Project Forensa - Forensic Medical Case Management System
Team
- E/22/001, H.M.H.N. Aberathna, e22001@eng.pdn.ac.lk
- E/22/027, M.A.N.P. Anawarathne, e22027@eng.pdn.ac.lk
- E/22/120, A.S.V. Gunasiri, e22120@eng.pdn.ac.lk
- E/22/324, P.H.D. Rathnasiri, e22324@eng.pdn.ac.lk
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Problem Statement & Solution
- Key Features
- System Architecture & Technology Stack
- Database Design & Schema
- Testing & Quality Assurance
- Future Enhancements
- Links
Introduction
Forensic medical departments play a critical role in supporting healthcare and judicial systems by conducting medico-legal examinations, managing forensic cases, collecting evidence, and preparing authoritative reports for legal proceedings.
Project Forensa is a web-based Forensic Medical Case Management System designed to digitalize and centralize forensic medical operations. Developed for CO2050 - Database Systems, the platform provides a centralized, secure relational database solution for managing patient records, forensic cases, postmortem details, laboratory tests, evidence chain-of-custody, and court report submissions.
Problem Statement & Solution
The Real-World Problem
Traditional forensic medical units often rely on paper-based records or fragmented, unintegrated digital systems. This approach leads to several key challenges:
- Slow Data Retrieval: Manual searching across multiple registers delays legal and medical investigations.
- Risk of Data Loss & Corruption: Physical documents are vulnerable to loss, damage, and duplication errors.
- Traceability & Security Issues: Lack of proper access control exposes sensitive medico-legal records and makes tracking evidence custody difficult.
- Inefficient Reporting: Manual preparation of medico-legal and court reports is time-consuming and prone to human error.
Proposed Solution & Impact
Project Forensa introduces a centralized, role-based database platform that digitizes the entire forensic investigation lifecycle.
- Centralized Digital Database: Eliminates paper dependencies and data duplication.
- Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Restricts system access based on user privileges (JMOs, Doctors, Lab Technicians, Evidence Officers, Administrators).
- Enhanced Traceability: Tracks evidence transfers with automated chain-of-custody logging.
- Automated Medico-Legal Reporting: Generates instant daily, monthly, court, and statistical reports in PDF format.
Key Features
- Patient & Case Management: Seamless registration, tracking, and linking of patient histories with active forensic cases.
- Postmortem & Examination Logging: Comprehensive records for postmortem findings, injury documentations, and cause of death determination.
- Evidence & Chain of Custody Tracking: Real-time evidence logging, sample tracking, and transfer records to maintain evidence integrity.
- Laboratory Operations: Automated logging of lab test requests, specimen processing, and result submissions.
- Court Report Module: Streamlined creation, digital signing, and status monitoring of medico-legal court reports.
- Audit Logging & Security: Detailed tracking of all database write/update operations for complete accountability.
System Architecture & Technology Stack
Project Forensa follows a modern 3-tier web application architecture: