London, July 13: The ‘bullet fingerprinting’ technology is now being advanced in new ways as a researcher in UK has developed a method to visualise fingerprints even after they have been erased.
The technique, developed by Chemistry researcher Alex Goddard at University of Leicester, involves studying the chemical and physical interactions occurring between the metal and the fingerprint sweat deposit.
Using advanced surface imaging techniques — such as an atomic force microscope, nano-scale observations of fingerprinted brass samples — can identify optimum conditions to promote the natural enhancement of the fingerprint, vastly improving their recovery rate.
It has also proven that components of the sweat deposit survive after washing and wiping of the surface.
“Once a finger has touched the metal surface, a residue remains behind, this starts to react with the metal and an image of the fingerprint can be developed by use of elevated temperature and humidity, with the resultant image becoming a permanent feature on the surface of the metal.” Researcher Alex Goddard said.
“Currently, fingerprint recovery from bullets is very low; less than 1 per cent. This uses a natural process and even if it only leads to small increase in success rate, then that would be significant,” Mr. Goddard added.
–Agencies