I watch modern medicine collide with ancient history in a CT suite, where experts slide 2,200 year old mummies into scanners and pull out data that feels almost unreal. The virtual autopsies behind these cases show how hospital grade imaging can expose hidden amulets, bone disease and even clues to ritual, all without disturbing a single linen wrap.
Keck Medicine of USC’s 2,200 year old Nes-Min
Keck Medicine of USC brought an Ancient Egyptian mummy named Nes-Min into a clinical CT scanner, treating him like any other patient as he headed into the gantry in Los Angeles. Radiologists used high resolution imaging to revisit earlier, lower quality scans and, as one specialist put it, unlock a “treasure trove of information” about his skeleton and soft tissues. According to Keck Medicine of, the new data reveal age related degeneration in his spine and hips that mirrors ailments still seen in living patients.
Those findings feed directly into a broader program in which specialists use advanced CT technology to reveal new details about multiple mummies. By comparing Nes-Min’s joints and vertebrae with contemporary scans, clinicians can trace how lifestyle, labor and disease shaped bodies across millennia. I see direct implications for orthopedic research, since the same imaging protocols that guide today’s surgeries are now mapping how chronic wear and tear evolved in human populations.
Decker and colleagues’ 3D models of two 2,200 year old men
After scanning two additional 2,200 year old Egyptian men at USC, Decker and colleagues turned raw CT slices into full 3D digital reconstructions. After scanning the mummies, they even printed life size models of the men’s skulls and torsos for display at the California Science Center. That workflow lets visitors see internal fractures, dental work and embalming materials that would otherwise stay hidden, while preserving every original bandage.
One of the pair, identified as Ancient Egyptian Nes-Min in a separate exhibit context, was captured on his journey into the scanner by a Photo by Ricardo Carrasco II, underscoring how clinical tools are being repurposed for cultural heritage. By turning CT data into tangible objects, the team gives archaeologists, conservators and the public a way to study trauma patterns and burial practices in three dimensions, without ever reopening a sarcophagus.
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