Locating Semen on Live Skin Using Visible Fluorescence

The location of semen on skin is very important in the clinical examination of sexual assault victims. Recent literature has questioned the effectiveness of Ultra Violet (UV) light to not only detect semen evidence but to distinguish such evidence from other material. This paper explores the effective use of visible fluorescence as an alternative to the UV fluorescence in locating semen on live skin. The effective use of fluorescence photography with both film and CCD cameras to capture hard copy images of semen are evaluated and discussed. The results show that effective location of semen on live skin can be achieved using visible fluorescence techniques. 1.0 Background: In 1919 Dr Wood1 published a paper in France and noted the potential use of Ultra Violet (UV) light for pathologists when examining human beings. He referred to a "black light". Over time this lamp and its medical application to humans has become termed as the "Wood's Lamp". Today there are several manufacturers who produce a Wood's Lamp, based on UV Radiation who's primarily use is the detection of semen on skin and in hair of victims of sexual assault. The importance of examining skin and hair for semen in sexual assault cases is certainly of high importance. A 1981 paper by Enos and Beyer2 relates eight cases where the only evidence to substantiate the allegations of sexual assault were obtained from skin and hair based on microscopic examination. A recent paper by Santucci et. al3 (Yale University School of Medicine) emphasizes the critical importance of detecting semen in rape cases, due to the newly emergent DNA sequencing technology. They conducted a detailed test of the Wood's Lamp with over 40 physicians and 29 semen samples. The object of this work was to determine the ability of these physicians to differentiate semen from other substances such as barrier creams and ointments. The conclusions were profoundly disappointing for the Wood's Lamp and in fact none of the physicians were able to differentiate semen and none of the semen samples were even found to fluoresce. An abstract of this paper was then reported in the New Scientist in December 1999 under the heading "Missing Clues". This article reports that the traditional Wood's Lamp is in fact operating at the wrong wavelength and missing vital evidence. A British Police Surgeons representative is quoted as saying "I hope