Combination of prostate-specific antigen detection and micro-Raman spectroscopy for confirmatory semen detection

- Detecting sperm cells in sexual assault cases is crucial for criminal investigation.
- Under certain circumstances sperm cells cannot be detected while seminal fluid is identified.
- Methods for seminal fluid identification may falsely classify male urine as semen.
- In the present study Raman-spectroscopy combined with PSA detection was carried out.
- This practice allows rapid and non-destructive semen confirmatory classification.

Detecting prostate specific antigen (PSA) in a questioned body fluid stain or other sexual assault casework items strongly indicates the presence of semen and is extremely useful when no sperm cells are observed. However, it has several false-positives which may prevent confirmative semen classification. Namely, the presence of PSA and nucleated cells in male urine could lead a forensic examiner to an incorrect body fluid conclusion. Micro Raman spectroscopy is a molecular spectroscopy based on the inelastic scattering of monochromatic light and its potential to detect a wide range of body fluids has been demonstrated in recent years. In the present study, we show how the combination of PSA tests and micro Raman spectroscopy offers a simple, non-destructive and quick method for confirmatory semen detection. After positive PSA tests, micro Raman spectroscopy can easily corroborate semen presence and exclude the possibility of urine false positive detection. The sensitivity of this practice was demonstrated by measuring micro Raman spectra of diluted urine and semen (up to 1:100), as well as their spectra after extraction from cloth and swabs. These results strongly show the advantages of combining micro Raman spectroscopy and PSA tests when examining sexual assault casework items.