Researchers compile body scans for new database

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Researchers are converting thousands of full-body scans done by the state Office of the Medical Investigator as part of an effort to build a searchable database that can help anthropologists, criminal investigators and others.
The project is being funded by a $702,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice.
New Mexico has the only medical examiner's office in the U.S. that routinely makes CT scans of nearly every individual whose death is investigated. Between 2010 and 2017, over 15,000 scans were done, resulting in an unparalleled research resource.
Personal identifiable information is being removed from the scans so officials say privacy and anonymity are preserved.
The high-resolution images could be used for detecting child abuse, survivability of trauma and more accurate detection of forensic factors such as age and sex.