PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR NONINVASIVE ESTIMATION OF TIME OF DEATH

摘要

The present invention is within the field of forensic medicine and relates to a process and a relative apparatus for noninvasively determining a time of death of a biological organism (9), said process comprising: emitting in succession over time ultrasonic waves (1) from outside (82) the biological organism (9) in such a way that said ultrasonic waves (1) propagate within (81) the biological organism (9); for each emitted ultrasonic wave (1), detecting from outside (82) the biological organism (9) an echo (11) resulting from a reflection and/or a backscattering within (81) the biological organism (9) of said ultrasonic wave (1); determining the time of death of the biological organism (9) by comparing: a temporal variation of an echo time between the emission of one (1) of the ultrasonic waves and the detection of its echo (11), or a temporal variation of a quantity which is representative of said temporal variation of said echo time, with reference data which are representative of standard temporal variation of this echo time or quantity.