Crime Light Imaging (CLI): A Novel Sensor for Stand-Off Detection and Localization of Forensic Traces

Overview

Journal Sensors (Basel)

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Biotechnology

Date 2023 Sep 28

PMID 37765793

Authors

Andrea Chiuri

Roberto Chirico

Federico Angelini

Fabrizio Andreoli

Ivano Menicucci

Marcello Nuvoli

Cristina Cano-Trujillo

Gemma Montalvo

Violeta Lazic

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Stand-off detection of latent traces avoids the scene alteration that might occur during close inspection by handheld forensic lights. Here, we describe a novel sensor, named Crime Light Imaging (CLI), designed to perform high-resolution photography of targets at a distance of 2-10 m and to visualize some common latent traces. CLI is based on four high-power illumination LEDs and one color CMOS camera with a motorized objective plus frontal filters; the LEDs and camera could be synchronized to obtain short-exposure images weakly dependent on the ambient light. The sensor is integrated into a motorized platform, providing the target scanning and necessary information for 3D scene reconstruction. The whole system is portable and equipped with a user-friendly interface. The preliminary tests of CLI on fingerprints at distance of 7 m showed an excellent image resolution and drastic contrast enhancement under green LED light. At the same distance, a small (1 µL) blood droplet on black tissue was captured by CLI under NIR LED, while a trace from 15 µL semen on white cotton became visible under UV LED illumination. These results represent the first demonstration of true stand-off photography of latent traces, thus opening the way for a completely new approach in crime scene forensic examination.

Citing Articles

A Novel LIBS Sensor for Sample Examinations on a Crime Scene.

Lazic V, Andreoli F, Almaviva S, Pistilli M, Menicucci I, Ulrich C Sensors (Basel). 2024; 24(5).

PMID: 38475005 PMC: 10933989. DOI: 10.3390/s24051469.

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