Virtual Autopsies

A QUANTUM OF SCIENCE

Ever wondered what you could do if the multitouch screen technology used in iPhones were combined with high-resolution MRI/CAT scan images?

Some Swedish researchers did. The result is called the Virtual Autopsy Table.

The name is literal. 3D images of a human body generated by MRI or CAT scans are digitally rendered and displayed on the surface of a table-sized multitouch screen, just like the surface of an iPhone. Observers can then manipulate the image, displaying only certain tissue types, zoom in and out or free-rotating the image, and even cut through the image to display interior regions.

Although it may seem more reminiscent of a certain Firefly episode than a tool of modern medicine, it is likely that VATs will soon be in most cutting-edge hospitals, where doctors can use them to more accurately diagnose illnesses and surgeons can study your particular body *before* you go onto the operating table.

For more information:

Virtual Autopsy Table brings multitouch to the morgue (Engadget)

The Virtual Autopsy Table (Norrkopings Visualseringscenter, Sweden)

[N.B. - the video presentation is well worth watching.]


© AQOS / P. Smalley (2009)
Reproduction with attribution is appreciation