Case Study

Speaking Bodies
Overview
Name: Hans-Jürgen Stoffels
Company: Institute for Forensic Medicine
Location: Cologne, Germany
Industry: Medical
Product: CorelDRAW® Graphics Suite

Bestselling authors Patricia Cornwell and Kathy
Reichs made us aware of the enthralling life of aforensic doctor. However, few know about theimportant role that the graphics software
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite plays in this profession.
Here is a peek behind the scenes.
Every day, the Institute for Forensic Medicine at the University
Hospital of Cologne receives numerous requests from thepolice, the Office of the District Attorney, judges, lawyers andprivate persons in matters such as child abuse, murder,
paternity suits or insurance disputes. Every now and then,cases involve corpses disfigured beyond recognition. Everytime a human body comes to harm, the staff members at theInstitute for Forensic Medicine are in demand. They are able todetermine whether a head injury originated from an accident
or a deliberate blow from a weapon. They decide whether afall from a window was suicide or murder. And they identify
an unrecognizable drowned body by means of DNA analysis,
as was the case with the tragic crash of the Air France plane inearly June 2009.

Every year, the 24 staff members at the Institute for Forensic
Medicine perform about 500 postmortem examinations. Theyknow that meticulous documentation of size, age, nature andappearance of lesions is critical in order to draw correctconclusions about the progression of events. The site of thetrauma is also documented: Where are the bullet holes, cuts
and fighting wounds located? As this comprehensive
documentation will be filed with the court records, it isimportant that they be recorded accurately. Until recently, thesketches were done manually, leading to inconsistency
amongst the various documentations. The Director of theInstitute, Professor Markus Rothschild, decided something hadto change.
The solution came from MedizinFotoKöln, the central
photographic laboratory of the University Hospital. Twelve
people work here, among them nine photographers and twographic artists. One of them is Hans-Jürgen Stoffels, a graphic
artist by birthright (his father was a freelance graphic artist).
Mr. Stoffels learned reprography and later studied art inCologne. He has worked at the University Hospital of Cologne
since 1977. And for decades, he has been using the graphic
software CorelDRAW.
“The good thing about Corel is that they always quickly
introduce innovations for the benefit of Corel users. For
example, CorelDRAW early on displayed a preview of theselected font type, a feature still missing in some of the more
expensive programs. I know that these kinds of enhancements
are described as 'user friendly',” he says.
As a veteran graphic designer Mr. Stoffels has step by steptaken part in the evolution from manual drawings tocomputer graphics. No matter which medium he works in, formore than 30 years he has been striving for the highest
quality and precision in his work. “Whether on the computeror directly by hand, precise work is essential for quality andauthenticity,” he says. His area of responsibility is diverse. “Icreate graphics for medical students, educational brochures
for patients, flyers for medical conventions and graphicalCase Study

descriptions of surgical techniques,” he recounts. “I have evenmade numerous cartoons and animations.” In the past, when
he used to work exclusively for neurosurgery, he also attended
surgeries to photograph or draw all the steps. But now,
because he works for many institutes as a graphic designer
and illustrator, and due to time constraints, he is no longer
able to work as a photographer.
For the Institute for Forensic Medicine, Mr. Stoffels was
assigned the task of making linear drawings of bodies ofdifferent ages for examiners to use when charting lesions
during forensic examinations. “That means I had to draw thefront, side and back of the body, and create detailed drawingsof separate body parts, such as the head, hands and feet, andall the organs and bones,” he explains.

The Institute for Forensic Medicine uses the PNG files provided
by Mr. Stoffels in Microsoft® PowerPoint® templates and WMF
files that can be linked to Microsoft® Word files. The medical
examiners can mark up these files and print them, or viceversa. In answering how long it took him to complete thisproject, Mr. Stoffels shrugs and says he was not permanently
working on this specific project. Occasionally, more essential
projects arose and took precedence. But it was completed in afew months. Mr. Stoffels speaks as fast as he works. His next
project, a flyer about the dysfunctions of the larynx for amajor HNO convention, is already lining up to be carried out.
His sidekick: CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, of course.

Mr. Stoffels proceeded methodically. First, he had to collect
the required material: photos of organs, drawings, evenmodels. The Web proved to be a fertile ground for research.
He downloaded a drawing of a skeleton and used it as atemplate. He then had to standardize and adapt all thematerial. “If the postures of a man and woman were different
in a photo, I adjusted them using CorelDRAW Graphics Suite,”he recalls. The ultimate goal was to create freely scalable
linear drawings of bodies, skeletons and organs that could beexported to EPS, WMF or PNG file formats for presentations
or forms.
From the beginning, Mr. Stoffels knew that he would use
CorelDRAW Graphics Suite for this task. He has used
CorelDRAW since version 2. “Corel is fast, easy to handle andcustomizable. Functions such as Zoom or Copy are easy touse,” he says, in explaining his rationale for choosing
CorelDRAW. “Corel has shortcut keys for all essential functions
which speeds the work process.” The speed factor wasespecially critical for him. “I am so fast that my colleagues saythere is no computer yet able to measure up to me,” hesmiles. “Only Corel [software] lives up to my expectations
regarding speed and ease of use.” No wonder he managed
this huge task from the Institute for Forensic Medicine singlehandedly. In describing how he proceeded, he explains: “Since
the drawings had to be clear and easily alterable, I focused
directly on vector drawings, which can easily be corrected andadjusted.” He sketched the outline of the model and, in the
final version, transformed the bitmap images into vector
objects. “This way the proportions are maintained regardlessof whether the printout of the drawing measures 10
centimeters or a meter,” he explains.

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