HOW TO OBTAIN

PRINTS FROM THE

FABRIC

New research aims to recover details and

fingerprint impressions from fabrics, a technique that
has until now proven difficult.

It is the first time in more than 30 years that

tissue fingerprinting has been a major focus for the
research team and they have already had a number
of successes.

A technique known as
VACUUM METAL DEPOSITION , or VMD which
uses gold and zinc to recover fingerprint marks is
being investigated as part of the research project.

The VACUUM METAL DEPOSITION, or VMD,

technique is a very sensitive technique already used
to detect fingerprint marks on smooth surfaces such
as bags, plastics and glass.

The ongoing research study by Abertay

Dundee University and SPSA forensic experts is
looking into its use in examining clothing and the
potential value it could lead to a police investigation.

Joanna Fraser, a Forensic Science researcher

at Abertay Dundee University, said:

"The research uses thin layers of metals to

show fingerprints people may have left on fabrics,
something that is much more difficult to see with
smooth surfaces. The technique has been used
since the 1970s and is used on many surfaces, but it
was never widely used in textiles."

"We take these fabrics, place them in a

vacuum chamber, then heat the gold to evaporate it
and apply a thin film onto the fabric."

Next, we heat the zinc, which is inserted into

the gold where there are no traces of fingerprints.
This helps reveal the fingerprint - where contact has
revealed the original fabric, where there was no
contact we are left with the gray color of the metal
film."

"One way to explain it is like a photographic

negative, where the colors are shown as their
opposites. Here the ridges show through the
fingerprint like light fabric, but where there are no
ridges we see the characteristic gray color of metal."

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 HOW TO OBTAIN PRINTS FROM THE
FABRIC.
Victor Manuel Placier Jiménez.
“Previously, it had been difficult to Expert in Criminalistics.
reveal a clear print on fabric, but we
have shown that this is now possible.
This is very good, but the challenge is to
develop this further and confirm its
effectiveness."

Paul Deacon, fingerprint manager

at the Scottish Police Services (SPSA)
unit and one of the experts on the
project, said: "Fingerprints have been
used as a means of identification for
over 100 years. But recovering
fingerprints from tissue has always
proven to be quite difficult.

We wanted to change that. "The

research is still in its early stages, but we
are starting to see results. “We have
shown that fabrics with high-definition
threads are the best at developing a
print and identification fingerprints have
been recovered from a number of fabrics such as
silk, nylon and polyester.”

Pablo Diácono added: "This type of print could

help the police piece together a chronology of events
and could be used to provide evidence in cases
where someone was pushed or grabbed, in a
particular area of their clothing."

For example, a palm print print on the back of

someone's shirt could indicate that they were kicked
off a balcony, rather than jumped.

Fingerprints left on fabric and other surfaces

can leave traces of DNA, so it can also help forensic
scientists visualize the best target area on a piece of
clothing to recover DNA evidence."

Only 20 percent of the population are

classified as "good donors" for leaving fingerprints,
so while the success rate is still low for recovering a
complete fingerprint from clothing, researchers have
had great success. in revealing the shape of a
handprint from a series of fabric types.

Lic Victor M Placier J Expert in Criminalistics.

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mpdesegd@gmail.com