Integrated System for Minimally Invasive Autopsy

Autopsies are commonly used for establishing the cause of death. Among others this procedure allows for identification of new or changing diseases, contributes to assessment of the quality of medical practice, and is also important in the evaluation of new therapies. Hospital autopsy rates have decreased from about 70% or higher in the 1960s to about 10% (or even less) nowadays. On the other hand, literature shows that results from autopsy are a very valuable source for quality control - it is generally believed that a 30%-50% autopsy rate of unselected cases is probably adequate to establish a strong quality assurance program in a general hospital.

Work in this project is based on the "Virtual Autopsy" concept ("VIRTOPSY") introduced by our main project partners University Bern and FORIM-X Gmbh. This novel way of minimally invasive postmortem examination is considered to have a potential as an alternative to classical autopsy and may help increase the autopsy rate and reinstate the autopsy as a key quality control tool in medical practice.

Expected outcome of the project is an integrated system for automation of the VIRTOPSY examination phases, based on our first system prototype installed at IRM Bern. This "VIRTOBOT" system will be modular and scalable so that different use aspects and requirements can be addressed in the most appropriate way. The resulting prototype will be used for development of appropriate examination protocols and for validation of the VIRTOPSY procedure in comparison with the "gold standard" of classical autopsy.