Raman spectroscopy to tackle the analysis of bloodstains in crime scene conditions
Description:
Blood traces are commonly found at crime scenes and can provide substantial information about the event that occurred and individuals involved. Determining the time of crime is an important goal for crime scene investigations, which can be achieved by estimating the time since deposition (TSD) of bloodstains. If crime scenes contain multiple sets of bloodstains, the calculated TSD should allow for the selection of bloodstains relevant to the crime; and therefore, reduce the number of samples which should be collected, documented, and processed.
Vibrational spectroscopy paired with chemometrics has shown provide reliable, rapid, and non-destructive methodologies to determine the TSD of bloodstains. However, research conducted with these techniques so far have analyzed the aging of bloodstains, specifically the degradation of hemoglobin, in ambient conditions. However, crime scenes are not always in such pristine environments and degradation rate of hemoglobin is commonly affected by the surrounding environment. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a model that is capable of estimating the TSD of bloodstains in different environments.
There are infinite varieties of potential environmental conditions. Our goal is to determine how potentially “extreme” conditions affect the aging mechanism of bloodstains, high temperature in particular. For this purpose, fresh blood samples were collected so that no anticoagulants were present, which potentially can affect the ex vivo aging mechanism of blood. The bloodstains were then aged in a controlled heated environment and tested at numerous time points post deposition. After the spectra were collected, they were loaded into statistical software for preprocessing and modeling. The reproducibility of heated blood analysis and TSD determination model will be discussed.
Speaker: Alexis Weber - University at Albany, SUNY and SupreMEtric LLC
Alexis is a Ph.D. candidate within the Chemistry Department at the University at Albany, SUNY, and COO of the start-up company SupreMEtric LLC. She received her B.S. from the University of Central Florida in Forensic Science – Analytical Track. Then going on to receive her M.S. in Forensic Science from the University of New Haven. Her research interests focus on the use of spectroscopy for forensic purposes, primarily the analysis of biological fluids and trace evidence. The combination of scientific research and entrepreneurship have provided a unique insight during her academic experience.
Co-Authors
Raman spectroscopy to tackle the analysis of bloodstains in crime scene conditions
Category
2023 Call for Oral Abstracts
Description
Session Number: C44-04
Session Type:
Session Date: Tuesday 3/21/2023
Session Time: 1:30 PM - 4:25 PM
Room Number: 115C
Track: Forensics & Toxicology
Category: Forensics, Vibrational Spectroscopy
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