Norwegian innovation reveals the exact time of death. The tool is developed by two Norwegian academics of medicine, and is to be tested by FBI and Scotland Yard.
01/08/2007 :: The ”time of death” device that is called the TOD kit, measures the level of Hypoxanthine in the victim’s eye ball fluid. By extracting this fluid, the hand held kit is able to make a more precise estimation of the time of death. Today’s method was founded 70 years ago and has to be performed 24 hours after the victim’s death at the latest.
The new device is co-invented by Professor Torleiv Rognum at the University of Oslo and Professor Ola Didrik Saugstad at the Rikshospitalet University Hospital. The invention enables forensic medicine specialists to extract information from the eye ball fluid four days after the death. The level of Hypoxanthine correlates with the absence of oxygen and a decreasing body temperature.
In August 2007, Birkeland Innovation is establishing TOD Forensic A/S in collaboration with the University of Oslo and Medinnova at the Rikshospitalet University Hospital. In cooperation with Scotland Yard and FBI, the new company will test the product for a future international launch.
“We have been in touch with the FBI, San Diego Police Department, New York Police Department and Scotland Yard, which are so called gatekeepers on the market. Our goal is to gain acceptance by key actors in the market”, says Kristin Sandereid in Birkeland Innovation to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK).
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs