New method for postmortem determination of alcohol intake

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Abstract

Background. One of the tasks of the forensic medical examination of acute alcohol intoxication on a corpse is to determine the amount of alcohol taken shortly before death. The disadvantage of existing methods for solving this problem is the need to remove fluid by spinal puncture of the corpse and determine the concentration of ethanol in it. This article shows for the first time the possibility of automated post-mortem determination of the amount of alcohol consumed without knowledge of the parameter ethanol concentration in the spinal fluid. Aim. To develop a mathematical model for postmortem determination of ethanol intake, based on objective parameters of ethanol kinetics and not containing the parameter of ethanol concentration in the spinal fluid, to implement the developed model in the format of a computer program. Material and methods. Regression and simulation mathematical modeling of single-dose ethanol kinetics. Writing the text of a computer program in C#. Results. A set of mathematical models has been developed to enable objective post-mortem determination of the amount of ethanol intake without the need for sampling and chemical-toxicological analysis of the spinal fluid. The set of computational procedures is implemented in the format of the computer program “Alcohol calculator Z 4.0.” Conclusions. The developed method of postmortem determination of ethanol intake and the program “Alcohol calculator Z 4.0” created on its basis are recommended for use in the forensic examination of acute alcohol intoxication on a corpse.

About the authors

German V. Nedugov

Samara State Medical University

Author for correspondence.
Email: nedugovh@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-7380-3766

PhD, assistant of the Department of forensic medicine of Samara State Medical University

Russian Federation, Samara

Vladimir G. Nedugov

Samara International Aerospace Lyceum

Email: megars1@yandex.ru

student of the Samara International Aerospace Lyceum

Russian Federation, Samara

References

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Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
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1. JATS XML
2. Fig. 1. Input window for the “Alcohol calculator Z 4.0”program. The adapted values from example 1 are entered in the text fields. The adaptation is achieved by converting the units of measurement of ethanol concentrations given in the example to mass-volume units, as well as by using the values of height and gender that are necessary for the program to generate the desired value of the reduction factor

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3. Fig. 2. A window displaying the results of the program “Alcohol calculator Z 4.0”, showing mass and volume estimates of the amount of ethanol taken for the input data shown in figure 1

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Copyright (c) 2020 Nedugov G.V., Nedugov V.G.

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