Opsit
Opsit is a project started of by myself, as part of my MSc research at the university of Bradford, and being carried on with the help of David Bryson. This work intends to make professionals aware of the use implants (of all kinds) can have in forensic investigations. Implants are becoming more of a day-to-day occurrence, more so in the western world. The American Association for Aesthetic Plastic surgery documented 11.7 million cosmetic procedures in 2007, and the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons documented 1 million joint replacements alone in 2005. Along with this the majority of body modification type implants in the form of piercing, the use of these implants as an aid to identification is phenomenal, yet is an area that has not been focused on and expanded, the majority of SOCO’s have little knowledge on the types of implants available and the information they can provide. Opsit intends to create a database of the variety of implants available, historical through to modern day implants, also the circumstances surrounding implants (i.e calcification, capsular contraction, siliconomas) as these can also indicate that there ‘was’ an implant available.

This is an ongoing project, and ideally in the future I aim to show the need for serial numbers to be placed on all implants. Currently the only implants required to be monitored are ‘life preserving implants’ such as pacemakers, and breast implants. There are databases in place for tracking these implants, so why not for more types? The MHRA has to certify implants in the UK; so again, there is the information out there.

Opsit intends to correlate all this information into an easy accessible database for forensic investigators and practitioners, also for the use of anthropologists, archaeologists and historians.

www.opsit.org.uk

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