EfektOP: New Project Advancing Latent Fingerprint Visualization

A team composed of the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences (FZU, Optics Section; principal investigator Michal Novotný), UCT Prague (Department of Analytical Chemistry; co-investigator Gabriela Broncová) and the Institute of Criminalistics Prague (Fingerprint Identification Department; co-investigator Petr Hlavín) has succeeded with the project proposal “Increasing the Efficiency of Latent Fingerprint Visualization Methods” (EfektOP, VK02010123) within the OPSEC security research programme of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.

The project will be carried out in 2026–2029 through collaboration between the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, UCT Prague, and the Institute of Criminalistics of the Police of the Czech Republic. It introduces a new concept for modernising procedures used to visualize latent fingerprints, with the aim of significantly improving the capabilities of forensic practice.

At UCT Prague, the project also involves key researchers from three departments: the Department of Analytical Chemistry – David Sýkora (MALDI), the Department of Organic Chemistry – Tomáš Tobrman (synthesis), and the Department of Physics and Measurement Technology – Vladimír Scholtz (corona discharge).

EfektOP addresses the limitations of current technologies, which often fail on complex or unconventional surfaces. It therefore combines several advanced approaches, ranging from non-thermal plasma enabling on-site fingerprint visualization at crime scenes, through an innovated cyanoacrylate fuming method and the use of colour- or luminescence-modified cyanoacrylates, to electrochemical techniques and the application of controlled environmental conditions (optimised humidity, reduced pressure). The project also incorporates MALDI analysis, which will allow the extraction of additional information from fingerprints, such as the relative abundance of specific substances potentially related to the sex or other characteristics of an individual.

The aim of the project is to improve the quality and reliability of fingerprint detection both in the field and in the laboratory, enhance the investigation of criminal activities, and strengthen the technological readiness of forensic units. EfektOP will also foster interdisciplinary collaboration between FZU, UCT Prague and the Police of the Czech Republic, and builds upon the successfully completed project “Advanced Methods for the Visualization of Fingerprint Traces” (PokrDaktyl, VK01010022, 2023–2026), thereby further developing Czech expertise in the field of modern fingerprint identification.