Improving forensic healthcare: ARMED, a new telemedical examination.

Abstract

Background: the Istanbul Convention demands care to victims of violence while upholding forensic standards. Victims, however, often seek medical help at hospitals where the availability of forensic experts is limited. This results in overlooked injuries and lost or damaged evidence, ultimately impacting court proceedings and identification of individuals at risk. The aim of this paper was to establish real-time remote guidance for distant physicians during the forensic examination of violence victims.

Methods: Augmented Reality Assisted Medical Evidence Collection and Documentation (ARMED) was established in Heidelberg at the Institute for Forensic and Traffic Medicine (IFTM) in 2023 as an innovative telementoring model. Video-teleconferencing components including a head-mounted device (HMD), a customized software package, hardware devices, and a data management portal were employed to facilitate seamless expert care delivery, data sharing, and to ensure privacy and confidentiality. ARMED platform was evaluated in three partner hospitals with parameters including internet connection stability, clarity of live-streaming and audio-visual communication, the quality of photos, and the safety of data management.

Results: The combination of RealWear Navigator 500 as HMD, a customized version of videoconferencing software, and a portal server system for safe and secure patient data management constituted a robust, user-friendly, and practical telemedicine solution.

Conclusion: ARMED facilitates real-time communication between healthcare providers and forensic experts, enhancing their ability to recognize and detect injuries effectively. This holds the potential to significantly improve the process of evidence collection for documenting cases of violence, ultimately aiding in the pursuit of justice and the protection of victims.