PM 40 and disposable scalpel

PM 40 with disposable scalpel used by pathologist to cut skin during post mortem, collected from the Department of Cellular Pathology at the John Radcliffe Hospital, 2016. PM 40 is the standard cutting scalpel used for post mortem.

Post-mortems are completed to establish cause of death on around 20 percent of people who die in Britain each year. After careful external inspection of the body, specialised tools are used to open it up to locate signs of disease or injury.

Equipment also protects the pathologist while they are working. While many of the tools and practices of post mortem have remained unchanged for years, digital imaging technologies are gradually being used to complete post-mortem examinations.