This report originally appeared in DOTmed Business News

Forensics is a demanding discipline that requires a broad knowledge base and creative approaches to aid in criminal investigations. The field offers a wide array of concentrations, encompassing many different fields of science, including anthropology, biology, chemistry, engineering, genetics, medicine, pathology, phonetics, psychiatry, computer technology and toxicology. The role of the forensic scientist is to ensure that accepted scientific principles are used to examine evidence and to obtain and interpret data by performing precise laboratory work, maintaining and writing detailed findings and explaining and defending these findings in a courtroom.

There are many tools at the disposal of forensic specialists, but radiology is often one of the most useful. Radiology has helped forensics researchers reveal clues that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. Challenging cases and enduring mysteries have been solved and nearly countless detective shows have hinged surprise endings on discoveries the process brings to light. The contraband revealed by X-ray being smuggled by a human container - the damage uncovered in the seemingly trauma-free body of a deceased individual- the list goes on and includes identification of the dead, gunshot wounds, anthropological parameters, forensic dentistry, bite mark analysis, larceny, art forgery, child, spousal, elderly abuse and human rights abuse, torture and terrorism. In fact, although there are artistic liberties taken, entertainment vehicles portray the forensic field in a generally accurate way. Its mission is to prove the existence of a crime or connect certain evidence to a crime by analyzing evidence, providing information to investigators, attorneys, judges and juries - crucial in determining whether someone is guilty of a crime. The reliability of a forensic scientist is vital because findings and decisions hold people's lives and freedom in the balance.
Medical Imaging & DNA Testing
Dr. Gil Brogdon, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Radiology at the University of Southern Alabama, is one of the foremost experts in forensic radiology. He is the author of "Forensic Radiology," as well as more than 330 scientific publications.




Dr. Brogdon believes that radiographers and radiologists are important members of a forensic team, contributing to the pathologists, anthropologists and those in the field like the police and detectives. With recent natural disasters like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as manmade tragedies like terrorist attacks and genocides - the contributions of radiologists and radiographers are more important than ever - giving insight into what cannot otherwise be easily examined. "I've been involved in identifying both child and adult abuse cases, police brutality cases, evaluating gunshot and stabbing wounds and physician and hospital malpractice cases," says Brogdon. "It certainly has been a very interesting career for me with many opportunities." He said that one of his most memorable cases involved a victim shot four times by three different individuals who each had a different weapon. "This man lived," Brogdon says. "I was brought in to determine by X-ray the sequence of firing, which gunman fired each shot and the direction of each bullet."

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