CT data-based navigation for post-mortem biopsy – A feasibility study

Radiopaque stomach contents in postmortem CT in suicidal oral medication intoxication: Report of three cases

“…11,12 We suppose that percutaneous, minimally invasive sampling of probes of stomach contents for microscopic and chemical-toxicological examination using CT-guided biopsy with aspiration needles might contribute to the qualitative and quantitative evidence of the intoxication substance. 12,13 Such combination of the methods may play an important role in cases in which consent for a full autopsy is not forthcoming due to relatives, religious tradition, or other factors, singly or in combination.…”

Virtobot—a multi‐functional robotic system for 3D surface scanning and automatic post mortem biopsy

“…To measure the accuracy of the biopsy module, a phantom was developed based on the one designed for our manual biopsy accuracy study (13). Unlike the original phantom, the new phantom is composed of a combination of wax and oil instead of gelatin.…”

“…Small lesions may be difficult to detect and incorrect sampling may lead to erroneous results. Image guided (CT-fluoroscope) (12) and navigated biopsy (13) provide the means to accurately localize small lesions, avoiding contamination or incorrect sampling, but these technologies may pose a significant radiation exposure risk to the examiner, who must be trained and skilled in order to achieve reasonable accuracy. Using robotic assistance for this task eliminates examiner exposure while ensuring accurate localization of the biopsy.…”

Autopsy

“…Minimally invasive image-guided techniques have been developed to allow extraction of tissue samples from the deceased. PMCT-guided biopsy involves inserting an introducer needle into the body under CT guidance, manually, with navigation systems or with robotic assistance (Aghayev et al 2007(Aghayev et al , 2008Ebert et al 2010). Once the introducer needle has been positioned appropriately (targeting a focal pathology, previously seen on PMCT examination, or a specific organ area), the biopsy needle is inserted through the introducer and the specimen is taken by firing a biopsy pistol device.…”