Forensic animation walks juries through complex processes

Michelle Beach is a forensic animation project manager with H Design Group in Springfield.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine what 30 images per second can do. Forensic animation is about creating moving pictures (at 30 frames per second) to describe events in everything from medical malpractice and personal injury to accident reconstruction and product liability. Forensic animation services have been used successfully in courtroom and mediation settings.

Animation brings about a new way of communicating. Many times the concepts that experts are trying to explain are complicated and difficult to understand. Animation presents the information in a way that enables the viewer to perceive a sequence of events through a medium that is easy to understand. Animation also enables an expert witness to have a visual aide to assist in testimony.

Dave Ansley of Hall, Ansley, Rodgers and Condry PC, has used visual consulting services on several different cases with impressive results. One example of the use of animation in the courtroom dealt with a misdiagnosed oral cancer tumor. The case had several issues that needed to be conveyed to the jury, the first being a timeline progression of the tumor's growth based on the medical reports and expert witnesses' testimony.

The animation incorporated 3D models of the tumor including a cross section of a person's mouth with a tumor and its intrusion into the tissue. In addition to being able to look at the tumor in cross section, the animation also was able to educate the jury as to how a cancerous tumor in the mouth could spread into the lymph node bed within the neck region.

H Design Group created both three-dimensional graphics that took the jury through a step-by-step process of the surgery that was required to rid the patient of the cancer. This included the surgical steps in a radical neck dissection as well as a full odontectomy, and the muscle graft that was needed to repair the face where the tumor had been removed.

Another case in which Ansley used animation services involved an ischemic stroke victim. This case presented a visual challenge in that the blood flow through the arteries of the human brain needed to be demonstrated. The animation was used to educate the jury as to how blood was supplied to the different regions of the brain from the three main arteries: anterior, middle and posterior.

Through the use of the animation, the jury was able to look at blood flow and get an understanding as to how the back of the brain could receive blood from the arteries that also sent blood to the front of the brain.

In addition to showing how blood circulates through the brain, the animation demonstrated how an occlusion can occur in the artery and then travel to a particular region of the brain. The animation enabled Ansley to explain a difficult concept from many different vantage points as opposed to seeing only one view that would typically be represented in traditional medical illustrations.

Besides courtroom presentations and mediations, animation can also be used for settlement packages.

Steven Harrell of Strong Law Firm used animation services for the creation of a three-dimensional brain lesion. This animation was incorporated into a settlement package. The brain lesion was created from MRI images from the patient and the consultation of an expert witness.

By building the brain lesion in three dimensions, the viewer of the animation could get a better appreciation for the size and location of the lesion. In addition, one could begin to understand how the lesion affected the patient's behavior and brain function.

H Design Group has also created animations which incorporate physical evidence such as MRIs, CT Scans, X-rays, and photographs with 3D models.

One case involving this approach was for a victim of a car accident. The driver of the vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer and sustained catastrophic injuries including a thoracic spine fracture that resulted in paraplegia.

In addition to this injury, there were about a half dozen other injuries that needed to be shown. An animation was created in order to walk the jury through the number of injuries and their locations, and convey the overall severity of the accident and resulting damage. The animation was able to present a massive amount of information in a way that could be easily understood.

Animation allows complex and difficult topics to be conveyed in a clear and concise manner. It brings an increased level of communication which allows the viewer to understand information that otherwise might be unattainable or left to the imagination.