Delhi’s AIIMS and Indian Council of Medical Research are jointly working on a technique for postmortem without dissecting the body and it is likely to be functional within the next six months, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. India will be the first country to start “virtual autopsy” in the south east Asian region, he said.
“The All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) are working together on a technique for postmortem without incising/dissecting the body. This technique is likely to become functional in the next six months,” he said.
The ICMR and AIIMS have studied global practices and taken up this project for “dignified management of dead body”, Vardhan said, adding that family members of the deceased feel uncomfortable with the traditional way of postmortem.
The minister said that all records will be digitally stored for review. He said the virtual autopsy will be cost and time effective as it would take only 30 minutes to complete one autopsy as compared to the two-and-a-half hours taken by a conventional postmortem. The new technique will facilitate and ensure there is no delay, he said. The process is being launched only at AIIMS but can later be introduced in other institutions, he said, adding that AIIMS would provide training.