Presentation Title
Determining Donor’s Age through Blood Analysis using ATR FT-IR Spectroscopy
Panel Name
Forensic Science and Experimental Forensic Anthropology
Location
Lecture Center Concourse
Start Date
3-5-2019 3:00 PM
End Date
3-5-2019 5:00 PM
Presentation Type
Poster Session
Academic Major
Chemistry
Abstract
Phenotype profiling is useful in the forensics world to help narrow down suspects. It can be used to identify a subject using composition of their biological matrices. Attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy is the technique used to acquire (bio)chemical information of a sample. The goal of this study is to identify a person's age range using dried blood stains. For the purpose of this experiment, a diverse pool of donors between newborn (>1), adolescent (11-13), and adult (43-68) age ranges were used. It was found that different donors’ age groups have different levels of metHb and proteins in whole blood. Spectral differences are minor due to all samples consisting of the same components with only quantitative changes between them. Therefore, the collected data set was analyzed using chemometrics to enhance discrepancy and assist in statistical analysis. The plan is to create a statistical model that can classify unknown blood samples in the correct category of newborn, adolescent, or adult with statistical confidence. Overall, ATR FT-IR spectroscopy is nondestructive and can be a portable method used in the forensics field. Also, it is an inexpensive way to process data and the development of this statistical model could help increase the amount of identifiable information about an individual from evidence.
Select Where This Work Originated From
Research Assistantship
First Faculty Advisor
Igor Lednev
First Advisor Email
ilednev@albany.edu
First Advisor Department
Chemistry
Determining Donor’s Age through Blood Analysis using ATR FT-IR Spectroscopy
Lecture Center Concourse
Phenotype profiling is useful in the forensics world to help narrow down suspects. It can be used to identify a subject using composition of their biological matrices. Attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy is the technique used to acquire (bio)chemical information of a sample. The goal of this study is to identify a person's age range using dried blood stains. For the purpose of this experiment, a diverse pool of donors between newborn (>1), adolescent (11-13), and adult (43-68) age ranges were used. It was found that different donors’ age groups have different levels of metHb and proteins in whole blood. Spectral differences are minor due to all samples consisting of the same components with only quantitative changes between them. Therefore, the collected data set was analyzed using chemometrics to enhance discrepancy and assist in statistical analysis. The plan is to create a statistical model that can classify unknown blood samples in the correct category of newborn, adolescent, or adult with statistical confidence. Overall, ATR FT-IR spectroscopy is nondestructive and can be a portable method used in the forensics field. Also, it is an inexpensive way to process data and the development of this statistical model could help increase the amount of identifiable information about an individual from evidence.