Law-enforcement technologtyFrom 2,700-year old mummy to today's infants

Published 27 April 2011

A Vermont radiologist with a passion for archeology thought it would be a good idea to use a CT scan to find the cause of death of a 2,700-year old mummy in a Vermont museum; the Vermont medical examiner thought the same technique could be used to determine the cause of death of infants who die under suspicious circumstances, and other medical examiners across the country agree

Dr. Johnson with one of the CT images of the mummy // Source: mail.com

Dr. Jason Johnson is a fifth-year radiology resident at Vermont’s Fletcher Allen Health Care, the teaching hospital at the University of Vermont. He has been fascinated since childhood with archeology. His study of medicine has not changed that. A few years ago, on a visit to the Robert Hull Fleming Museum in Burlington, saw a 2,700-year old Egyptian mummy on display. He persuaded the museum – and the hospital radiology department – to put the mummy through the hospital sophisticated CT scanner.

NPR reports that the CT scan helped the hospital staff recreate a 3D model of the mummy head – and that they were able to do so by cranking up to power on the scanner to levels which would be unsafe with live patients.

The Vermont medical examiner heard of Johnson’s exploits and decided that the technique could be used to identify the cause of death of children, especially when there is a suspicion that the death was not caused by natural causes. Since Johnson scanned the mummy in November, the ME has used the technique to look into cases on an average of one a month.

The Vermont medical examiner is not alone, as MEs in other states are now using the technique in case of suspicious deaths.

Dr. George Ebert, the chief of imaging technology at the Radiology Department at Fletcher Allen, says that new CT technology is almost 1,000 times faster than twenty years ago, which also helps improve the ability to produce three-dimensional images, such as those used to create the model of the mummy’s skull.

Dr. Mary Ann Sens, the president of the National Association of Medical Examiners and chair of the pathology department at the University, told NPR: “That’s what science is all about. Every person’s death can mean something. When we examine it carefully it benefits society, it benefits the family and ultimately it benefits everyone.”