Autopsy has also gone virtual with the new touch screen 3D virtual autopsy table developed by Swedish researchers from by Norrköping Visualization Center in cooperation with Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization using science and technology that is already being used in real world criminal investigation to complement real autopsies. The body is placed on the examination table under a CT scanner or a MRI machine and a CT scan is taken under 20 seconds. A specially developed technique known as ‘quantative synthetic MRI’ allows for scanning of dead bodies and provides data on soft tissue. The software converts the layer by layer data sets provided by the scans and builds a 3D virtual visualization of the victim's body. This allows the examiner to look at the body in microscopic detail by removing a layer of virtual skin and muscle to reveal skeleton and organs. The examiner can zoom in and out, view cross sections using a virtual scalpel and control the level of layer transparency with relative ease. This I have to say is an ingenious creation and it’s only a matter of years till the machine will be a pre-requisite for every new hospital.

[Gizmag]