Virtopsy is a virtual alternative to a traditional autopsy, conducted with scanning and imaging technology. The name is a portmanteau of "virtual" and "autopsy" and is a trademark registered to , the former head of the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the University of Bern, Switzerland.
Dirnhofer has proposed virtopsy as a partial or complete replacement for traditional autopsy, and he has asserted that virtopsy fully satisfies the requirement that medical forensic findings provide “a complete and true picture of the object examined”. Furthermore, virtopsy is said to achieve the objective “that the pathologist’s report should ‘photograph’ with words so that the reader is able to follow his thoughts visually”.
Concept.
Virtopsy employs imaging methods that are also used in clinical medicine such as computed tomography (CT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Also, 3D body surface scanning is used to integrate body surface documentation with 3D scene or tool scans. The choice of methods is further supplemented with 3D imaging-guided biopsy systems and post-mortem angiography.
CT is well suited to show foreign objects, bone and air or gas distribution throughout the body, whereas MRI sequences are strong in detailing organ and soft tissue findings. A comprehensive analysis of both surface and deep tissue findings may require fusion of CT, MRI and 3D surface data.
Resulting data can be archived and reproduced without loss, analysed elsewhere, or distributed to specialists for technically demanding analysis.
Because traditional autopsies can produce both different and additional findings compared to virtopsies, virtopsy is not a generally accepted method to entirely replace autopsies. In fact, the first scientific study detailing the results of comparing postmortem CT scanning with conventional autopsies concluded that single methods were not as useful as the combination of scanning and autopsy were.
Terms.
The term “Virtobot” is a trademark also registered to Prof. R. Dirnhofer. It describes a multi-functional robotic system.
The "Virtangio" machine is a device that is trademarked to Prof. R. Dirnhofer and manufactured by Fumedica .
Operative aspects.
With Prof. Michael Thali as operative head of the group, the virtopsy research team has operated out of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Zurich, Switzerland since early 2011.
Examination of death.
The idea to conduct virtual autopsy is not new. In 2003, the British Museum contacted the Institute of Forensic Medicine for their help performing a virtopsy on a 3000-year-old mummy named Nesperennub, as an autopsy could not be done without compromising the body. While manner of death, cause of death, time of death, identification of deceased and a range of practical and reconstructive applications are obviously related to medicolegal investigation of death, virtopsy methods were ground breaking in that they have established a new high-tech toolbox into both research and practice morphological investigation aspects of modern forensic pathology.
Since virtopsy is non-invasive, it can be less traumatic for surviving family members and may not violate religious taboos against violating bodily integrity.
Examination of the living.
Non-invasive imaging is also conducted in living or surviving subjects, but as that has been the main clinical application of CT and MR imaging to begin with, their use in medicolegal investigation of the living is not as ground breaking as using them for investigation of death. Nevertheless, a number of applications that may be regarded as specific for medicolegal imaging applications in the living have found attraction for virtopsy-derived methods:
Technology.
The technology currently used for conducting a “virtual autopsy” comprises
Virtopsy objectives.
The virtopsy idea was generated to yield results along a comprehensive number of performance indicators:
Advantages.
This method offers the following advantages:
Best practice.
The National Research Council in the USA, as part of its proposals for reforms in the forensic sciences, has proposed virtopsy as “Best Practice” for the gathering of forensic evidence.
In addition, the International Society of Forensic Radiology and Imaging was founded in 2012 with the aim of enabling a continuous exchange of research results among its members and developing quality standards for the techniques employed.
A Technical Working Group Forensic Imaging Methods was founded in 2005 by Michael Thali and Richard Dirnhofer. It aims to promote an increasingly internationally standardised approach.
Furthermore, a Technical Working Group Postmortem Angiography Methods was founded in 2012 to promote best practice. Under the direction of the University Hospital of Lausanne and comprising nine European institutes of forensic medicine, it is developing reliable, standardized methods and guidelines for conducting and assessing postmortem angiographic examinations.