Articles techniques et présentations

COMSOL Multiphysics® 4.0 was used to study conductive and convective heat transfer from the human eyeball to the surrounding air. Postmortem temperature decay curves were collected in eyeballs of numerous human corpses. Of course, these curves represent only a portion of the complete temperature decay curve, since the pathologist is able to start collecting temperature data only after some time has elapsed from when the individual has died. These portions of the actual cooling curves were compared to complete model cooling curves developed with COMSOL. Theoretically, if a model cooling curve can be superimposed exactly upon the actual cooling curve, time of death can be reliably predicted. Various reasons are offered to explain deviations between the COMSOL model and the actual temperature decay curves.