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Article: Facing Harwa: high-tech virtual autopsies are revealing secrets of the dead and cures for the living.(Activity to Discover)
- Article from:
- The Evening Standard (London, England)
- Article date:
- September 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
At the Museum of Antiquities in Torino, Italy, archaeologists look upon the face of a 3,000-year-old Egyptian craftsman named Harwa--without unwrapping his mummy.
How? By performing a virtual autopsy inside a computer. It's done using an advanced technology called multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT). MDCT uses moving X-ray sources and powerful computer graphics to create a detailed image of a body. Then it slices that image into thin, parallel sections, like an egg slicer cutting through an egg. The process produces unprecedented views of the bones, organs, and other tissues. Like a real cadaver, the virtual body can be ...