Brown Adam G, Sommerville Daniel, Reedy Brian J, Shimmon Ronald G, Tahtouh Mark
Centre for Forensic Science, University of Technology, Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia.
J Forensic Sci. 2009 Jan;54(1):114-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2008.00902.x. Epub 2008 Nov 6.
Although the ability to develop latent fingerprints on paper using heat alone has been noted previously, it has been considered impractical for casework and inferior to other techniques. Here a new refinement of the technique is demonstrated for the high quality development of latent fingerprints on porous surfaces such as paper. Fingerprints deposited on various papers were developed by exposing them to hot air with a temperature in the vicinity of 300 degrees C, for periods of c. 10-20 sec. Several different heating methods were tested. The novel observation was made that after shorter heating times, fluorescent prints could be observed. These became visible after longer heating times, as noted by earlier workers, but with greatly improved contrast compared with their results. Prints from various donors (and aged prints) were developed with excellent ridge contrast. Direct heating methods (such as with a hot plate or press) produced inferior results. The refined technique, which is simple, safe and inexpensive compared with conventional methods, has great potential for use in forensic laboratories.
尽管此前已有人指出仅利用加热就能在纸张上显出手印，但一直以来该方法被认为在实际案件处理中不实用，且不如其他技术。在此展示了该技术的一项新改进，可用于在纸张等多孔表面高质量地显现潜在指纹。将沉积在各种纸张上的指纹暴露于温度约为300摄氏度的热空气中约10 - 20秒来进行显现。测试了几种不同的加热方法。有一个新发现，即加热时间较短时能观察到荧光指纹。如早期研究人员所指出的，加热时间较长后这些指纹会变得可见，但与他们的结果相比，对比度有了极大提高。来自不同捐赠者的指纹（以及陈旧指纹）显现出了极佳的纹线对比度。直接加热方法（如使用热板或压机）效果较差。与传统方法相比，这种改进后的技术简单、安全且成本低廉，在法医实验室有很大的应用潜力。
