BENGALURU: Victoria Hospital here will soon adopt Virtopsy, also known as virtual autopsy, to examine bodies without cutting them open. Virtual autopsy uses scanning technology, especially a CT scanner, to scan the body. The images are then processed to a 3D visual representation of organs.
Victoria will become the first government hospital in South India to adopt this technology. Currently, AIIMS in New Delhi and NEIGRIHMS in Meghalaya perform virtual autopsies. St John’s Medical College Hospital in the city is the only private hospital to have this facility in South India.
A top official from Victoria Hospital said that the process of adopting this technology is nearing completion and the Department of Medical Education is keen on introducing virtual autopsy. Over 3,000 postmortems are conducted in Victoria Hospital every year. Virtual autopsy helps in examining the bodies faster. In the initial phase, virtual autopsy will be used in road accident and accidental fall cases as they typically have bone fractures.
“Also, in most road accident cases, people will be under treatment before succumbing to injuries. In such cases, generally there won’t be any foul play, which needs a detailed examination to find out the reasons for the death,” the official said.
However, murder, suicide and dowry death cases require conventional autopsy methods. “As technology has improved and there is accuracy in virtual autopsy, we can adopt it even to examine murder and suicide cases,” the official said.
A source said in the past, there was opposition to body incisions as some religious beliefs do not support them. However, doctors have to perform autopsies as per law. This technology can make the process less traumatic for families of the dead. Additionally, virtual autopsy can help in research and doctors are in favour of it, he added.