Yonago Acta medica 1996;39:113–118

A Computer System to Retrieve Forensic Medical Data Using the Internet
Masashi Inoue*†, Akihiko Suyama‡, Terutaka Inoue*, Shunsuke Meshitsuka†
and Yoshito Irizawa**Department of Legal Medicine, †Department of Health Systems and Informatics and‡Department of Hygiene, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago 683, Japan
A database system was designed, created and tested which enables users to easily retrieve
forensic medical information, such as autopsy reports. The system was designed utilizing
the World Wide Web, which at present is the most popular application for accessingthe Internet. The hardware of this system consisted of two main parts: a server computer
providing the service and a client computer requesting the service. Information could
be accessed at any time by client machines that were Internet subscribers. The ease of“point and click” searching for terms of interest was a particular benefit of this system.
The other advantage of this system was that graphic images could also be obtained.
Graphic images can be very useful for forensic scientists. For example, the ability todisplay images of organs promotes the understanding of autopsies. It was found that
the Internet was a very useful tool for forensic research.
Key words: computer system; database; forensic medicine; InternetThe Japanese Annual of Forensic Cases which
records autopsies and medical judgments is avaluable reference for forensic scientists toformulate their opinions. However, it is difficult to find specific items among many cases
contained in the records. For this reason theAnnual has not yet become as useful as it wasintended. Some attempts to create a computerized database of forensic cases have beenmade. Ohno and colleagues (1986) constructeda database on the main frame computer atTohoku University. Their database was designed to be accessed through the N1 network. The
N1 network is a computer network that universities share. The benefit of this system was thatit could be easily accessed by anyone who
subscribed to the network. Thus, by having a
database that was easily accessible, local anddistant users could equally benefit. The
problem with the N1 network was that it had
problems handling the traditional Japanesewriting system known as Chinese characters(kanji). Kanji characters were often lost orchanged during transmission from the main
frame via the N1 network to the local user. Tosolve this problem the English alphabet wasused to write in Japanese; however, this was nota satisfactory method of overcoming this language problem that computers had at that time.
The operation of the main frame computer was
also rather difficult and thus the N1 network did
not become widely used. For these reasons
their system did not become popular.
Technological progress has been made sothat now the performance of networks has improved markedly. Most academic institutionsin Japan now access the Internet. We havecarried out a study of a database system offorensic cases using the Internet. In this study,
we examined the usefulness of the Internet forforensic medicine. To do this, we installed primary forensic data into a database and thenmade this data available via the Internet.

Cases and Systems
One hundred and twenty autopsy cases from1992 to 1995 from our department were chosen
as the resource data. Besides this data we also113

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Fig. 1. A window requesting the user's ID and password. Autopsy case files were designed to be secure fromfree access. When the paragraph “Autopsy cases” on the Home page is “clicked on” this window appears.

made available information about our department. The format of documents of the autopsy
cases followed that of the Japanese Annual ofForensic Cases.
The method to retrieve the information wasdesigned to use the World Wide Web (WWW).
The WWW, which was developed at CERN inGeneva, is a global information system which isbased on the Internet. Basically, the WWW
system consists of two main parts: one is aserver computer providing the service and theothers are the client machines using the service.

To establish a Power Mac 7100 (Apple Computer, Cupertino, CA) as a server computer,which was located at the Department of LegalMedicine, Tottori University, the MacHTTP
program (Biap Systems, Houston, TX) wasinstalled. Information was arranged according
to the MacHTTP program and was stored on thehard disk of the computer. A second PowerMac 7100, which was used as the clientcomputer, was installed with the Netscape
Navigator program (Netscape Communications, Mountain View, CA).

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A computer retrieval system using the Internet

The WWW system, and its easy mouse
operation enabled users to efficiently findinformation available from the server computer.
Text in Japanese could be displayed with kanji,and graphic images also could be viewed as
easily as text. The introduction of our department had open access; but, the actual autopsy
cases needed to be restricted from nonauthorized access. Therefore, we needed todesign the system so that improper access could
be prevented.

System Operations
When the link between the client and server isestablished, a first page or, “Home Page” isdisplayed on the clients monitor. This page is a
gateway to the server and shows the table ofcontents. Highlighted words on the page signify where to “click” to see more detailed infor-mation. When a highlighted word is “clickedon” the link becomes active and provides
information related to that word. The services
Home Page contained two highlighted paragraphs. When the paragraph “Introduction”
was “clicked on” introductory text was displayed. Then, if the second choice “Autopsy cases”
was selected a security window appeared. In
our system, access was permitted to all. However, the actual autopsy case files were designed to be secured from free access. When theparagraph “Autopsy cases” was “clicked on”, awindow (Fig. 1) requesting the user’s ID andpassword appeared. The server has registeredsets of user identification numbers and passwords for users who were permitted to accessthe restricted documents. When both the user’s
ID and password matched those with registeredusers, access could be permitted (Fig. 2).
The advantage of a computerized databaseis that it is very easy to quickly find terms which

Fig. 2. Documents of the autopsy cases. Only users who are permitted to access can get the data.

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are sought. The WWW’s advantage is in providing this efficient retrieval. When the “Find”
field is clicked on a window appears that requests key words. One can then type any term
as a key word to see where it exists in the data.
WWW searches for the term in the data. If amatch is found the case where the term exists isdisplayed.
One of the specialities of the WWW is thatimages can also be easily displayed. When theresults of examinations are explained such as
autopsy cases or skeletal remains, showing
texts and images is effective in promoting
understanding. Figures 3 and 4 give an example of such cases. Figure 3 explains the resultsof an examination of a skull in which the term“suture” is shown as a highlighted word. In thiscase the highlighted word is linked with animage of the skull clearly showing a suture (Fig.
4). This enabled users to understand precisely
what the term meant.

Discussion
During the 1980’s computers became more
widely used. Several researchers (Kajiwara atal., 1984; Ohno et al., 1986; Suzuki at al., 1986;
Yamamoto at al., 1987) designed forensic medical
databases. Ohno and colleagues (1986) andYamamoto and others (1987) made databasesformatted to the criteria of the Japanese Annualof Forensic Cases. Yamamoto and others useda stand alone personal computer which could beused by only local users. Ohno and others constructed their version in a main frame computerconnected with the N1 network which allowed
remote access. Though both approaches werevery different, they both seemed to raise theusefulness of the Annual. Both approaches had
merits and demerits respectively. Here we consider features of both approaches. The advantages of Yamamoto’s system were that a system
can be created based on a user’s own criteria
and that the user could use it without any
restrictions imposed by a server. A drawback
was that the addition and/or changes of data had
to be performed individually for each computer;
thus, updating many computer was a time
consuming task. Moreover, if each computer
was updated at a different time, the risk arosethat some users would get different data at thesame time. In Ohno’s method the data only had
to be changed in the server. Centralization ofFig. 3. This text explains the results of an examination of a skull in which the term “suture” is shown as ahighlighted word. The word is linked with an image of skull.

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A computer retrieval system using the InternetFig. 4. An image of the skull clearly showing a suture. When the term “suture” is “clicked on” this image isshown.

the data on a networked system eliminates therisk of inconsistently distributed information.
There was an insignificant loss of access time
when the server was updated.
Every year 4500 cases must be added to theAnnual of Forensic cases. If the database of theAnnual is created that relies on the use of astand alone computer, it seems apparent that updating the system is cumbersome and very inefficient. All individual machines would have tostore the entire database which would be a redundant waste of memory when the data could beentirely stored in one central host machine. For
this reason a network system is the optimum
method for structuring the forensic database.

The Internet does not have the problem that
the N1 network has; for it can handle the Kanji.
Basically the Internet can transfer the Kanji
between any computer. User-friendly operationof the WWW mostly involves mouse clicks oroccasionally typing a few words, which enables
a beginner to easily find information. Users
need not be conscious of the distances between
the server and the client. Even when using a
local server, users can get responses as quickly
as if the server was remotely located.
The availability of the data via the Internetoffers many possibilities for medical research(Glowniak, and Bushway, 1994). The WWW is
now recognized as a useful communication tool117

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because it is user-friendly and can integrate
text, images and sound. Already, there are services available through the WWW (Metcalfe etal., 1994). For example, there is an image database system for biologists (Appel et al., 1994)
and for radiologists (Reuben et al, 1995). In thefield of forensic medicine, the ability to show
images as well as text is very useful for understanding cases.
The WWW runs in cooperation with a server machine and a client machine. We used two
Power Mac 7100’s: one as a server and one as aclient. Most computers can be used as servers
or clients, for example UNIX, Windows andMacintosh type computers. Many kinds ofsoftware are also available for a variety ofmachines. This makes it easy for a designer tocreate a server and a client system.
Security is also very important in designinga networked database, especially the security offorensic autopsy cases. Autopsy reports are
restricted to those who have authorization. To
secure the closed data against misuse, werestricted certain fields of the database throughthe use of identification numbers and passwords. Users who want to access the restricteddata must apply in advance for authorization to
the system administrator. Until the administrator registers the user’s ID and password,users can not access the data. As long as theuser’s ID and passwords are not misused thesystem is secure.
In this study where we tested an Internet
utilized forensic database it was found that theWWW was a useful tool for the forensic researcher. The user-friendly operation of thesystem enables people with very basic computer

skills to easily retrieve data, text and images.
By using the WWW it seems possible to construct a database following the format of theJapanese Annual of Forensic Cases. However,before doing this, we have to examine carefully
what information will be made available andwhich users will have partial or complete access, in accordance with the Medico-Legal
Society of Japan.
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(Received August 2, Accepted September 3, 1996)

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