KU Leuven University and the Federal Police have unveiled an innovative bloodstain analysis method for crime scenes.
This breakthrough stands to revolutionise the painstaking and time-consuming process of crime scene analysis. Forentrics, a collaboration between KU Leuven and UZ Leuven, has developed a new tool – “HemoVision” – which could make investigators’ jobs a lot easier.
Employing intelligent algorithms, this technology can analyse a bloody crime scene in less than 15 minutes and generate a number of scenarios – all in 3D.
"Typically, strings are used to connect blood splatters to the floor to identify the convergence and therefore impact point. This new method simply requires us to stick a checkered black-and-white marker next to the bloodstains, take photos of the scene and input everything into the HemoVision software," explains Géraldine Derave, a blood trace morphoanalyst. "This enables us to get a 3D scan of the location and generate a host of impact hypotheses based on the trajectory, shape and size of the droplets."
The main stated advantage of the HemoVision tool is the speed and accuracy – while also reducing the risk of contamination or alteration of the crime scene. "The software is very visual, which will undoubtedly facilitate the understanding of the facts in court and save considerable time for the entire judicial chain," predicts Sabine Gauquie, director of the Directorate of Technical and Scientific Police (DJT).
The procedure has already been tested in approximately ten cases in Belgium. Building on this collaboration with the Federal Police, Forentrics is now eyeing the international market.
