From the Research
In forensic medicine, cut injuries are primarily classified into incised wounds, chop wounds, slash wounds, and hesitation marks, with the most recent study 1 supporting the use of automated wound segmentation and classification to improve the assessment of injuries. The main types of cut injuries include:
- Incised wounds: clean, linear cuts with sharp, well-defined edges that are typically longer than they are deep, caused by sharp instruments like knives or razors.
- Chop wounds: deeper injuries produced by heavy, sharp instruments such as axes or machetes, combining cutting and crushing mechanisms.
- Slash wounds: superficial, irregular incised wounds often caused by a glancing blow from a sharp object.
- Hesitation marks: multiple parallel, superficial cuts commonly seen in self-inflicted injuries, particularly in suicide attempts. These wound types are differentiated by examining their edges (sharp versus ragged), depth, direction, and associated tissue damage, as discussed in 2 and 3. Forensic pathologists analyze these characteristics to determine the type of weapon used, the force applied, the direction of the blow, and whether the injury was self-inflicted or caused by another person, with recent research 4 highlighting the importance of considering the effects of heat on skeletal trauma analysis. The pattern, location, and distribution of cut injuries provide crucial information for reconstructing the circumstances surrounding traumatic events and establishing the manner of death in forensic investigations, as supported by the study 1 which demonstrated reliable classification of stab wounds with a pixel accuracy of 93%.