Safer and More Efficient Forensic Identification

Written in 1247 by a Chinese medicolegist, Song Ci, ‘Collected Cases of Injustice Rectified’ is thought to be the first monograph for modern forensics. The preservation of human life was Song Ci’s main goal. The ‘rectified injustices’ in the title alludes to proving the innocence of those who have been wrongly accused as guilty.

In present-day judicial proceedings, forensic investigators often utilize medical technologies to investigate the human body, its corpse, and other substances that might be relevant to legal cases.

As an example, in the case of deaths as a result of poison, investigators must verify that the death was caused by poison, but also what type of poison was used, and the amount of poison present in the body.

As such, a detailed analysis must be performed and precise and accurate identifications must be presented as a solution to these questions post-investigation.

The Customer

Important Department of Public Security Bureau: Criminal Investigation

In one municipal, the Public Security Bureau of Fujian Province, from the Technical Group of Criminal Investigation Department, identify and investigate suspicious miscellaneous material evidence for all criminal cases within the city.

They primarily focus on the investigation of personal injury or death cases and the verification of forensic material evidence, for example, skeleton parts, bodily fluid stains, hair samples, bloodstains, and toxics.

The Challenge

Improve Processing Efficiency

Forensic investigators evaluate a varied range of unusual materials, evaluating all kinds of suspicious materials collected from crime scenes.

These materials may include substances found at the scene (litter, vomit, excrement and more), bodily fluids (urine, blood, and so on), fingernails and hair, internal organs, and remnants as a result of buried decaying corpses (such as coffins and soil).

When asked, the majority of forensic investigators explained that modern analytical instruments are already technologically astute, with a high level of detection ability, sensitivity, and accuracy. However, 70% of the work carried out in the laboratory is actually used in the pre-treatment of samples.

Mr. Huang, Forensic Investigator for the Technical Group of Criminal Investigation Department in one municipal Public Security Bureau of Fujian Province explained that the field is confronted with two major difficulties. Firstly, how to enhance the processing efficiency of different amounts of samples, and secondly, how to decrease the risk of cross-contamination between samples.

IKA^® resolves a most important problem in forensic identification field, and we appreciate it a lot.

Mr. Huang, Forensic Investigator, Technical Group of Criminal Investigation Department in one municipal Public Security Bureau of Fujian Province

The Solution

Disposable Tube, World-First Dispersing Technology

IKA^® provided this customer with a ULTRA-TURRAX^® Tube Drive P control, which resolved these two issues perfectly.

For example, in the event of Acute Organic Phosphorus Poisoning (AOPP), forensic investigators must gather and evaluate the substances related to the deceased such as their leftover drinks, the container of the pesticide, urine, blood, gastric juice, vomit, lung, liver, kidney and more.

Among a range of samples, solid and semisolid samples can be acquired for evaluation through the use of organic solvent extraction. However, the lung, liver, and kidney must be homogenized before analysis.

The benefits of ULTRA-TURRAX^® Tube Drive P control control in this type of application are outlined below:

• ULTRA-TURRAX^® Tube Drive P control (with 50 ml dispersing tube). A tube disperser that can be utilized to process 3 to 5 g of lung, liver, and kidney tissues, and can perform the homogenization of one sample within one or two minutes. Various samples can be processed separately and at the same time, which greatly enhances the efficiency of the process in comparison with conventional manual grinding.
• Viscera samples are high in connective tissue and fibers, the special reverse function of ULTRA-TURRAX^® Tube Drive P control control can accurately resolve the challenges of connective tissue and fibers winding along the dispersing elements.
• Turbo key can instantly optimize the speed of dispersing elements to 8000 rpm. This greatly increases the dispersing efficiency, which in turn homogenizes the sample in an instant.
• Disposable tubes are employed. The samples are individually processed through the grinding process, which avoids possible cross-contamination that may occur on a common disperser after repeated use. The ground samples can be stored at a temperature of 4 °C in the same tubes for additional reference or analysis.

The Benefit to the Customer

Quicker and Safer, Avoid Cross-Contamination

The biggest requirement in the processing of toxic forensic samples is to avoid cross-contamination during sample processing.

ULTRA-TURRAX® Tube Drive P control can easily meet this requirement while enhancing the efficiency of processing. Officer Huang explained, “IKA^® resolves a most important problem in forensic identification field, and we appreciate it a lot.”

This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by IKA.

For more information on this source, please visit IKA.