How to perform an autopsy without getting dirty.

Norrköping Visualization Centre and the Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization in Sweden have developed a Virtual Autopsy Table. The table makes use of high resolution MRIs to create incredible 3D images that can be manipulated on the table via multi-touch technology.

According to the Norrköping website “The technique used in this table is already utilized successfully as a compliment to the conventional autopsy. Apart from avoiding cutting in the body the doctors can see things that are difficult to discover in a conventional autopsy. Furthermore, the technique opens up for new opportunities in countries where autopsies are not accepted due to cultural reasons. The technique can also revolutionize the traditional health care in many areas.”

I sure wish we would have had one of these when I was a pharmacy student at UCSF. For some unknown reason, pharmacy students were forced to take a gross anatomy class. We spent a lot of long nights and weekends cutting up some poor corpse, and all that could have been avoided with a Virtual Autopsy Table. Using this sort of technology might not be ideal for a surgery resident, but it would work just fine for a pharmacy student. Imagine the utility if this technology could be combined with Zebra Imaging’s holograms.