Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Virtual Viewing
04 November 2016

Virtual Viewing

When someone dies unexpectedly, suspiciously or violently, a coroner will usually ask for an autopsy – a post-mortem examination on their body. If someone has died from an illness, their doctor might also ask for an autopsy to find out more about how the condition affected them or for medical research. In either case, a pathologist will cut open the body and take a detailed look at the organs inside. Now there’s an alternative. Developed by Swiss scientists, Virtobot is a robot that combines various different scanning techniques to build up a picture of the inside of a deceased person’s body without having to open it up – a procedure known as virtopsy. It’s all done through a computer, and the data can be safely stored for many years. Although Virtobot won’t completely replace traditional autopsies, it could help doctors and coroners decide whether a full post-mortem examination is necessary or not.

Written by Kat Arney

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.