Content Advisory
Please be aware that this content contains descriptions of violence that may be distressing to some viewers.NCJ Number
254297
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 64 Issue: 4 Dated: 2019 Pages: 1048-1056
Date Published
2019
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Since researchers have refrained from using carbon based fingerprint powder (CFP ) as a matrix due to high background and contamination, the current study reassessed the compatibility of CFP with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI MS ) and its imaging (MALDI MSI ), using a high-resolution mass spectrometer (HRMS) and compared to traditional organic matrices.
Abstract
The study found that relevant fingerprint compounds were easily distinguished from carbon cluster peaks when using HRMS. For fair comparison, half of a fingerprint was dusted with CFP while the other half was dusted with traditional organic matrices. All compounds studied had comparable, or higher, signal to noise (S/N) ratios when CFP was used as the matrix. Additionally, chemical image qualities closely followed the trend of S/N ratios. CFP proved to be an effective one-step development and matrix application technique for MALDI MSI of latent fingerprints, when carbon cluster peaks are well separated by a HRMS. (publisher abstract modified)
Grant Number(s)
2016-DN-BX-0190
Agencies
NIJ-Sponsored
Publication Type
Research (Applied/Empirical)
Date Published: January 1, 2019