Fingerprint analysis is widely used in forensic science to connect assailants to crime scenes. Latent fingerprints are usually complex and difficult to analyze because they are often small, unclear, smudged, or distorted. Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Imaging � Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-IMS) offers a promising future in the field of forensics for the detection and imaging of fingerprints. MALDI-IMS is a highly sensitive two-dimensional spectrometric technique that can be used to visualize the spatial distribution of biomolecules without extraction, purification, or labeling of biological sampling. In this experiment, MALDI-IMS was used to detect and visualize latent fingerprints. Fingerprint images were formed according to the spatial distribution of the analyte of interest. Furthermore, fingerprints were laced with different substances, such as cocaine and caffeine, to establish calibration curves used to depict the detection limits and linear range of this novel technique.

MALDI imaging of latent fingerprints

245th National Meeting (2013)

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