title: Minimally invasive postmortem telebiopsy.
abstract: For the past 10 years, medical imaging techniques have been increasingly applied to forensic investigations. To obtain histological and toxicological information, tissue and liquid samples are required. In this article, we describe the development of a low-cost, secure, and reliable approach for a telematic add-on for remotely planning biopsies on the Virtobot robotic system. Data sets are encrypted and submitted over the Internet. A plugin for the OsiriX medical image viewer allows for remote planning of needle trajectories that are used for needle placement. The application of teleradiological methods to image-guided biopsy in the forensic setting has the potential to reduce costs and, in conjunction with a mobile computer tomographic scanner, allows for tissue sampling in a mass casualty situation involving nuclear, biological, or chemical agents, in a manner that minimizes the risk to involved staff.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Forensic Medicine, Center of Forensic Imaging and Virtopsy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. lars.ebert@virtopsy.com
authors.forename: Lars C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Ebert
authors.forename: Wolfang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ptacek
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fürst
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Thali
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hatch
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001706:Biopsy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D049429:Forensic Pathology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D015641:Radiography, Interventional; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012984:Software; D019112:Teleradiology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed