New technology helps determine when fingerprints first appeared.

According to information from CNET magazine published on June 4th, police may soon be using a new technology, developed by researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Forensic Medicine, that can accurately determine the time of appearance of fingerprints.

A breakthrough in determining when fingerprints first appeared. (Image: Shutterstock)

This technology helps to accurately determine when fingerprints first appeared, with an error margin of 1 to 2 days, provided the fingerprints appeared within the last 15 days.

This technology currently does not allow for precise timekeeping down to the hour or minute; however, this breakthrough can be further researched, developed, and refined to eventually achieve accuracy down to the hour and minute.

According to researcher Marcel de Puit of the Netherlands Institute for Forensic Medicine: "The ability to determine the time a fingerprint appeared will help you determine when a suspect was at the scene or identify which fingerprints are relevant to the investigation."

Fingerprint identification, an investigative method dating back to the late 19th century, uses the unique marks left after a bare finger touches an object's surface to identify the individual whose fingerprints are used.

Fingers leave behind sweat and sebum (a mixture of amino acids, chlorides, fatty acids, etc.). Previously, attempts to determine the age of fingerprints relied heavily on the relationship between these mixtures, but were unsuccessful.

Research by a team of scientists at the Netherlands Institute for Forensic Medicine has found that the correlations between these mixtures of substances are key to measuring the time of their appearance.

"The chemicals in fingerprints are completely analyzeable," De Puit said. "Some substances disappear over time, and it is precisely the proportion of these chemicals that allows us to determine when the fingerprint appeared."

The amino acids in fingerprints, moreover, can be used to further confirm information about that individual. For example, if you drink too much diet soda, the amino acids will remain in your body and may be retained on your fingerprints.

This technology will require further research and testing on real-world cases to strengthen the fingerprint database before it can be used in criminal proceedings.

The research team at the Institute for Forensic Medicine is hoping that agencies and organizations such as the FBI or New Scotland Yard will take notice of this research and test it, and they also hope that this work will be implemented within a year.

According to Vietnam+