Raman Spectroscopic Method for Semen Identification: Azoospermia

• NCJ Number: 254251
• Author(s): Marisia A. Fikiet; Igor K. Lednev
• Date Published: March 2019
• Length: 5 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2017-DN-BX-0135
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Award: Raman spectroscopy for analyzing body fluid traces: Universal method development

Annotation

This article reports the findings and methodology of a study with the main objective of assessing the ability of Raman spectroscopy to identify semen traces in the absence of sperm.

Abstract

Semen evidence can be critically important in assault cases. In the past, semen confirmatory tests relied solely on the presence of sperm; however, current semen tests rely on the detection of proteins in the seminal fluid, because some semen contains no sperm, a condition called azoospermia. The authors' laboratory has been developing a Raman spectroscopic test for identification of dry traces of body fluids, including semen, for forensic purposes. An automatic software has already been built for differentiating all the main body fluids (Muro et al., 2016). (publisher abstract modified)