Virtual autopsy: Finally a use for the Surface PC

I've always been a bit skeptical about the idea of a Surface PC. I just haven't seen many interesting use cases in education that wouldn't be served as well or better (and more cheaply) by an interactive whiteboard or even a tablet PC of some sort. However, new technologies out of the Swedish Norrköping Vi­sualization Center demonstrate designed primarily for forensics have potentially broad applications in education as well. The so-called "virtual autopsy table" combines CT scanning with new techniques in MRI to produce three-dimensional models of bodies that can be visualized at very high resolution in ways not possible with traditional autopsies. Because autopsies are so invasive, studies of gross anatomy (as well as forensic investigations) can be hampered by the process. However, this technique, for example, allows users to simply make the skin transparent or to view cutaways of organ systems. This video, again directed largely at forensic investigation (and not for the squeamish, although far less gruesome than a traditional autopsy), shows the imaging in action:

Virtual Autopsies from NorrköpingsVisualiseringscenter on Vimeo.

A second video demonstrates its use on a multitouch table:

The Virtual Autopsy Table from NorrköpingsVisualiseringscenter on Vimeo.

While clearly a very expensive technology largely reserved for museums and large educational institutions (in applications outside forensics), it isn't a particularly difficult leap to see more mainstream uses as the cost of the imaging and table technology comes down. Libraries of images, whether human or frog, could be made available to schools, allowing for virtual dissections with far greater fidelity than any frog dissection has ever attained. High school and college biology, anatomy, and physiology courses could have access to a far wider range of dissection subjects than ever before, without the concerns associated with traditional dissections. While we're a long ways from replacing every science lab table with a water-resistant surface PC, Moore's Law gives a us a clue that visualization technologies along these lines aren't far from the classroom.