The cutting edge—an investigation into the pressure necessary for cutting skin with different knife blade types

Abstract

Sharp force trauma is routinely encountered in forensic practice. Often the question is posed, how much pressure or energy would have been necessary to inflict a cut with a specific knife, in order to further characterize the perpetrator or determine his intent to cause harm. This paper investigates two knife blades and its individual pressures needed to cut through the epidermis and dermis. In order to examine the necessary force for cutting through the skin, we performed experiments on a piglet skin-on-gelatin phantom. Two similarly Show more