Ahmedabad: The Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) is working in collaboration with other institutions to prepare a report on the virtual autopsy, said its director, prof S Shanthakumar, in his recent convocation address.
“The Centre for Healthcare, Ethics, and Policy Research is working on several policy-oriented research projects. The centre is working on a policy document on virtual autopsy in collaboration with the home department of the govt of Gujarat,” said the director. He added that the centre was also working on a policy consultation with the govt of India on the withdrawal of life support systems.
A senior official from the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), another stakeholder in the virtual autopsy project, said that the process was also identified as virtopsy.
“While postmortem is carried out to know the cause of death and other details in medicolegal cases, it is a non-invasive procedure where methods such as multi-section CT scan, MR imaging, minimally invasive angiography, micro CT scan, and MR microscopy are used to understand the changes in bones, soft tissues, and blood vessels, among other aspects of the case. It can be used as a supporting method along with autopsy,” said the official.
Experts said that in India, only a few institutions, including AIIMS Delhi, are currently practicing virtual autopsy. The policy document will primarily look at its legal framework and implications for medicolegal cases (MLCs) in the context of Gujarat, including techniques, standardisation, and reporting.