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

Kat Arney

Writer

Dr Kat Arney is an award-winning science writer, broadcaster and public speaker, and is the founder and Creative Director of First Create The Media.

Website

• Image by Louise Murray
• This image is a finalist in the International Images for Science 2016 exhibition, organised by the Royal Photographic Society and supported by Siemens as part of the Curiosity Project
• Image copyright held by the photographer