Age Determination of Blood-Stained Fingerprints Using Visible Wavelength Reflectance Hyperspectral Imaging

Abstract

The ability to establish the exact time a crime was committed is one of the fundamental aims of forensic science. The analysis of recovered evidence can provide information to assist in age determination, such as blood, which is one of the most commonly encountered types of biological evidence and the most common fingerprint contaminant. There are currently no accepted methods to establish the age of a blood-stained fingerprint, so progress in this area would be of considerable benefit for forensic investigations. A novel application of visible wavelength reflectance, hyperspectral imaging (HSI), is used for the detection and age determination of blood-stained fingerprints on white ceramic tiles. Both identification and age determination are based on the unique visible absorption spectrum of haemoglobin between 400 and 680 nm and the presence of the Soret peak at 415 nm. In this study, blood-stained fingerprints were aged over 30 days and analysed using HSI. False colour aging scales were produced from a 30-day scale and a 24 h scale, allowing for a clear visual method for age estimations for deposited blood-stained fingerprints. Nine blood-stained fingerprints of varying ages deposited on one white ceramic tile were easily distinguishable using the 30-day false colour scale.

Interpol review of fingermarks and other body impressions 2016–2019

“…MALDI-ToF-MS was considered to determine the origin of a blood stain (i.e., “human” as opposed to “non-human”) following an in-situ bottom-up approach combined with proteomic differentiation of haemoglobin [ 457 ]. Visible wavelength reflectance HSI was proposed to estimate the age of blood-containing fingermarks [ 458 ]. Finally, with regards to blood pattern analysis, Shiri et al.…”

“… Note : due to a strong overlap between the two topics, the articles dealing with chemical imaging applied to spiked fingermarks (e.g., drug or explosives) for contamination imaging purposes only are cited in section 3.2.16 . Preliminary/Pilot studies : SALDI-MSI ➭ imaging of deprotonated fatty acids contained in sebum-rich fingermarks pre-processed by gold-silver sputtering [ 507 ]; Raman ➭ SERS to image artificially-enriched fingermarks left on functionalized glass and further processed with antibody-functionalized gold NPs (i.e., anti-lysozyme, anti-human IgG and anti-cotinine) [ 398 ], hyperspectral SRS to image endogenous fatty acids contained in sebum-rich fingermarks and exogenous compounds (i.e., gun powder and benzoic acid) contained in spiked fingermarks [ 193 ]; other ➭ LIBS to image ridge patterns and distinguish overlapping fingermarks through their content in ions [ 508 ], through their difference of ages [ 509 ] or by using a chemometric approach [ 510 ], DESI-MSI to image ridge pattern and provide information about the donor of the fingermark (e.g., such as gender, ethnicity, and age) through lipid profiling [ 185 ], HSI to estimate the age of blood-containing fingermarks through the absorption of haemoglobin in the visible range and the presence of the Soret peak at 415 nm [ 458 ], SKP and SEM/EPMA to image latent and VMD-processed fingermarks on metallic surfaces [ 434 ], synchrotron-based ATR-FTIR-FPA combined with confocal Raman microscopy to characterize secretion residue through spatial distribution of eccrine and sebaceous material [ 206 ], ToF-SIMS applied to flat metallic surfaces [ 435 ]. MALDI-MSI : The compatibility of AgLDI-MSI with conventional detection techniques was investigated [ 511 ] as well as the application of MALDI-MSI to case-related fingermarks [ 512 ] or to the new GBP polymer banknotes [ 427 ] – see details below.…”

On the Identification of Body Fluids and Tissues: A Crucial Link in the Investigation and Solution of Crime

“…Changes in the Soret peak observed at 415 nm are used to detect aging of the sample. In a set of fingerprints, aged over a 30 day period, HSI enabled the identification of the blood as well as aging of the prints [65].…”

The Future of Hyperspectral Imaging

“…In Cadd et al [ 7 ], a novel application of visible wavelength reflectance HSI is shown for both detection and age determination of blood-stained fingerprints on white ceramic tiles based on the signature of hemoglobin in the visible absorption spectrum between 400 and 680 nm and for the presence of a Soret peak at 415 nm. Blood-stained fingerprints were aged for over 30 days and analyzed using HSI.…”