The #3DMed story continues at The Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine!

by Paul Mignone

Earlier this month, I had the fantastic opportunity to visit the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine to discuss the opportunities that 3D modelling and 3D printing can provide for professionals in the field of forensic science. While the historical list of scientific fields being misrepresented by non-scientific groups continues to grow, I cannot help but feel for the forensic science field. 

Popular TV shows like CSI have misrepresented forensic science to the point that the even our own Victoria Police has to get involved in expectations management! This impact on public perception is also known as the CSI effect, which can effect jury members during trail. At the same time, when I got to the VIFM, a very small part of me was hoping for a David-Caruso-like detective to start dropping some classic one-liners…

Alas, it was not meant to be. Nevertheless, I was still in for a pleasant surprise when I got to the institute. My reason for being there was to expand the awareness of Resbaz’s #3DMed initiative, which aims to build and up-skill the medical community in digital and data-science tools such as programming languages, 3D modelling and 3D printing techniques. 

VIFM Communications officer Ms Andrea Hince has been a strong advocate for VIFM collaborating with #3DMed, so much so that she offered for her colleague, Dr. Chris O’Donnell to present at our recent, highly successful 3D Printing for Medical Applications Seminar. His fascinating presentation on the use of 3D Printing in forensic science applications can be viewed below.

We had over 100 medical professionals attend the seminar early last month. When I started my presentation, I was equally surprised to see roughly 50 forensic science professionals at the presentation. Not only did Andrea go to amazing lengths to promote the event, but 3D printing was still very new to the forensic science field, with almost all attendees having never used a 3D printer before.

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My presentation gave a brief overview of my adventure into 3D printing, how it impacted my research (for the better) and how it’s opening up new avenues into cross-disciplinary research. Combined with small, carefully targeted amounts of research funding, 3D printing technology is able to produce high-quality and innovative research outputs. Our RPRWG projects are testament to this strategy.

After the presentation I got to meet some of the VIFM team, which was effectively the A-team of forensic medical research. People like Dr. Janet Davey, who is an Egyptologist keen to unravel the secrets of ancient mummies. I also met Dr. Soren Blau a forensic anthropologist interested in 3D interpretations of skeletal trauma in medico-legal investigations. 

I also got to see some of the facilities at VIFM, including toxicology and the MRI room. While I was amazed to see some parts of a technologically impressive scientific field, it was also a sobering experience given the work mainly involved the ‘ex-situ’ analysis of someone that has recently passed, and usually under bad circumstances.

I left the facility with a new appreciation for the forensic medicine field. The potential for 3D printing in forensic science applications are immense. With the MCRIP bid to build a new innovation centre now submitted, we hope to be in a better position to collaborate with researchers in this space. A big shout out to Ms Andrea Hince on all her efforts in organising a fantastic presentation and visit!