Dr John Bond, Scientific Support Manager at Northamptonshire Police and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Leicester Forensic Research Centre, has been invited to the US to give a presentation on his research and the new technique.

Colleagues in the US are keen to learn about Dr Bond's new technique, which was recently included in Times Magazine's Top 50 inventions of the year.

Dr Bond will take off for the University of Tennessee for a symposium organised by the National Forensic Academy in the US. The academy is the equivalent of the National Training Centre for Crime Scene Investigators.

Dr Bond said: "I feel really honoured to be asked to do this.

"It must be really unusual for someone from a British Police Force to be asked to go to America to share information with them.

"The work we have been doing over here in England has generated a lot of interest in America so they want me to go over and show them what it is all about."

The revolutionary method enables scientists to 'visualise fingerprints' even after the print itself has been removed. He and colleagues conducted a study into the way fingerprints can corrode metal surfaces. The technique can enhance – after firing– a fingerprint that has been deposited on a metal cartridge case before it is fired.

The scientist has already helped officers from two American police forces who brought bullet casings over to England for Dr Bond to examine.

Since then Dr Bond has been receiving calls from police forces from the UK and across the Atlantic asking for help with unsolved cases.