Int

roduct
ionto
Bl
oodst
ainPatt
ernAnalysi
s
Chapt
er3:I
NTRODUCTI
ONTOBLOODSTAI
NPATTERNANALYSI
S

RATI
ONALE

Theappl icationofbloodstainpatternanal
ysi
si ncri
minalinvesti
gati
onparti
cularl
yincri
mescene
reconstr
uct ioni scont
inuouslydev el
opi
ngthroughoutthewor ld.Theident
if
icati
on,cl
assi
fi
cati
onand
i
nterpretationofbl oodpatternshelpboththeinvest
igatorandcr i
mescener esponseteam t
odevel
op
i
nv est
igativel eads.

I
nmyownexper i
ence,knowledgeinbloodst
ainpatt
ernall
owsmeintheformulati
onofthef
actsoft
hecase,
i
dent
if
ypotenti
alevidenceinthescenesanduset heter
minol
ogi
esofbloodstainpat
ter
ninenhanci
ngmy
r
epor
tforpresentat
ion.

Therol
eofbloodstai
npatternanal
ysti
stoi
dent
if
yandcl
assi
fybl
oodst
ainandi
nter
prett
hedat
asot
hathe
canult
imat
elyreconst
ructthescene.

Theanalystmustbecert
if
iedand/ort
rai
nedtoperf
orm suchtask.Ther
eisnot
hingmor
eval
uabl
ethant
he
exper
ienceoftheanal
ysti
nr eadi
ngandint
erpr
etat
ionofsuchpatter
n.

Thi
schapteri
susedt
oint
roducest
udent
sint
hef
iel
dandt
ohel
pthem appl
yinf
utur
eint
erpr
etat
ionof
cr
imesceneevent
s.

I
.GOALSANDOBJECTI
VESOFBSPA

ThegoalsofBSPAistheul
ti
matereconstr
uct
ionoft
hecri
mescenebyoveral
lfor
ensici
nvest
igat
iont
eam
andtoanswertheul
ti
matequest
ionsthatmustbeaddr
essed,
whichi
ncl
ude,butarenotl
imit
edtothe
fol
l
owing:

a.Whatevent(
s)occurs?I
sitst
abbingorashoot i
ngincident
.
b.Wheredidtheevent
(s)occur
?Isitinthedi
ningroom orattheoutsideofthehouse.
c.
Whenandi nwhatsequencedi dtheyoccur
?Isitinstart
edatthegar agethentot
helivi
ngr
oom?
d.Whowast hereduri
ngeachevent?Howmanysuspect sarepresentinthescene.
e.Whatdidnotoccur?Youcanpr obabl
ydeter
mi nethatsomeoft hewi t
nessorsuspecti
snott
rul
y
happened.

Rel
ati
vetothereconstr
ucti
onofthecr
imescene,
theobj
ect
ivesofBPAwi
l
lpr
ovi
dei
nfor
mat
iont
othe
i
nvest
igat
orsuchast hefol
lowi
ng:

a. Todiff
erenti
atedif
ferentt ypesofbl oodstai
npat tern.
b. Toidenti
fythemechani sm bywhi chsuchspat t
erwer eproduced.
c. Tocalcul
atethedirectionofi mpactt hatproducest hebloodspat t
er.
d. Toidenti
fyhowt heblooddeposi t
edont oit
emsofev idenceandhowsuchi temsar eused.
e. Todeterminethepossi bleposit i
onoft hevicti
m, suspectorobj ectsatthescenedur ingt
he
bl
oodshed.
f. Todeterminethepossi blemov ementanddi r
ecti
onofv i
cti
m, assailantorobjectsatthesceneaf
ter
bl
oodshed.
g. Tosupportandcont radictthecl ai
m oft hesuspectand/ orthewi tness.
h. Toestimatepostmor tem interval.
i
. Tocor rel
atewithotherl aboratoryandpat hologyf i
ndingsrelevanttot hei
nvestigat
ion.

I
I.BLOODSTAI
NPATTERNANALYSI
S

Bloodst
ainPatternAnal
ysis(BPA)focusesont
heanal
ysisofthesi
ze,shapeanddist
ri
but
ionofbl
oodstai
n
resul
ti
ngfrom bloodsheddingeventsasmeansofdet
ermini
ngthetypesofacti
vi
ti
esandmechanism t
hat

2|Page
pr
oducedt
hem.
BPAi
sadi
sci
pli
net
hatappl
i
est
het
heor
ies
of
:

1.
-i
stot
hei
dent
if
icat
ionofbl
oodt
ypes.

2.
-isthedeter
minat
ionoft
hedi r
ect
ionof
for
cethatappli
esi
nthecreat
ionofblood
spots.

3.
-isusedinthecal
cul
ati
onofangl
esand
measurementofbl
oodshape
char
acter
ist
ics.

4.
-i
susedt
o

Reconst ruct
ingbloodsheddi ngeventsiscoupledwi thbl
oodidenti
fi
cati
ont hr
ough
typingandDNAanal y
sis,thesupportofpostmor t
em examinat
ionandot her
l
abor atoryfi
ndingsifthemannerofdeat hisquest ionedandtheissueofhomi ci
de,
suicide,acci
dentornat uraldeat
hmustber esolved.Forexamplewhent heblood
patternisproducedv iahighpressure,t
heaut opsyreportshoul
dindicat
eacutor
breachedar ter
yoft hev i
ctim.

I
II
.HI
STORI
CALDEVELOPMENTOFBSPA

Thefir
stil
l
ustrat
ionofbl
oodst
ainpat
t er
nwasev
identi
nthepai
nti
ngsofAksel
i
Gel
len-Kal
lel
a(1897)ent
it
led“
Frat
ri
cide”.

Thepict
uredepi
ctsabl
oodysword,t
hepatt
ernt
ransf
erandbl
oodspot
sont
he
youngman’sgar
mentswhi
lehespeaksofhi
sgui
lttohi
smother.

Whil
ethef
irstknownst
udyofBSPoccurr
edin1895att
heI
nst
it
uteofFor
ensi
c
Medici
nei
nKr akow,
Pol
andbyDrEduardPiot
rowsky
.

Heusedl i
verabbi
tsandusedmulti
plemet
hodsofat
tackt
ounsureall
possibi
li
ti
esandproduceddet
ail
eddrawi
ngsofhi
svari
ousexper
iment
sand
thei
rresul
ts.

In1900,DrPaulJeser
ich,
afor
ensi
cchemi
sti
nBer
li
ndocument
edbl
oodst
ainpat
ter
nsofhi
sexami
ned
actual
homicidescenes.

In1939,DrVi
ctorBal
thazar
d,aFrenchscientisttoget
herwithassoci
ates,
conduct
edanor i
ginal
resear
ch
andexperi
mentati
onwithbloodst
aintr
ajectoriesandpatt
ernsandpresentedi
tin22ndFor
ensicMedici
ne
Congressent
it
led“r
esearchonBloodspatter”
.

3|Page
In1955, ahighlypubl i
cizedcaseofOhiov sSheppardmarkedasoneoft heear
li
esti
nstancesofthelegal
system recognizet heimpor t
anceofbloodstainpat
ter
ninthesol
vingofthecaseaft
erDrPaul Kir
kof
Univer
sityofCal i
for ni
a,Berkeleymakeanaffidavi
tconcer
ninghi
sfindi
ngsinBSPAtothecourt.He
establ
ishest herelativ
eposi t
ionoftheassai
lantoratt
ackerandvi
ctim aswel
lasshowingthattheassail
ant
str
uckt hevicti
m wi thhislefthand.

Ohi
ovsSam Sheppar
d
Sam Sheppar dwasasuccessf uldoctorwhowasaccusedoft he1954mur derofhispregnantwife,
Mar i
lyn.
Hisstoryofbei ngknockedunconsci ousbyamur der
erdescri
bedonlyas“bushyhai r
ed”rai
sed
doubtsov erhisinnocence,andmanynewsout l
etsprocl
aimedthatheisguilt
y.
Inthishosti
leat mosphere,hewasf oundgui l
tyi
n1954andsent encetolif
einprison.
Aftermor ethanadecadei nj
ail
,howev er
,theUSSupr emeCour tr
uledthatSheppardwasdeni ed
duepr ocessasar esul
tofthebiasedexpressedbybot hthemediaandt hejudgerull
ingonthe
case.
Hewasr etr
ial
edi n1966andacqui tt
ed.Sheppar d’
scaselaunchedthecareeroffameddef ence
att
orneyFl eeBai l
eyandi sbel
ievetohavei nspi
redthetel
evi
sionshowandmov ie“TheFugiti
ve”.

Thenextsignif
icantper soninthefieldwasDrHer bertLeonMacDonel
lwho
publ
i
shedabook“ Fl
ightChar acter
isti
csandst ai
nPatter
nsofhumanblood”
i
n1971.Thr ought heassi st
anceofLawEnf orcementAssist
ance
Admini
strati
on( LEAA) ,
heconduct edr esear
chandexper i
mentstor
ecreat
e
anddupli
catebloodst ai
npat ternatthescene.

McDonnel al
sodevel
opedcour
sestocont
inuet
otrai
nlawenforcement
anal
ystandin1973heconduct
edfi
rstf
ormalbl
oodst
aint
rai
ningcourse.

In1982,hepubl i
shedBloodstainPatternI
nterpr
etati
onandi n1983,he
i
niti
atesthef oundingoft he“I
nternati
onalAssoci
ationofBloodstai
nPatt
ern
Analyst(I
ABSPA) .
Sincethen,thef i
eldhascont i
nuedt ogrowanddev eloped.I
tHasbecome
standardpracticetolawenf orcementtoincludethesubjectdur
ingthecr
ime
sceneinvestigati
oncour ses.

I
V.THEPHYSI
CALPROPERTYOFBLOODI
NBLOODSTAI
NPATTERNI
NTERPRETATI
ON

Bl
oodisli
quidi
nform att
heti
meitwasrel
easefr
om t
hebodyduringbeati
ng.Although55%ofthebl
oodis
al
mostwater,t
hesoli
dcomponentmakesthebl
oodvi
scous.Vi
scosit
yistheresist
anceofali
quidt
oflow.
Thatcomponentmakesthebl
oodhasit
sownuniquechar
acter
ist
icsascompar edtoanyli
qui
ds.

Thewat
ercomponentgi
vesbl
oodasur
facet
ensi
onpr
oper
ty.Sur
facet
ensi
oni
stheel
ast
icl
i
kepr
oper
tyof

4|Page
t
hebl
oodsur
facet
endt
ocont
ractandr
esi
stpenet
rat
ionandsepar
ati
on.

Anot
herpr
opert
yofbl
oodisthespeci
fi
cgr
avi
ty.Thespeci
fi
cgravi
tyisthedensi
tyoft
hebloodascompar
e
tot
hedensi
tyofwat
er.Bl
oodissai
dtobethi
ckerthant
hewaterbecauseofitsdi
ssol
vedcomponent
s.

V.THECLASSI
FICATI
ONOFBLOODSTAI
N

Bl
oodstainpatter
nsar eusef
ulf
orinterpr
etat
ionandreconstr
uctionoft heeventsoccurr
eddur i
ngbleeding.
I
tiseasiertostudytheproperi
denti
ficat
ionofbl
oodstai
nthroughcl assif
icat
ionaccordi
ngt ocategor
ies.
Ther
ear ethreecategori
esofbl
oodstainnamelythepassive,
transferandt heproj
ectedbloodstai
n.

1. Passi
vebl
oodst
ainpat
ter
n

Passiv
ebloodstai
naredrop(s)createdfr
om thesour
cetoanunstainedsurf
acebyt heact i
onofgr
avit
y
alonewit
houttheaddit
ionofexternalfor
ceorimpactadded.Mostofthi
sstainwascr eatedfr
om t
hefall
ing
bloodfr
om thesuspectorvi
ctimswound, bl
oodedweapononstati
onaryposi
tion.Thi
st y
peofbloodst
ainis
furt
hersubclassi
fi
edasdrops,drip,poolandclot
.

a. Dropsarecreat
edbyfor
ceofgrav
ityf
rom t
hesourcet
othedif
fer
entar
eaofanothersurf
acesuchas
fl
oor.Iti
susual
lyf
oundneart
hebodyofthevi
cti
m oranypl
acewheret
hesourceisatthest
ati
onary
posit
ion.

Thest
andar
dsizeofdr
opsis50micr
ol i
teror0.
05ml
andusual
l
ythi
s
ty
peofbl
oodst
aincomesfr
om unmovingsource.

Rapidbl
eedinggivessli
ght
lyl
argerdroponthesur
faceandshaki
ng
mov ementcast
sof fsmall
erdr
opletsaroundt
hedropwhichi
salsoknown
asthesatel
li
tespatter
.

Thesizeofspotal
soaffect
edbyt
hedist
ancei
tisf
all
en.Thehi
gher
thesourceofbl
ooddrops,t
hebi
ggert
hediamet
erofthedropt
hat
wil
lproduceonthesur
face.

Thereisl
it
tl
echangeint
hedi
amet
eroft
hespotbey
ondaf
all
of1.
2
metersorsevenf
eet.

Theappear anceofdropdependsmostlyonnat
ureofthetarget
surface,
whet heri
tisroughorsmooth,por
ousornon-
porous,si
nce
smoot hsurfaceproducemoreroundedshapewhil
eporoussurface
produceirr
egularshapespot.

b. Dripisaf r
eef al
li
ngdropsdri
ppingintoexi
sti
ngwetbl
oodproduci
ngalar
ge
i
rregularcentral
stai
n,theper
ipheralspat
ter
,andsmal
lroundandoval
satel
li
testains.

Thispatternprovesthatthesour ceofbloodstaysont hatposi t

ionfor
severaseconds, bef
orechangi ngitsposit
ion.I
talsoindicatethatthesource
ofbloodcont i
neouslydrippingdependonlyont henumberoft hesat el
li
te
spatteraroundthedr i
p.Themor esatel
l
etespatter,
thegr eaterthevolume
bei
ngdeposi tedont hedr i
ppattern.

c. Poolorf
lowpat
ter
nisf
ormedwhenbl
oodf
lowshor
izont
all
yor

5|Page
 ver
ti
cal
lyduetotheinf
luenceofgr
avi
tyormov
ementoft
he
obj
ectproduci
ngpoolofblood.

d. Cl
otsar
efor
medwhent
hebl
oodcl
ots.

2. Tr
ansf
erBl
oodst
ainpat
ter
n

Thet ransferbl
oodstainpatter
niscreatedwhenawet,bl
oodysur
facecomesi ncontactwit
hasecondary
surfacetransfer
ri
ngt hebloodtothelater
.Mostoft
enthesour
ceaccident
all
yorint
ent i
onal
lyt
ransf
erst
he
bloodbutt hemosti mportantist
hattransf
ercanprov
idemanydataastothenatureofthesourcewher
e
thebloodor igi
nates.

Corollarytot hi
s,whenthesuspectsawt hecont actpatt
ern, hewi l
ltr
ytoeliminatethebloodfr
om the
surfacet oav oi
ddetect
ionand/ ort
oconf usetheinvesti
gat orconductingtheinter
pretati
onofthescene.
Transf erbloodstai
nisf
ur t
hersubclassif
iedintocontact,swi pe,wipeandsmudget ransf
erbl
oodstai
n.This
typeofev i
denceusuall
yt r
ansferr
edfrom thehands, f
ingers, shoes,weapon,hairorotherbl
oodedobject
s
andt ransferredint
owalls,cei
l
ings,cl
othi
ngandbedsheet s.

a. Contactbl
eedingisatypeoftr
ansferbl
oodst
ainwhi
chi
seasytodetectbecausearecogni
zabl
emi r
ror
i
mageofal lorport
ionoftheor
igi
nalobj
ect.I
tmaybeobser
vedaspatter
n,asinthecaseofabloody
handoranyf oot
wear.

b. Swipeorsmearis
madef r
om movingbl
oodedobjectandswipeint
oanunstai
ned
surf
aceproduci
ngcharact
eri
sti
cfeather
ededgeindi
cat
ingt
he
dir
ecti
onofthemovement.

Thedi r
ect
ionofswipeisusef ul
inthedeterminati
onofthe
heightoft
heper sonswipingtheimage,theintent
ionoft
he
suspecttoerasethemar k,andtodeter
mi nethehandednessof
thepersonerasi
ngt hemar k.

c. Wipei
screat
edwhenanobj ectmovest
hroughanexi
sti
ngstai
n,removingoral
ter
ingi
tsappear
ance.
Exampl
eisst
amping.Feat
herededgeal
sosuggest
sdirect
ionofwipe.

6|Page
 Thedi
rect
ioni
sdownr
ightt
otheupperl
eft
.
d. Smudgei sfor
medwhent heori
ginal
cont
actstaini
salr
eadyer
asedleav
ingalar
gestai
nwi t
hanerase
patter
n.Usual
lytherear
enodatacanbet akeninsmudgeastowhatistheor
igi
nal
objectusedt
o
producethepre-
alter
edspot.

3. Pr
oject
edbl
oodst
ainPat
ter
n

Proj
ectedbloodstai
nisthel
astclassi
fi
cationthatisusual
lywat
chedandanalyzedduri
ngr
econst
ructi
on
becauseitcantellast
oryoftheactualoccurr
encei nt
hecrimescene.Thesespat
ter
sofbl
oodareblood
proj
ectedforwardbyaforcegreatert
hant heforceofgrav
ity
.

Thesi
ze,shapeandnumberoft her
esul
ti
ngstai
nswil
ldependpri
mari
l
yont heamountoffor
ceutil
izedto
st
ri
kethebloodsource.Proj
ect
edbl
oodstai
npatt
erni
sfurt
hersubcat
egor
izedint
oart
eri
alspur
t,cast-
off
st
ainandimpactspatter
.

a. Art
er i
alspurtorgushingi
saproject
edbl oodstai
nresult
ing
fr
om bl oodexiti
ngthebodyunderpressurefrom abreached
art
erypr oducinglar
gerst
ainwi
thapul sati
lefl
owpatternon
vert
icalsurfaces.

Usual
lyfoundinwal
lsi
nthecomf
ortr
oom,
lav
ator
y,wal
l
snear
thebodyofthevi
cti
m.

b. Cast
-of
fst
aini
satypeofpr
oject
edbloodst
aint
hati
smade
fr
om movi
ngsour
cetoanot
hersurf
ace.

Theorderofproduci
ngsuchpatter
nisthefol
lowi
ng:i
.fi
rst
bl
owcausesbl eedi
ngandsubsequentblowscont
aminatethe
weaponwithblood.Fi
nall
y,bl
oodiscast-
offt
angi
ent
ial
lytoar
c
ei
therupswingorbackswing.

c. Impactspatteriscreat
edwhenahar dobjecthi
tt heperson
andproducebl oodspatteronthesur
facenearthepoi ntof
i
mpact .Thisisfurt
hersubclassi
fi
edint
olowv elocit
y,medium v
eloci
ty
andhighv el
ocity.

1. Lowv el
oci
tyisatypeofi
mpactspat
tert
hati
seasi
l
ydetect
ed
becauseofthel
argespat
ter
.Thespeedofi
mpacti
s5feetper

7|Page
 secondor1.5meter
spersecond.Thebl
oodsour
cei
ssubj
ect
edtolowvel
ocit
yimpactandt
he
resul
ti
ngspotdi
ameteri
smost l
y4to8mm andsomeissmal
lerandsomeisl
argerspot
.

Thi
stypeofi
mpactoccurduri
ngfr
eefall
ingdr
ops,
grav
ityonl
y,cast
-of
ffr
om f
ist
,shoe,
weaponand
l
ast
lydri
ppi
ngorspl
ashingandinart
eri
alspur
t.

2. Medi
um veloci
tyi
mpactspat
teri
screat
edataspeedof25t
o100
f
eetpersecondor7.
5to30met er
spersecond.

Thebloodsour
cei
ssubj
ect
edt
oamedium vel
ocit
yimpactandthe
spotdiamet
eri
smost
ly1to4mm i
nsi
ze.Usualexampl
eisbasebal
l
batbl
ows.

3. Hi
ghvel
oci
tyi
mpactspat
terproduceataspeedof>100feet
/secor
30m/
s.Thebl
oodsourceissubject
edtoahighvel
oci
tyi
mpactproduci
ngaf
inemi
stequal
to<0.
1
mm.

Smallmassli
mitsspr
eadto1meterandsomelargerdropl
etsr
each
fur
ther
.Mostofhighvel
oci
tyi
mpactspat
terwer
ecr eat
edvia
gunshotorahi
ghspeedmachiner
y.

Theformati
onoffor
wardspat
terandbackspatt
eri
sappar
ent.Back
spat
terfr
om ent
rywoundandforwar
dspatterf
rom t
heexi
twound.

Gunshotbackspat
terari
sesfrom entr
ancewoundthatpassesbackt
owardsweaponandshoot
er.I
t
canonlybeseenatcloserangefi
re.Thebloodspat
teri
sdistr
ibut
edi
nsi
deofbarr
el,
ext
eri
orofweapon;
hand,ar
m andthechestoftheshooter.

Gunshotf
orwardspatt
erisaspatt
erari
sesf
rom exitwoundofthevi
cti
m.Itpassesforwar
dsinsame
dir
ecti
onasshot.Morecopi
usthanbackspatter
.Itcanbeseenatanyrangeoffi
re.Seenonnear
by
surf
aces,
object
s,per
sons(especi
all
yonwallbehindvi
cti
m).

VI
.CASESTUDY

Fact
soft
hecase:

OOA1217HofSept ember15,2007,
theSOCOteam ledbyPSINSPALEJANDROCDEGUZMAN
conduct
edSceneoftheCrimeOperati
ononanall
egedstabbi
nginci
dentt
hatt
ranspi
redar
ound
0935HofSeptember15,2007atNewmanila,
QuezonCity.

Uponar
ri
valatthescene,
ther
elat
ivesoft
hevicti
m aswel
last
heinvest
igat
oroncasewer
epr
esent
att
hefr
ontofthehouse.Thel
atert
urned-
overthescenef
orpr
ocessi
ng.

Closeexaminat
ionofthesceneonthefi
rstfl
oorreveal
sthepresenceofblooddropsscatter
edfrom
theli
vi
ngroom tothedini
ngroom uptothestair
stothesecondf l
oor.Thedi
stancebetweenthe
spotsindi
catet
hatthesourceofbl
oodstainismovingfastorrunni
ng.Bloodsamplesfrom t
hose
dropsweretest
edf orbl
oodtypi
ng.Thesinkareaneart
hediningtabl
eshowst hepresenceofblood
spurt
s/gush.

8|Page
 Ont hesecondfloor
,ther
oom atthelef
tsi
deofthestai
rswasfor
cibl
yopened.Theri
ghtsi
deofthe
stai
rsshowblooddr opst
rai
lsconti
nueuptothedeadbodyly
ingdownont hefl
oorj
ustoutsi
dethe
bathroom onthesecondfl
oor.Thewall
sshowscontact
/swi
pebloodstai
naswellasthedoorofthe
comf ortr
oom.

Thesinkofcomfor
troom wasshatt
eredinthef
loorf
ull
ofblooddrops.Two(2)kni
veswere
recover
edneart
hebodyfull
ofblood.Thecadav
erwasbr oughtt
oMar i
kinaf
uneral
andlat
er
autopsi
edbyEPDCL-Mel
o.

Passi
ve Tr
ansf
er Pr
oject
ed

VI
I.
Char
act
eri
sti
csofBl
oodst
ain

1. Ef
fectonSur
facet
ext
ure

Thetar
getsurfaceaf
fect
stheshapeofbloodspatt
er.Soi
tisi
mpor
tantt
ogi
veconsi
der
ati
ont
hesai
d
char
acter
ist
icsingi
vi
ngbloodst
aini
nter
pretat
ion.

Harderandl esspor oussurfacepr

oduceal essbl oodspatt
erandthesofterandpor ousthesur f
ace,mor e
bloodspatterproduce.Thi sobser
vati
onwhenbl ooddropsinrocksorsoil
s.Indoorspatterproducerounded
spots.Roughsur facepr oducesat
ell
i
tespatter.Satell
i
tespatt
eristheti
nydropletsaroundthepar entdrop.
Blooddropletsthatst r
ikeahardsmoot hsurface,li
keapieceofglass,
willhaveli
ttl
eornodi stort
ionaround

theedge.Blooddroplet
st hatst
ri
keal
i
nol
eum,
seconddr
op,
takeona
sli
ght
lydif
ferentappearance.

Thir
ddr opsshowsthedi
stor
tion(scal
l
oping)aroundtheedgeoft
heblood
droplet
s.Surf
acessuchaswoodorconcr etearedist
ort
edtoalar
gerext
ent.
Noticethespi
nesandsecondaryspatt
erpresent.
2. Det er
minati
onofdir
ecti
onofTr av
el

Thedir
ecti
onoftravel
ofbloodstr
iki
nganobj
ectmaybedi
scer
nedbyt
he
st
ainsshape,
pointedendofabloodstai
n
al
waysfacesit
sdirect
ionoftr
avel
.

9|Page
3. Cal
cul
ati
ngt
heAngl
eofi
mpact

ANGLEofIMPACTist
heacut
eangl
efor
medbet
weent
hedi
rect
ionoft
hebl
ooddr
opandt
hepl
aneoft
he
sur
facei
tst
ri
kes.

Byuti
li
zi
ngtri
gonometri
cfunct
ionsi
ts possi
blet
odet
ermi
net
hei
mpact
angl
eforanygiv
enblooddropl
et.SI
N0=opp(
a)/hy
p(c)

SI
N<=Width(a)1.5cm
Length(c)3.0cm

SI
N<=0.
5

<=30degr
ees

10|Page
VI
II
. ORI
GINOFBLOODDROPS

Poi
ntofconv
ergence

Intr
acingtheor
igi
nofbloodspat
ter
,usi
ngatwodi
mensional
configur
ati
oncanbeest
abl
i
shedbydr
awi
ng
str
aightl
inest
hrought
helongaxi
sofsever
ali
ndi
vi
dual
bloodstai
ns.

Pointofconver
genceisThecommonpoi nt,ona2di mensional
surf
ace,
overwhicht
hedir
ect
ionali
tyof
several
bloodst
ainscanberet
raced.Oncethedirect
ional
it
yofagroupofstai
nshasbeendet
ermined,i
t'
s
possibl
etodetermineatwodi
mensi onal
pointorareaforthegr
oupofstai
ns.

Theint
ersecti
onorpoi
ntofconvergenceoft
heli
nes
repr
esentsthepoi
ntfr
om whichthebloodemanat
ed.

Poi
ntofOr
igi
n

I
ntraci
ngt heorigi
nofbloodstai
n,thefol
lowingareneededtobe
done;t
hepoi ntofconver
gence,pointofori
gin.I
npracti
ce,t
he
useofstr
ingandpr otr
actoratsceneuseofcomput eratthe
l
aborat
ory.

11|Page