IX.+Bruising

__ **Bruising** __
 * A bruise (also known as a contusion) is caused by a to the skin which ruptures the red blood vessels beneath the skin.
 * A bruise is often shown on the surface of the skin with discolouration, ranging from blue, purple, to a more yellowish colour when it begins to heal.
 * Contusions often do not appear for a few days after the injury. This is often related to a number of factors including how deep the vessels that have been ruptured are.
 * The colour changes of bruises is caused by haemoglobin degradation and phagocytosis.
 * Phagocytosis is a process in which phagocytes digest micro-organisms and debris.
 * A phagocyte is a cell that digests debris and micro-organisms.
 * Larger phagocytes ingest red blood cells convert haemoglobin to bilirubin (which is responsible for the yellowish colour of a contusion.
 * Colours of bruises change depending on how much blood or fluid in tissue has escaped and the distance of the contusion from the outer layer of the skin.

**__ Forensics: __**

To determine if and how a victim was strangled the examiner would examine the neck region. They would be looking at things like symmetry, deformities, or other signs of fractures. The specific signs of strangulation are externally, deep bruising to neck region, and internally a fracture to the hyoid bone. Examiners would look for bruising in the form of hands if the victim was manually strangled, or in the form of the ligature if the victim was strangled with an object. If an object was used, fibers or transfer may be found from the ligature on the victim’s skin (this trace evidence would be subjected to (** mass spectrometry, microscopic comparison, and/or chromatography **).