Using Advanced Imaging Technologies To Enhance Autopsy Practices

• NCJ Number: 250698
• Author(s): Danielle Weiss; Danielle McLeod-Henning; Heather Waltke
• Date Published: December 2017
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Series: NIJ Journal
• Grant Number(s): 2012-DN-BX-K019; 2013-DN-BX-K004; 2016-DN-BX-K002; 2016-DN-BX-0173; 2016-DN-BX-0144
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance); Issue Overview; Instructional Material
• Award: Investigation of the Impact of Body Temperature and Post-Mortem Interval on Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of Unfixed Tissue; Investigation of Post-Mortem Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the Detection of Intraneural Hemorrhage; Improving and Evaluating Computed Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Investigation of Fatalities Involving Suspected Head Trauma; Facilitating Forensic Research in Multiple Fields Using a Unique Computed Tomography Dataset; Evaluation of the Routine Use of CT Scanning to Supplant or Supplement Autopsy in a High-Volume Medical Examiner's Office

Annotation

This report discusses what the U.S. Justice Department's National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is doing to transition advanced imaging technologies, such as computed topography (CT) scanning technology, into medical examiner and coroner offices.

Abstract

Currently, the use of CT scanning technology or computerized x-ray imaging to augment autopsies is common in Europe, Japan, and Australia. In the United States, however, this practice is not as routine for reasons discussed in this report. In some situations, the use of advanced imaging, such as CT, prior to or instead of a traditional autopsy would be advantageous and could offer solutions to some challenges faced by the medicolegal community, such as limited resources or circumstances that make cause of death difficult to diagnose with a traditional (gross anatomy) autopsy. Through research and international partnerships, NIJ is working to inform the forensic community of potential benefits and advance this resource to medical examiners and coroners nationwide. NIJ currently supports cutting-edge research being conducted at the University of New Mexico Health Science Center, and it hosted a technology transition workshop. In collaboration with the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI), NIJ created and shaped the International Forensic Radiology Research Summit (IFRRS), an international working group aiming to establish a research agenda of high-priority needs concerning advanced imaging technologies for forensic pathology applications. Continued collaborations, information sharing, technology transition, and support of a robust research agenda in advanced imaging for forensic pathology will improve medicolegal death investigations in the United States.