title: Computer-assisted virtual autopsy using surgical navigation techniques.
abstract: OBJECTIVE; Virtual autopsy methods, such as postmortem CT and MRI, are increasingly being used in forensic medicine. Forensic investigators with little to no training in diagnostic radiology and medical laypeople such as state's attorneys often find it difficult to understand the anatomic orientation of axial postmortem CT images. We present a computer-assisted system that permits postmortem CT datasets to be quickly and intuitively resliced in real time at the body to narrow the gap between radiologic imaging and autopsy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our system is a potentially valuable tool for planning autopsies, showing findings to medical laypeople, and teaching CT anatomy, thus further closing the gap between radiology and forensic pathology.
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190/52, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lars Christian
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Ebert
authors.forename: Thomas D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Ruder
authors.forename: Rosa Maria
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: Patricia M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Flach
authors.forename: Wolf
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schweitzer
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Thali
authors.forename: Garyfalia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ampanozi
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: Virtopsy; computer-assisted surgery; forensic radiology; surgical navigation; teaching; virtual autopsy