SEATTLE — The King County Medical Examiner and radiologists from University of Washington Medicine have teamed up to discuss a program that could change death investigations in the United States.
If a death is sudden, or needs to be investigated by the medical examiner’s office, research suggests using Computed Tomography scans-- better known as CT scans. These are full-body scans that provide x-ray images of bones, organs and tissues.
“It’s an exciting new tool to augment our understanding of what goes on in injuries and diseases that cause death,” said Dr. J. Matthew Lacy, chief medical examiner for Public Health – Seattle & King County, of a CT scanner that came online this summer at his Seattle office.
The machine is part of a fledgling program to buttress his team’s methodical inquiries with CT scan interpretations from UW Medicine radiologists.
The joint effort promises multiple upsides, not the least of which are better speed and clarity in providing information to decedents’ families.
See an edited Q&A interview with Dr. Lacy and Dr. Jonathan Medverd, chief of radiology at Harborview Medical Center, about death investigations and the emerging rationale for greater CT use locally and nationally here.
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