Forensic science international最新文献

{"title":"From images to detection: Machine learning for blood pattern classification","authors":"Yilin Li ,&nbsp;Weining Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112558","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112558","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (BPA) helps us understand how bloodstains form, with a focus on their size, shape, and distributions. This aids in crime scene reconstruction and provides insight into victim positions and crime investigation. One challenge in BPA is distinguishing between different types of bloodstains, such as those from firearms, impacts, or other mechanisms. Our study focuses on differentiating impact spatter bloodstain patterns from gunshot backward spatter bloodstain patterns. We distinguish patterns by extracting well-designed individual stain features, applying effective data consolidation methods, and selecting boosting classifiers. As a result, our model exhibits competitive accuracy and efficiency on the tested dataset, suggesting its potential in similar scenarios.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"375 ","pages":"Article 112558"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144614879","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Automated segmentation of the breech and firing pin faces of fired cartridge case images","authors":"Muthu Rama Krishnan Mookiah ,&nbsp;Roberto Puch-Solis ,&nbsp;Santo Farhan ,&nbsp;Busayo Ajala ,&nbsp;Niamh Nic Daeid","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112554","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112554","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Firearm identification plays a crucial role in criminal justice globally. The capability to link firearms to specific crimes is invaluable for investigations and court cases. Each firearm leaves distinctive markings on bullets and cartridge cases, creating a “mechanical fingerprint” that can be used for the comparison of bullets and cartridge cases and underpins this area of forensic science. Cartridge cases fired from the same firearm exhibit similar markings on their bases. These traces can be used for investigation purposes as a means to potentially provide a link between more than one scene where cartridge cases have been recovered, or to provide a potential evidential link between a firearm and a cartridge case. These applications involve comparing the markings on the base of two or more cartridge cases, consisting of the headstamp, breech face and firing pin areas. The headstamp area usually contains information about the manufacturer and the calibre. Once this is considered, the remaining task is to compare the breech and firing pin areas of the two cartridges. Currently, some automated methods exist for this comparison, all of which involve the removal of the headstamp area to minimize bias. Some semi-automated methods for headstamp removal are available, and recently, an automated deep learning method that can be applied to 256 × 256 pixel resolution images has been introduced. In this article, we also propose a deep learning method addressing a more computationally demanding task of removing the head stamp area in higher-resolution images, 512 × 512 and 2592 × 1944 pixels, which will permit the automated extraction of finer features at a higher resolution. We also (a) introduce a post-processing method that improves the performance of our method, (b) provide the labelled data that we have produced so it can be used, together with the NIST database of cartridge case images, as a benchmark for future research, and (c) provide the estimated weights and models of the convolutional neural networks that can either be used directly or as initial values for further research. This article contributes to the emerging body of research on deep learning applications in forensic science.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"375 ","pages":"Article 112554"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144655549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Charred or fragmented, yet comparable: Quantifying dental surface dissimilarity across teeth, jaws, and heat exposure","authors":"Anika Kofod Petersen ,&nbsp;Scheila Mânica ,&nbsp;Andrew Forgie ,&nbsp;Richard Boyle ,&nbsp;Hemlata Pandey ,&nbsp;Palle Villesen ,&nbsp;Line Staun Larsen","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112577","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112577","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurate dental matching is essential for forensic identification, particularly in challenging cases involving dentitions with no dental work, incomplete dentitions or damaged remains. This study evaluates similarity scoring schemes for 3D dental data using three datasets: full jaws versus single teeth (DATA-A), and two collections of heat-traumatized teeth (DATA-B and DATA-C). The similarity scores are assessed for their ability to quantify tooth curvature (dis)similarity and distinguish matching from mismatching dental comparisons. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the methods in handling dental fragmentation (ROC-AUC_DATA-A = 0.899 (95 % CI 0.840–0.948) and heat trauma (ROC-AUC _DATA-B = 0.996 (95 % CI 0.98–1.00); ROC-AUC _DATA-C = 0.993 (95 % CI 0.980–1.00), and that they offer a robust tool for forensic applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"375 ","pages":"Article 112577"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144631802","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Where did they come from? The accumulation of fibres from the home environment on daily wear","authors":"Yu Chen Lim-Hitchings,&nbsp;Geneviève Massonnet","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112562","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112562","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Forensic fibre comparisons are not limited to the fibres from garments purported to have been worn during or involved in the incident. They extend to potential secondarily or higher order transferred fibres originating from textiles in frequented environments. Comparisons in these cases may be made to recovered known textiles, or to other fibre collectives found in the environment and clothing of the involved individuals. The results of such comparisons have been purported to be valuable due to several assumed axioms. First, that the fibre population of an environment is highly characteristic. Second, that these fibres reliably accumulate onto everyday wear from day-to-day activities in these environments. Finally, that these fibres accumulate in significant enough quantities to form a pool of fibres that can be transferred again in meaningful quantities. This study addresses these assumptions by studying the accumulation of fibres from home environments on daily wear. 24 participants were recruited to submit clothing worn in their home. These clothes were taped and examined with microscopy to evaluate the diversity of fibre populations of different homes. Following this, 5 of these 24 participants participated in a longitudinal study where target fibres were identified from their first submission. Potential origins of these target fibres were searched for in their homes and compared with fibres recovered from the submitted clothing. Undifferentiated known materials were then used to access the intra-variability of the target fibres. Meanwhile these 5 participants continued to submit clothing of their own along with clothing provided to them over the course of 5 – 6 months. These were also taped and examined with microscopy to assess the quantity of these target fibres. The results provided support for the three mentioned assumptions, which strengthens the case for carrying out such comparisons in practice. Furthermore, the data could be reliably modelled with a negative binomial linear regression based on factors such as shedding, use, and storage. Such models allow for more robust evaluation of scientific findings in fibre comparison cases of related nature.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"375 ","pages":"Article 112562"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144596814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Automated rapid screening of new psychoactive substances using benchtop NMR technology combined with database search","authors":"Cui-Mei Liu,&nbsp;Wei Jia,&nbsp;Zhen-Dong Hua","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112564","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112564","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To combat the prevalence of new psychoactive substances (NPS), there is need for routine and efficient screening of the substantial amount of seized NPS samples. In this study, a rapid NPS screening method was established using benchtop NMR in combination with spectrum database search toolkit integrated within the MestReNova software. A benchtop ¹H NMR spectral database comprising 360 NPS reference materials was constructed for search purposes. While NPS analogues with minimal structural differences (for instances in one methyl, ethyl, oxygen, or halogen atom) exhibited high spectral similarity, they remained differentiable using benchtop NMR. Chemical shift correction, along with identification and removal of solvent peaks were key factors influencing the accuracy of the search results. The performance of four database search algorithms was compared using the spectra of 50 seized NPS samples. Peak purity search algorithm exhibited the highest positive detection rate. All 40 single component samples were correctly identified with the first hit. Additionally, novel unknown compounds were retrieved along with their structural analogues, helping in structure prediction and elucidation. Although peak purity search algorithm was not fully effective in identifying all analytes in the mixture sample, it successfully detected the major component. The established NPS screening method, integrating benchtop NMR with database search is rapid, efficient, and user-friendly, providing more straightforward structure information. With the increasing availability of commercial database search toolkit, benchtop NMR is expected to be widely applied for the rapid screening of NPS and illicit drugs in the near future.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"375 ","pages":"Article 112564"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144596740","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancing bloodstain visibility on dark surfaces: Specificity and sensitivity of infrared photography for detecting bloodstains","authors":"Charlotte Ellis ,&nbsp;Andrew Davidson ,&nbsp;Jennifer Lewis ,&nbsp;Aaron Opoku Amankwaa","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112563","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112563","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Low power microscopy and additional light sources are the standard tools used for searching items for blood in forensic casework. This process can be time-consuming and can yield limited information when examining dark surfaces due to poor contrast between bloodstains and the surface. This research investigated the specificity and sensitivity of Infrared (IR) photography in visualising various bloodstains on multiple dark surfaces using the Canon XA60 IR Camcorder. The specificity studies involved the comparison of the IR visualisation of neat blood and common substances found in casework (such as, mud, rust, lipstick, tomato sauce, marker pen, semen, urine, and saliva). To examine the sensitivity of the technique, dilutions of blood and water were created to determine the detection limit of the IR Camcorder. Among the substances tested, mud and rust were found to be absorbers of IR and appeared similar to blood, however they were readily discriminated in white light from bloodstains. In comparison to other body fluids, blood was the only sample that absorbed IR. Semen, urine and saliva reflected the IR. The detection limit of IR visualisation was up to 1:10 dilutions and occasionally 1:12 dilutions were visualised, but this was not consistent. Further studies revealed that exposure to IR does not influence or cause DNA degradation. In conclusion, this study found IR photography to be an efficient tool for blood searching as well as post-search enhancement and documentation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"375 ","pages":"Article 112563"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144596811","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mechanical asphyxia by hanging: A look back in search for evidence","authors":"Alberto Blandino ,&nbsp;Luca Pietro Ernesto Sbrissa ,&nbsp;Nicola Galante ,&nbsp;Giulia Pianese ,&nbsp;Emma Flutti ,&nbsp;Guido Vittorio Travaini","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112561","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112561","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The lack of pathognomonic findings to diagnose death by hanging is a well-known problem in forensic practice. This review examines the significance of signs that have been proposed over time as useful in forensic diagnosis, reporting the frequency of occurrence in the various published case histories. The analysis covered both internal and external signs, followed by an overview of potentially useful laboratory investigations. There is great variability in the frequency of occurrence of signs considered useful in forensic diagnosis. In addition, some of the signs that were considered historically valid must now be deemed not to be supported by sufficient scientific evidence as to their actual usefulness. There is a need for new case studies with overlapping methodologies and observed variables to enable effective and further comparisons.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"375 ","pages":"Article 112561"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144581411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparison of pre-mortem and post-mortem blood concentrations of analgesic and sedative drugs in intensive care patients","authors":"Ulrica Lennborn ,&nbsp;Anna Johansson ,&nbsp;Erik Lindgren ,&nbsp;Elisabet I. Nielsen ,&nbsp;Håkan Sandler ,&nbsp;Robert Kronstrand ,&nbsp;Johan Ahlner ,&nbsp;Fredrik C. Kugelberg ,&nbsp;Sten Rubertsson","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112551","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112551","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) often receive analgesic and sedative drugs. There is limited knowledge about the resulting drug concentrations in blood in the critically ill patient, and how these concentrations change after death. In this single-centre prospective study of deceased patients from a general ICU, the aim was to describe blood concentrations and post-mortem redistribution for ten common analgesic and sedative drugs.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We included 46 patients who died during intensive care. Blood samples were collected pre-mortem (before death), peri-mortem (within one hour after death) and post-mortem (through aortic arch sampling at the morgue or during clinical or forensic autopsy). Samples were analysed for clonidine, dexmedetomidine, fentanyl, ketamine, ketobemidone, morphine, midazolam, paracetamol, propofol and thiopental.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Post-mortem redistribution was significant for fentanyl, with a mean concentration increase from 3.1 ng/g to 5.2 ng/g (p = 0.002). There was no correlation between neither cumulative fentanyl dose nor post-mortem interval and post-mortem concentration changes. For the other drugs, the changes during the post-mortem interval were not significant. Median peri-mortem concentrations were 2.3–9 times higher than observed concentrations in a larger cohort of living ICU patients.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>In conclusion, of the investigated drugs, only fentanyl showed a predominant positive post-mortem redistribution, whereas for the other drugs, post-mortem changes were unpredictable. We also conclude that concentrations from the living may not be comparable to those obtained even shortly after death. These concentration differences, as well as the observed post-mortem changes, can influence toxicological interpretation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"375 ","pages":"Article 112551"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144588796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Corrigendum to \"Automated sex and age estimation from orthopantomograms using deep learning: A comparison with human predictions\" [Forensic Sci. Intern., vol. 374 (2025) 112531].","authors":"Inseok Kim, Sujin Yang, Yiseul Choi, Hyeokhyeon Kwon, Changmin Lee, Wonse Park","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112556","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112556","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":" ","pages":"112556"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144564729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"(Re-)positionning forensic research & development for increased impact in gunshot residue examination","authors":"Céline Weyermann ,&nbsp;Virginie Redouté Minzière ,&nbsp;Thomas Tilborg ,&nbsp;Kal Chana ,&nbsp;Hervé Ménard ,&nbsp;Bart Nys ,&nbsp;Ruediger Schumacher ,&nbsp;Sébastien Charles","doi":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112560","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.forsciint.2025.112560","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite its relatively high cost and time-consuming analysis, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) has been the “gold standard” technique for analysing inorganic gunshot residue (GSR) particles for more than 40 years. Conversely, research has largely focused on developing new techniques and innovations that have struggled to gain acceptance in routine GSR examination.This study aims to explore the persistent gap perceived between research and practice in the field of GSR, specifically why research continues to propose novel instrumental analyses that are not adopted in practice. This question was examined through a comprehensive literature review, a survey of GSR examination, and a round table organised at the annual meeting of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI) Expert Working Group (EWG) Firearms / GSR in Brussels in 2023.The literature review highlighted that publications on GSR have steadily increased over the past 20 years, followed by a slight decrease after 2020 to reach approximately 40 publications in 2022. In that year, 42 % of the relevant publications focused on the development of novel methods, while 26 % addressed issues related to GSR persistence, prevalence, and interpretation.Survey responses from 45 GSR experts confirmed that residues are mainly collected from hands with carbon stubs and analysed by SEM-EDS. Among respondents, 90 % work in accredited laboratories, and 95 % have little time for research beyond routine duties. While practical innovations have largely concentrated on the optimisation of current approaches, experts strongly support collecting additional forensic data on persistence, prevalence, and secondary transfer. However, such data often suffer from a lack of harmonisation and are only indirectly useful for the interpretation, which is gradually shifting from source to activity inferences.Both practitioners and academics advocate for increased collaboration to define and conduct more impactful GSR research. However, addressing the identified barriers may require systemic changes that go beyond simply increasing resources.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":12341,"journal":{"name":"Forensic science international","volume":"375 ","pages":"Article 112560"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144631451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}