Imaging and virtual autopsy: looking back and forward

Abstract

In order to create a three-dimensional (3D) documentation of findings which can be reassessed if necessary by other experts, the research project ‘Virtopsy®’ was launched in the late 1990s. This project combined autopsy results with forensic imaging in the form of computed tomography, magnetic resonance tomography and 3D surface scanning. The success of this project eventually succeeded in convincing the courts in Switzerland to accept these novel methods as evidence. As opposition towards autopsies has grown over the last decades, Virtopsy also strives to find and elaborate additional methods which can answer the main forensic questions without autopsy. These methods comprise post-mortem angiography for illustration of the vascular bed and image-guided tissue and fluid sampling for histological, toxicological and microbiological examinations. Based on the promising results, post-mortem imaging, especially with 3D surface scanning, has meanwhile also been applied to living victims of assault, who have suffered patterned injuries due to bites, blows with objects, etc. In our opinion, forensic imaging is an objective method which offers the possibility for a reassessment of the findings by other experts, even after burial or cremation of the corpse, or healing of the injuries in living victims, thus leading to a greater security in court.

Challenges to Forensic Medicine in the Postmodern Era the Impact of the New Technologies

“…This "virtual preservation" of the body induces a decrease in the number of autopsies, an important issue when religious issues come forth (National Research Council, 2009;Ioan et al, 2012). It allows an effective assessment of some important items in a short period of time, involving more experts in specific subspecialties in order to obtain an optimal analysis, with the possibility to replay the scans (Badam et al, 2017;Bollinger, Thali, 2015). This last issue is mostly important in mass disaster fatalities, when scans can be directed for the identification of the victims in areas where they come from (Bollinger and Thali, 2015).…”

“…This last issue is mostly important in mass disaster fatalities, when scans can be directed for the identification of the victims in areas where they come from (Bollinger and Thali, 2015). The possibility to store the images proves its utility both in cases when there is a need to reexamine after the burial or cremation of the corpse (Badam et al, 2017;Bollinger, Thali, 2015), and in living victims, after the healing of the injuries (Bollinger, Thali, 2015). For the victims who were subject of various types of injuries, virtopsy helps to establish the trajectory of the projectile, to detect bone fragments-which in case of comminutive fracture of the skull would necessitate the reconstruction piece by piece (Bollinger, Thali, 2015) or projectile fragments, as well as to identify the fracture pattern or ocult fractures, objectives which are difficult to accomplish by the traditional autopsy.…”

“…These methods have been supplemented over the years by angiography which allows the assessment of the cardiovascular system using a peristaltic pump and the contrast solutions, allowing the estimation of the occlusion and of the rupture of the blood vessels and imaging guided biopsy-which allows to collect samples for laboratory analysis (toxicology, histology, bacteriology, virology) without the risk of contamination (Bollinger, Thali, 2015).…”

“…In the field of forensic imaging, the latest innovation is the Virtopsy® project, realized at the beginning of the 1990s by a Swiss research team conducted by Thali, who put together the abilities of the CT and MRI (Bollinger, Thali, 2015), scanning and radiological methods with the potential of the computers (Badam et al, 2017), complemented by minimally invasive techniques such as angiography and biopsy (Bollinger, Thali, 2015). In the same time, it is a "multi-disciplinary technology that combines forensic medicine and pathology, roentgenology, computer graphics, biomechanics and physics" (Badam et al, 2017).…”

“…It allows an effective assessment of some important items in a short period of time, involving more experts in specific subspecialties in order to obtain an optimal analysis, with the possibility to replay the scans (Badam et al, 2017;Bollinger, Thali, 2015). This last issue is mostly important in mass disaster fatalities, when scans can be directed for the identification of the victims in areas where they come from (Bollinger and Thali, 2015). The possibility to store the images proves its utility both in cases when there is a need to reexamine after the burial or cremation of the corpse (Badam et al, 2017;Bollinger, Thali, 2015), and in living victims, after the healing of the injuries (Bollinger, Thali, 2015).…”