Friday, April 29, 2011

Brooklyn Museum mummy under the scanner

NBC New York

A hospital CT scan device helped look back in time Thursday, examining a mummy more than 2,600 years old from ancient Egypt.

At North Shore University hospital in Manhasset, hospital doctors and researchers from the Brooklyn Museum used computerized topography, known as a CT scan, much in the same way it is used for a live patient.

"Normally we use this imaging to look at people's hearts, and what we did in this case, we scanned the whole mummy," said cardiologist Dr. Amgad Makaryus.

The device took more than 10,000 images of the mummy, allowing researchers to learn more about it without disturbing the delicate remains.

The mummy's name was Lady Gautseshenu, according to officials from the museum, which has had the mummy since 1934.

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