Medico-Legal Update
  • Year: 2010
  • Volume: 10
  • Issue: 2

Conventional autopsy vis-A-vis technology: An overview

  • Author:
  • Lavlesh Kumar, Swapnil Sudhir Kumar Agarwal, Krishnadutt Harishankar Chavali, Chandresh Tailor

* Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, KLE University's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belgaum, Karnataka, India.

** Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Government Medical College, Chandigarh, India.

*** Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Government Medical College, Surat, India.

Abstract

Conventional autopsy has remained a valuable tool in medical teaching that allows a student to experience the information in a textbook and grasp the pathology in clinical contexts. It has played an important role in research activities and development of surgical techniques. Despite its well recognized importance 21st century is witnessing a huge decline in autopsy rates across the world for various reasons. Recently the conventional autopsy is being challenged by employment of advanced technology in which autopsy is guided by images like CT (Computed Tomography) scans, MRIs (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), MSCT (Multi slice Computed Tomography) and is named as ‘virtopsy’ or ‘virtual autopsy’. The present paper aims to put forth an overview of both methods and their suitability in Indian context.

Keywords

Conventional autopsy, virtopsy, virtual autopsy, images