Blood-Spotting

Researchers from the School of Science and Engineering at Teesside University have devised a gadget that is able to date and detect traces of blood at crime scenes. The system which makes use of the new hyperspectral imaging device can scan for visible spectrum of haemoglobin present in the blood and speed up police inquiries.

The gadget works in unattainable locations to provide immediate results by making use of a liquid-crystal tunable filter which works by isolating different wavelength bands of blood against other material of similar colour. The device can also put an accurate age to the blood sample by analysing the colour of blood which changes with time.

The prototype built by researchers has demonstrated extraordinary levels of accuracy. It has dated month-old blood samples in just a day, a process that takes several days. The main aim of this gadget is to provide a better chronology and analysis of samples such as blood, sweat, semen etc. to crack cases at a faster pace.