys. Pairwise comparison showed a similar SWV trend for abdominal organs. Accuracy metrics were calculated for determining the post-mortem interval using SWV values. The liver had the highest accuracy (0.69-0.83) across different post-mortem interval thresholds within the cut-off values of >= 2.0 m/s, 1.8-2.0 m/s, <1.8 m/s indicating <= 6 hours post-mortem, 12-18 hours post-mortem and >18 hours post-mortem. The spleen, kidney and thigh muscle demonstrated moderate-to-poor accuracy within the same cut-off parameters. Post-mortem SWV changes in canine solid organs, and soft tissues, particularly the liver, demonstrate a reproducible pattern, which may have value in determining the post-mortem interval.
publisher TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
issn 0045-0618
1834-562X
publishDate 2024
container_volume
container_issue
doi_str_mv 10.1080/00450618.2024.2394414
topic Legal Medicine
topic_facet Legal Medicine
accesstype
id WOS:001303547100001
url https://www-webofscience-com.uitm.idm.oclc.org/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001303547100001
record_format wos
collection Web of Science (WoS)
_version_ 1812871766645669888