Fingermark development on silver mirror surfaces: A comparative study between mirror chemical delamination assessment
R J Accioly1, E G Silva2, K C Mariotti3
1Departamento de Medicina Legal, Bioética, Medicina do Trabalho, Medicina Física e Reabilitação, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 01246-903, Brazil; Biometric Identification Group, Brazilian Federal Police, Foz do Iguaçu, PR 85863-720, Brazil.
Abstract:
Human identification and its involved science are present in the daily context of legal medicine, criminal justice, and humanitarian issues. The development of a mirror delamination method for fingermark enhancement on silver mirror substrates has resulted in an affordable and efficient alternative to obtain good-quality fingermark images for forensic investigations. However, efficiency and sensitivity comparisons between the novel method and established techniques are necessary to understand the limiting factors and practical applications. This study used a fingermark depletion series for comparative analysis of chemical delamination processes and 1) powder, followed by lift process; 2) superglue, followed by powder and lift process; and 3) polarized light techniques. The results demonstrated that the mirror delamination method detected more minutiae than powder and superglue treatments, increasing 227% and 23%, respectively. Polarized light system illumination detected 6% more minutiae than chemical delamination. The evaluation of the magnitude of these differences revealed that the silver mirror chemical delamination method could be an effective and noncontact alternative for the fingermark enhancement procedures.
