Explained: What is virtual autopsy which was conducted on Raju Srivastava?

New Delhi: After continuous efforts by the medical experts, they couldn’t help stand-up comedian Raju Srivastava survive. He succumbed to his health issues and passed away on September 21 in AIIMS, Delhi. The 58-year-old comedian suffered a cardiac arrest while running on trade mill at the gym.

Soon after the death of the comedian, post-mortem was done using a unique technique in medical sciences called virtual autopsy said the head of the forensic department in AIIMS, Dr Sudhir Gupta.

Interestingly, unlike other methods of post-mortem, the virtual autopsy done on Raju Srivastava did not include any surgery, cuts, or dissections. 

What is virtual autopsy technique?

According to Dr Sudhir Gupta, the virtual autopsy procedure is done using high-tech digital X-rays and CT scans. Reportedly, this technique is much more time efficient than the traditional method.

Besides, the virtual autopsy method is non-invasive, meaning that no cuts or dissections are made on the body which makes it easier to release it for cremation or burial sooner.

Dr Sudhir Gupta stated that the traditional autopsy can be painful for the family as well as time-consuming. He also explained how different medical techniques are used to detect clots and damage inside the body without any surgery.

He said, “The radiological examination can detect fractures and blood clots invisible to the naked eye. Often there are concealed fractures and injuries which are difficult to spot. With the help of virtual autopsy, even smaller fractures like hairline or chip fractures in bones along with bleeding which are signs of antemortem injuries can be detected and they can be also documented in the form of X-ray films. These X-ray plates have complete legal evidential value.”

A virtual autopsy was done on Raju Srivastava based on the medical-legal case so that his collapse in the trade mill could have been explained properly.