Image Guided Virtual Autopsy: An Adjunct with Radiographic and Computed Tomography Modalities - An Important Tool in Forensic Identification

Abstract

The forensic examination of dead bodies is very helpful in order to identify the person, cause of death, gender, and solving the mysterious cases. It includes a number of techniques, out of which autopsy is the primary investigation that is performed in every medicolegal case. Because of mutilation technologies, traditional autopsy technique is most disturbing in terms of emotions and rituals of relatives. The use of radiology in forensic science comprises performance, interpretation, and reporting of radiographs that is helpful in detecting those changes that are not clinically visible. Forensic radiology plays an important role for identification of humans in mass disasters, criminal investigations, and evaluation of cause of death. The introduction of radiological modalities in autopsy techniques is a complementary tool for forensic identification and is known as virtual autopsy. The advance imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used in virtual autopsy in order to visualize and reconstruct the internal organs to know the site, type, and depth of injury. This review elaborates the role of maxillofacial imaging in image-guided virtual autopsy.