Virtopsy—The Scalpel Free Autopsy: A Review of Literature

Abstract

Forensic medicine aims for the documentation of medical and other forensic findings in living and deceased persons for the police and the judiciary system. Autopsy is the scientific examination of bodies after death, where whole surface of the body as well as all the body cavities are explored to record the findings. At the same time it is also equally important to consider the sentiments of the relatives of the deceased who may get upset at conventional autopsies. So, if there exists a means by which all the findings in the body can be established without hurting anyone's sentiments should be accepted. Virtopsy or virtual autopsy is one step ahead in this field where three-dimensional (3D) scans using computed tomography (CT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pictures are employed sans using the scalpel for performing autopsies on victims to receive more information aiding in diagnosis and contributing significantly toward forensic science. This review wishes to highlight virtopsy as an important tool in forensic imaging and identification.