KU Leuven develops technology to analyse blood spatter at crime scenes

KU Leuven, in collaboration with the Federal Judicial Police, has developed a technology that allows faster and more accurate analysis of bloodstain patterns in crimes. They gave a demonstration of the system, called HemoVision, on Tuesday.

The shape and distribution of blood spatter at crime scenes can give police a lot of information, but analysing them takes a lot of time. Investigators have to analyse every drop of blood that lands on a wall by manually running a string from the drop to the floor. Doing this for each drop reveals an impact zone: the height and location where the victim was hit or injured.

With HemoVision, investigators place a few marks on the wall near the traces, take a picture and upload it to the system, and the software does the calculations. The analysis takes about 10 minutes and the results are more accurate and visually appealing.

Faster and more accurate

"The speed is a great added value, but the better visualisation is also important," says Sabien Gauquie, director of the Technical and Scientific Police. "We can better show judges and prosecutors what we really mean. Before, we often had to describe our findings in words."

The technology was developed with the Federal Judicial Police and tested at real crime scenes. The KU Leuven scientists have set up a spin-off company, Forentrics, targeting the international market. They are also considering extending the technology to include, for example, footprints in blood trails or blood stains.

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