Although it is an unpleasant thought for the average person to consider, an autopsy is an essential part of the investigative process. An autopsy is defined as an examination of a body after death to determine the cause of death or the character and extent of changes produced by disease (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). It is often used to collect evidence, access body trauma, and/or diagnose illnesses or pathologies in a deceased person. It is often used in conjunction with police investigations in the quest for justice in the legal system. This sometimes involves cutting up the body to recover evidence or determine the cause of death. Very often, this option is not feasible, whether for religious or family reasons. However, it remains to be determined how and why this death occurred. X-rays are a valuable tool used by many death investigators. It is non-invasive and allows the examiner to have a preliminary starting point. A new innovation in this mode of investigation is called a virtual autopsy or “Virtopsy”. It was developed by Richard Dirnhofer, former director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bern, Switzerland. He was investigating a case involving the skull injuries of a murder victim. Its further developments paved the way for a Swiss team led by Professor Michael Thali of the Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, who began using X-ray imaging to create scalpel-free 3D images of intact cadavers (Honigsbaum ). included in the vitropsy system are at the cutting edge of technology. This includes robot-guided surface scanning for 3D recordings of the body surface in terms of scale and color. This is in addition to the visual examination carried out by...... middle of sheet ......10): 18-27. Article.Grabherr, Silke. “Postmortem angiography after vascular perfusion with diesel and a lipophilic contrast agent.” American Journal of Roengenology (2006): 515-523. Article.Honigsbaum, Mark. “Virtual autopsy: is this the end of the scalpel?” February 23, 2013. The Guardian. May 18, 2014. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. nd Definition. May 18, 2014. Spencer, Will. Tech-faq.com/virtual_autopsy.html. December 14, 2012. Document. May 18, 2014. Thali, MJ. "Virtopsy, a new imaging horizon in forensic medicine: virtual autopsy by post-mortem multislice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - a feasibility study." Journal of Forensic Sciences (2003): 386-403. Article.Thali, Professor MJ. Virtopsy. Zurich, 2014. Website. Wilkinson, Dr Caroline. “Nesperennub’s mother.” 2004. TheBritishMuseum.org. Article . May 18 2014.