Néellämpötilat

Néellämpötilat, a Finnish term, translates to "bone temperature" and refers to the core body temperature of a deceased individual. It is a crucial factor in forensic investigations, particularly in determining the post-mortem interval, the time elapsed since death. Understanding the rate at which a body cools is influenced by numerous environmental and physiological factors, making the interpretation of néellämpötilat a complex process.

Immediately after death, the body begins to lose heat to its surroundings through conduction, convection, radiation, and evaporation. This cooling process, known as algor Mortis, is not uniform and can be affected by ambient temperature, humidity, body mass, clothing, and the presence of any underlying medical conditions. For instance, a person with a higher body fat percentage may cool more slowly than someone with less body fat. Similarly, a body found in a cold environment will cool much faster than one in a warmer setting.

Forensic scientists and medical examiners use néellämpötilat, often measured rectally or in the liver, as one of several indicators to estimate the time of death. However, it is rarely used in isolation. Other indicators like rigor mortis (stiffening of the muscles) and livor mortis (pooling of blood) are also assessed. The accuracy of the time of death estimation based on néellämpötilat decreases as more time passes after death, as the cooling rate tends to slow down and eventually reach equilibrium with the environment. Therefore, néellämpötilat provides a valuable, though not definitive, piece of the puzzle in establishing the timeline of events following a death.