Spectral feature characterization methods for blood stain detection in crime scene backgrounds

Jie Yang; Jobin J. Mathew; Roger R. Dube; David W. Messinger

doi:10.1117/12.2224099

17 May 2016 Spectral feature characterization methods for blood stain detection in crime scene backgrounds

Jie Yang, Jobin J. Mathew, Roger R. Dube, David W. Messinger

Proceedings Volume 9840, Algorithms and Technologies for Multispectral, Hyperspectral, and Ultraspectral Imagery XXII; 98400E (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2224099
Event: SPIE Defense + Security, 2016, Baltimore, MD, United States

Abstract

Blood stains are one of the most important types of evidence for forensic investigation. They contain valuable DNA information, and the pattern of the stains can suggest speciﬁcs about the nature of the violence that transpired at the scene. Blood spectral signatures containing unique reﬂectance or absorption features are important both for forensic on-site investigation and laboratory testing. They can be used for target detection and identiﬁcation applied to crime scene hyperspectral imagery, and also be utilized to analyze the spectral variation of blood on various backgrounds. Non-blood stains often mislead the detection and can generate false alarms at a real crime scene, especially for dark and red backgrounds. This paper measured the reﬂectance of liquid blood and 9 kinds of non-blood samples in the range of 350 nm - 2500 nm in various crime scene backgrounds, such as pure samples contained in petri dish with various thicknesses, mixed samples with diﬀerent colors and materials of fabrics, and mixed samples with wood, all of which are examined to provide sub-visual evidence for detecting and recognizing blood from non-blood samples in a realistic crime scene. The spectral diﬀerence between blood and non-blood samples are examined and spectral features such as “peaks” and “depths” of reﬂectance are selected. Two blood stain detection methods are proposed in this paper. The ﬁrst method uses index to denote the ratio of “depth” minus “peak” over“depth” add“peak” within a wavelength range of the reﬂectance spectrum. The second method uses relative band depth of the selected wavelength ranges of the reﬂectance spectrum. Results show that the index method is able to discriminate blood from non-blood samples in most tested crime scene backgrounds, but is not able to detect it from black felt. Whereas the relative band depth method is able to discriminate blood from non-blood samples on all of the tested background material types and colors.

Citation Download Citation

Jie Yang, Jobin J. Mathew, Roger R. Dube, and David W. Messinger "Spectral feature characterization methods for blood stain detection in crime scene backgrounds", Proc. SPIE 9840, Algorithms and Technologies for Multispectral, Hyperspectral, and Ultraspectral Imagery XXII, 98400E (17 May 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2224099

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