Cadaver detection: robots versus dogs

Tue, 03 Nov 2026 16:31:26 +0200

Let’s talk about: a comparison of the performance of electronic technologies and dogs trained to detect human remains..

Research question and objectives

Have you ever been confronted with the smell of a corpse? Me? Well … yes and no: as part of my studies, I had the opportunity to attend an autopsy. But (fortunately, I would say) the person had died the day before and, as the autopsy would reveal, of natural causes, with no impressive trauma. Apart from the smell of the autopsy room (the same as that of hospitals, due to the sterilization of autopsy equipment), I was therefore not exposed to the smell of death itself 😮‍💨. This experience would eventually convince me that I prefer working on bones 💀 rather than on more or less decomposed corpses 🧟. This smell, described by those who have experienced it as suffocating, can be explained by the degradation of tissues by bacteria and enzymes, which release chemical compounds (also called volatile organic compounds - VOC). However, if death is recent, or if the body is isolated in an airtight environment (for example, underground), this smell may be more difficult to perceive. At least for the human nose! Indeed, we can call upon our four-legged friends 🐶, whose olfactory system is so highly developed that they can detect these odors and can therefore help with the detection of corpses 🧟 (DeGreeff et al. 2012, Rendine et al. 2019, Cablk et al. 2012). However, this is not the case for all dog breeds, and it often requires regular training. More recently, researchers have developed an electronic nose (NOS.E) 🤖 which would also be capable of detecting these VOCs associated with the decomposition of the human body, mainly nitrogen- and sulfur-containing compounds, as well as alcohols and aldehydes (Brown et al. 2023, Karami et al. 2024, Sunnucks et al. 2024).
Although the effectiveness of cadaver detection dogs 🐶 is no longer discussed, we still lack an understanding of which VOCs specifically play a role in this detection, or at what concentrations. Yet this information is crucial for improving the training of these expert dogs and ensuring the credibility of their findings in court 👩‍⚖️.

Cadaver Detection on What's Up Research?!

Cadaver detection: robots versus dogs

Research question and objectives