Postmortem interval explained more corneal spectral variation than temperature did.
ASCA-SHAP dual screening of PMI-related corneal ATR-FTIR spectral bands under temperature-dependent variation.
Qiang Chen … Shixiong Deng
Talanta · 2026
Background
The estimation of postmortem interval (postmortem interval) is a long-standing scientific challenge in forensic pathology, and its accuracy is susceptible to environmental conditions.
Results
postmortem time explained the biggest share of corneal changes
27.38%
PMI
5.94%
Temperature
21.57%
PMI × Temperature
More results
Therefore, the relationship between postmortem interval and spectral features may change with temperature conditions.
The higher interaction effect suggests that temperature does not merely introduce constant background differences but also alters the spectral evolution trajectory related to postmortem interval.
More results
Through this screening framework, 56 wave numbers were identified and merged into 9 consecutive candidate spectral bands.
However, they should not be interpreted as completely independent biomarkers that are completely unaffected by temperature.
“
Conclusion
The proposed ASCA-SHAP dual screening framework in this study can provide candidate spectral features for cross-temperature and interpretable corneal postmortem interval models.