virtopsy

n.

A virtual autopsy performed using medical imaging devices that create a detailed, three dimensional image of a body.

Example Citations:

Prof Thali and his team carried out an autopsy on the woman, but not the kind we're used to seeing in television shows such as CSI and countless police dramas. This was a scalpel-free, virtual autopsy, or "virtopsy" — a radical new approach to forensic investigation, in which Professor Thali is one of the pioneers.

—Laura Spinney, " Body of evidence: A radical new approach to forensic pathology: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/body-of-evidence-a-radical-new-approach-to-forensic-pathology-1987389.html," The Independent, May 31, 2010

The researchers are already pioneers of virtual autopsies, or "virtopsies", which use non-invasive imaging of a body inside and out rather than the radical post-mortem surgery typically used to determine cause of death. ... Their virtopsies combine 3D imaging of a body's surface with a CT scan of its interior anatomy. The result is a faithful, high-resolution virtual double of the corpse.

—Paul Marks, " Industrial robot hones virtual autopsies: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427316.400-industrial-robot-hones-virtual-autopsies.html," New Scientist, October 24, 2009

Earliest Citation:

In this project called Virtopsy, we used the newest generation of multidetector row CT (MSCT) and a l.5 Tesla MR scanner.

—Michael J.Thali, M.D., Peter Vock, M.D., and Richard Dirnhofer, M.D., "Virtual Autopsy with Radiological Cross-Sectional Modalities," in A Radiologic Atlas of Abuse, Torture, Terrorism, and Inflicted Trauma, CRC Press, February 27, 2003

Notes: Related Words:

CSI effect

CSI-esque

forensic animation

Categories:

Medicine

Crime