Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists are using a new technique to see fingerprints on suces that typically make them invisible.
The method uses a technology called mini-X-ray fluorescence (荧光) to detect chemical elements in fmgerprints without altering them, said Christopher Worley, a scientist on the project.
"The conventional methods are meant to bring out fingerprint patterns with regular light and they have to treat those with powder, which alters them," Worley said. "With this you do not have to alter it or treat it at all. We can determine the elements in a fingerprint and get a pattern at the same time."
The technology focuses a tight beam of X-rays on suces with fingerprints and creates a computer picture out of those scans.
The equipment costs about $175,000.
For big labs, the method could be a great way to bring out prints that can’t be seen any other way, said Vahid Majidi, another lab scientist.
"The technique fills a unique gap," Majidi said. "These are prints that would otherwise be useless. If you have prints on a dark suce, for example, they really do not develop well using normal techniques. If you have prints from an adolescent or child, the chemicals in the fingertips are different and do not stick around long enough for traditional methods."
The new method might also be able to tell if the person that left them handled certain types of bomb- materials, said George Havrilla, another lab scientist.
"This is a new approach to f’mgerprint visualization," Havrilla said. "We are lifting prints, but instead of looking at the finger’s natural oils and organic residues (残留物) we’re looking at elemental features left behind"
The technology for scanning the prints is widely available. What’s new is the method the lab has created to see them which includes computer software and Ways of managing the machinery, Worley said.
But the technique isn’t for everyone.
“We have already had some negative comments on it" Havrilla said with a laugh "One reviewer told us it is just not practical. But the goal of our work was to demonstrate that it was feasible to see these things.\
The new technique can determine whether one has handled certain types of bomb- materials because______