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June 18, 2008
Chemistry professors developing camera for crime-scene blood detection
Detecting traces of human blood at a crime scene could become simpler and faster as two Carolina chemistry professors work to develop a special infrared camera focused on the task.
Stephen L. Morgan and Michael L. Myrick are using a $382,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice to develop a prototype imaging device. Their camera uses infrared spectroscopy and a novel polymer filter to detect the chemical signature of blood on common surfaces. The device would be faster than current detection methods and wouldn't alter potential evidence.
"It's not a confirmatory technique, but we think it will be a reliable and fast screening technique. You don't have to take samples back to the lab for analysis or work only in a darkened environment, which is required for current techniques," Myrick said.
The idea for the blood-detecting camera was inspired by research conducted by one of Myrick's postdoctoral fellows who was trying to detect the presence of a specific chemical with a specially prepared camera detector. Because the hemoglobin in blood contains proteins with distinct chemical compositions that absorb infrared light at certain wavelengths, Morgan and Myrick have worked to develop a camera that looks for those specific light-absorbing characteristics.
Crime scene investigators often use a chemical called luminol to determine the presence of blood, but it is toxic and must be used in the dark for investigators to see the luminescent spots that show up with a positive reading.
"Luminol can also dilute and degrade small remnants of blood left at a crime scene and render the samples unusable for further testing," said Morgan, who has been engaged in forensic research with funding from the National Institute of Justice and the FBI since the 1990s.
Morgan and Myrick have found that nylon fibers have a similar structure to the protein linkages in blood. That posed a potential problem because nylon is a common carpet fiber, but "we've been putting traces of rat blood on nylon carpet and have been able to detect the blood stains," Morgan said.
They hope to have a prototype completed by the end of the research project, then turn it over to a manufacturer for commercialization.
"There is quite possibly a sizeable market for a device like this," Morgan said.
Chemistry doctoral students focus the blood-detecting camera on blood-stained swatches of different materials.
Photo: University Marketing and Communications
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