Automatization of forensic diatom analysis through metabarcoding and image analysis
Principle investigator: Jan Kaštovský
Funding provider: Ministry of the Interior - OPSEC
Grant No.: OPSEC VK02010015
Duration: 2026-2028
Successful testing of a new method for the extraction of diatoms from human tissues (HNO3-PCF), developed in a previous project, confirmed its ability to distinguish deaths caused by drowning from non-drowned victims found in water with a high degree of probability. In addition to refining the boundaries of diatom concentrations in drowned and non-drowned cases, the remaining challenge is to automate the method by:
- using a motorized microscope and intelligent image analysis capable, at the final stage, of performing the species identification of diatoms;
- identifying diatoms using metabarcoding.
The first method has not yet yielded clear results, while the second currently works only under environmental conditions and not in the context of tissue analysis. The main objective of the project is therefore to develop such applicable methods.
The project is being carried out in collaboration with the Institute of Criminalistics of the Police of the Czech Republic, the Department of Forensic Medicine of Bulovka University Hospital, and the Institute of Microbiology.
