CAS in Forensic Imaging and Virtopsy Training. Unrestricted

VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) STATEMENT OF NEED AND GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR Registration for CAS in Forensic Imaging and Virtopsy Training.

Background: The VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS), University Drive C, Pittsburgh, PA 15240, shall procure the registration payment for Dr. John Oldershaw to attend the CAS in Forensic Imaging and Virtopsy Training Course. This request is for training to be able to provide radiology-based pathology results for autopsies. This educational/training request is a result of VA Pittsburgh not having a Pathologist for autopsies.

This course is training for a contingency that Radiology can perform and read a CT scan for autopsy purposes. The major aim is to equip participants with in-depth theoretical and practical knowledge of indications, provision, diagnosis, and assessment of a variety of imaging methods in postmortem radiology and forensic imaging. Structure of the course Virtopsy is actively involved also in teaching and training.

Students will be learning directly from the pioneers those that started with wide-scale forensic postmortem scanning in 1999. The last decade has seen an unprecedented increase in the adoption of these techniques in the field of forensic pathology. Also, clinical forensic medicine increasingly bases expert opinions also on clinical imaging data and their interpretation.

With that, the content provides relevant up-to-date training for forensic radiology / forensic radiologists, for forensic pathology / forensic pathologists and for experts in associated fields. Our Forensic Imaging & Virtopsy Courses provide theoretical and relevant practical knowledge of forensic imaging, notably post-mortem CT and MR, forensic anthropology, post-mortem angiography, surface scanning and 3D-photogrammetry, robot-guided biopsy, and clinical forensic imaging.

For that, the course offers the participants computer access to actual cases that are then available for course/workshop training. The courses are offered as a CAS (Certificate of Advanced Studies) in Forensic Imaging & Virtopsy. The certificate is issued by the University of Zurich and can be obtained after completing all assessments and course modules. The modules can be taken separately, but not in any order. The Virtopsy Basic course (module I)Â consists of two days with a focus on postmortem CT (PMCT).

Lectures are followed by workshop sessions where participants will learn how to solve case related problems in context of the preceding lecture on a CT workstation. So, a lecture about drowning will be followed by a hands-on session with cases where drowning was an issue. The Virtopsy Advanced course (module II)Â takes three days, and it will make the imaging (PMCT, postmortem MRI) of a concise case that is followed by a full forensic autopsy available to course participants.

There will also be a similar case demonstrated in full examination for PMCTA (postmortem CT angiography). Also, the Advanced course expands the subjects of the Basic course with more detail. The Virtopsy Practical course (module III)  then starts the day after module III finished, that is, it starts on a Saturday and finishes the following Wednesday (compulsory parts) or Thursday (for those that wish to stay to work on their case books).

It teaches how to read PMCT more systematically, how to provide convincing written and image documentation for forensic use, it teaches practically how to perform PMCTA and also, how to perform 3D photogrammetry for surface documentation.

SPECIAL WORK REQUIREMENTS:

GENERAL: The VA shall pay the registration and course fees for the specified courses for Dr. John Oldershaw.

SPECIFICS: Registration Course Payment of CAS in Forensic Imaging and Virtopsy for Dr. John Oldershaw Precourse Visualization as standalone Module 0 Precourse Visualization for participants of Module 1 Module I:

Basic Course:

Mon 03/10/2025-Tue 03/11/2025 Module II:

Advanced Course:

Wed 03/12/2025- Fri 03/14/2025 Module III:

Practical Course: Mon 03/17/2025-Fri 03/21/2025 CAS in Forensic Imaging and Virtopsy Courses only: