title: Circumventing substrate interference in the Raman spectroscopic identification of blood stains.
abstract: Raman spectroscopy has demonstrated remarkable capabilities in identifying blood in controlled laboratory conditions. However, substrate interference presents a significant challenge toward characterizing body fluid traces with Raman spectroscopy at a crime scene. Here, several possible solutions are explored, including the selection of laser excitation, isolating the signal of blood using spectral subtraction and using a favorable substrate for collection which minimizes interference. Simulated blood stain evidence was prepared and analyzed using a Raman microscope with variable laser capabilities. It is shown that the best approach for detecting blood depends on the nature of the substrate and the type of interference encountered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University at Albany, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222, USA.
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.forename: Vitali
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sikirzhytski
authors.forename: Igor K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Lednev
mesh_terms: D001801:Blood Stains; D005898:Glass; D006801:Humans; D054020:Lasers, Gas; D049449:Luminescence; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman; D013499:Surface Properties; D013784:Textiles
keywords: Blood detection; Forensic science; Raman spectroscopy; Statistical analysis; Substrate interference