The Characteristics of Gas-Discharge Glow of a Liquid from the Achilles Tendon and Changes of Individual Components in the late Postmortem Period

Many techniques have been proposed to establish the time of death. Most of them do not apply in the late postmortem period. It is necessary to search for new methods, which based on the evaluation of well-known chemical and physical phenomena, but they have not previously been applied to solve this problem. The method of registering the effect of Kirlian (GDV method) refers to such methods. Earlier, one conducted studies that demonstrated changes in gas-discharge luminescence (GR) of Achilles tendon's tissue at different times of the postmortem period. It was also found, that changes in biochemical components last long after death. The method, which was proposed by us requires improvement. The aim of the study is to identify the features of gas-discharge glow of biological fluid samples from the Achilles tendon at different times after death. It was conducted an analysis of changes in components in a biological fluid. Materials and methods. The liquid from the Achilles tendon is extracted from the tendons of the corpses by compression in the press. The liquid was mixed with an isotonic solution in a ratio of 1: 4. Images were obtained on an X-ray film. They were then scanned and images of histograms were obtained. The intensity of the emission of droplets was estimated in the gray range. The whole interval was divided into 12 smaller parts. The analysis was carried out in Parts 1-7. The median brightness values (expressed in number of pixels) were used for further calculations. Biochemical examination of the liquid was carried out on devices, which used in the clinical laboratory. It was found that the fluid from the Achilles tendon tissue contains many components. The content of such substances as ALT, AST, Alkaline phosphatase, Amylase, total protein, albumin, bilirubin, urea, uric acid, sodium, potassium, iron is determined. Discussion. Changes in the intensity of glow of the liquid from the Achilles tendon at different periods of the post-mortem period are observed. This phenomenon has reliably different digital parameters depending on the time that passed after death. On the 2nd day after death, an increase in the intensity of liquid glow in certain ranges was noted. This growth slows down after the 4th day, but after the 6th again arises. After a 10-day post-mortem period, there are minimal differences in the intensity of glow in different ranges. This indicates the formation of more uniform structures in the liquid, which have a close energy activity. An increase in the number of enzymes (ALT, AST) even after this period was noted. The amount of protein degradation products, as well as GGT, alkaline phosphatase and amylase decreased dramatically after 7-9 days after death. Changes in liquid's components are probably related to autolysis processes that trigger the onset of uncontrolled biochemical reactions. After depletion of the tissue substrate, inorganic components and simple substances accumulate. The glow's intensity of the fluid from the tendon changes in connection with the vibrations of these substances, which have different energy activity and are excited differently in the high-frequency field. The predominance of the relative stability of liquid's luminescence in different ranges 10 days after death is due to far-reaching processes of degradation of the organic components of the tissue. The loss of water (dehydration) affects the characteristics of the liquid glow similarly. Conclusion. The method that is proposed can be used in forensic medicine to determine the time of death.