Roles of radiological technologists at Tsukuba Medical Examiner's Office equipped with a computed tomography system dedicated for the examination of corpses

Abstract

• What is the role of postmortem imaging (PMI)-specialized radiological technologists? • The PMI-specialized radiological technologists (RTs) can assist forensic pathologist. • RTs play important roles in postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) scanning. • Checklist to record PMCT findings is useful for interpretation assistance. The present report introduces the roles of radiological technologists (RTs) at Tsukuba Medical Examiner's Office in Japan where a computed tomography system dedicated for examining corpses has been equipped. Several projects and enacted laws regarding postmortem imaging (PMI) have accelerated its use in many Japanese hospitals for detecting causes of death. The lack of sufficient forensic radiologists has led increasing need of RTs to assist forensic pathologists in a timely manner. Optimizing parameters and image processing of postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) and assistance in interpretation of PMCT using checklists by RTs help forensic pathologist to diagnose death causes and select needs for the following autopsy.