How Has it Effected The Career?
Virtopsy has affected the field of Forensics in a huge way. One example is the way the job is done. Some people, and families of the deceased do not want the bodies to be cut open, because it is against their beliefs, and so a traditional autopsy can not be performed. Before Virtopsy, either the families of the deceased would give in (out of need to find out the circumstances of the death), or the autopsy could not be performed (and the specifics would never be revealed, leading to many unsolved crimes). This is where Virtopsy would come into use (though it is only one of many reasons of using Virtopsy). Virtopsy allows the database to scan the insides, and outsides of the body without cutting it open. It is sort of like a 3D scanner, but it can also scan the insides or the body, using radioactivity (sort of like an X-Ray, except it not only scans the bones, it scans every aspect of the body). Virtopsy can also detect the internal heat of the body, and detect internal discoloring (due to poisonings, or certain diseases inflicted upon the body).
Virtopsy is quite expensive, and is usually only run in emergencies. It also needs to be run by a human link, so Virtopsy will not take over the entire field anytime soon. It has changed the job forever. Now graduates pursuing a career in Forensics can use this wonderful software as a tool in their learning. They can perform practice runs (with fake cases), so they will understand how the sciences work, before transferring their knowledge onto the field and actually performing tests with real victims. This is a huge stepping stone in the field of Forensic Sciences, and Virtopsy will continue to expand and grow, so that it can be used as a vital tool in the escapade of locating crimes, solving mysteries, and finding killers. It will make the world a better place, with a lower crime rate.
Advantages of Virtopsy in Otherwise Unsolvable Cases (PROS)
- Preservation of the body in a virtual form.
- Observer-independent documentation of the evidence – "delegation of seeing to the machine".
- Complete, non-destructive gathering of findings from head to toe
- Data acquisition in parts of the body that otherwise would not be examined out of respect for the deceased (e.g. the face).
- Data acquisition in regions that are difficult to dissect and access (e.g. atlanto-occipital joints), and in cases of advanced decomposition.
- Visualization of the cardiovascular system.
- Replacement of manual dexterity by the "virtual knife" of the automatic sectional imaging technique.
- Standardized data acquisition procedure.
- High-precision, contamination-free sampling (poisons, infections, tissue, etc.) accurate to the millimeter.
- True-to-scale 3D documentation for precise forensic reconstructions.
- Clean, bloodless visualization of the documentation.
- Improvement in the quality of forensic reports – simultaneous examination by different experts via tele-forensics.
- Simplification of the assessment of evidence by improved comprehensibility of the visual 3D findings.
- Acceptance by relatives and religious communities over conventional autopsies.
- The complete saved data-set can be re-examined at any time if a second expert opinion is required, even after burial or cremation of the body.
- Rapid and complete data acquisition as part of analyses following disasters (terrorist attacks, plane crashes, etc.).
- Process allows a pathologist to detect internal bleeding, bullet paths, and hidden fractures that are currently difficult to isolate. Specific Virtopsy scans highlight air bubbles that obstruct blood vessels. These enter the body through a wound. This evidence can vanish as soon as a pathologist slices open a vein or organ and have had pathologists call for underwater autopsies so they can see the air escaping.
X Virtopsy is inadequate to the task of diagnosing natural causes of death, poisonings, infections, or heart failure.
X The equipment is prohibitively expensive – MRI machines upwards of a million dollars and CT machines at least a half million dollars.
X The scans cannot determine infectious agents or tumor types.
X A traditional pathologist uses all of his or her senses except taste to gain a complete understanding of the processes and conditions of the body. The Vitopsy does not allow for this.