Staff and specialities

Professor: Masahito Hitosugi, MD, PhD 
   (Board Certified Instructor, Forensic Medicine, Japan Society of Legal 
    Medicine)
   (Board Certified Supervisory Physician for Public Health and Social Medicine, 
    Japan Board of Public Health and Social Medicine)
Associate Professor: Mami Nakamura, MD, PhD 
Senior Assistant Professor: Marin Takaso, MD, PhD

Outline of the department

Our department provide all Forensic Medicine related services in Shiga Prefecture.
The main job is medicolegal death investigation including forensic autopsy. 
Also, under the prompt diagnosis of abused patients, preventive measures are taken incorporate with child and lady consultation centers.
The research in this department is concerned with the prevention, 
analysis of the mechanisms of death, development of the diagnostic technique 
based on the knowledge of histochemistry, pathology, biomechanics and biorheology.

Following projects are proceeding.
1. Promotion of the traffic safety. 
   We examined the traffic collision cases due to the sudden illness of the 
   drivers. 
   Effective pre-crash safety system is developed with R&D of automotive 
   manufactures. 
   Also, we medically support the diseased patients willing to driving resumption
   with rehabilitation staffs in Japan.
2. Analysis of the injuries. 
   We examine the injuries of autopsied victims and determine the mechanism and 
   severity of injuries. 
   With the reconstruction of the event scene by FE model, applied forces 
   (e.g. linear or rotational acceleration) are estimated. According to the 
   combined biomechanical knowledge and autopsy results, threshold of injuries 
   are examined. 
   These measures are applied for the promotion of sports, traffic, work related 
   injury prevention.
3. Prevention of thrombosis. Thombosis is one of the major cause of sudden death. 
   To improve the blood flow, substance with antithrombotic and fibrinolytic
   effects was extracted by Japanese traditional food natto. 
   To prevent the death due to thrombosis, we examined the usefulness of this 
   substance clinically.  
4. Research on disease of forensic interest.
   We are examining the sudden death syndrome and cardiovascular disease using 
   molecular biological techniques, immunohistochemistry and conventional 
   histochemistyry to search for diagnostic and/or preventative measures.
5. Development of precise means for estimation of postmortem interval.
   We are attempting to develop new precise method for the estimation of 
   postmortem interval using the quantitative analysis of the protease in the 
   cerebrospinal fluid.