Abstract
To date, the ear remains an under-utilised part of the human body for use in forensic practice. Although the ear has been used since the nineteenth century as part of the process of human identification, in this particular function its use, to date, remains low and in the case of earprints, controversial. A limited number of publications exist related to methods used for the purpose of ear image identification and the growing field of ear biometrics but to date, a computerised system for earprint identification does not exist. This paper illustrates the concept of a computerised earprint identification system. To assist those considering similar developments we share the concept problems and possible solutions we have identified and encountered to date, and highlight the advantages for such a system over traditional manual methods used for earprint identification.
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Acknowledgements
We wish to thank the Jean Shanks Foundation for their support in relation to this study as well as all those who volunteered to take part in this study. We also wish to thank K9 Crime Scene Investigation Ltd, UK for allowing us to use their computer software to investigate on the concept of computerisation of earprint identification. We continue to work with K9 Crime Scene Investigation Ltd, UK to research the concept of computerised earprint identification
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GN Rutty and Ali Abbas declare that they have no competing financial interests. D Crossling is the owner of Patent WO 97/28513 (D Crossing. Imprint Identification System) and a member of the development team for the Treadmark Analytical System
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Rutty, G.N., Abbas, A. & Crossling, D. Could earprint identification be computerised? An illustrated proof of concept paper. Int J Legal Med 119, 335–343 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-005-0527-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-005-0527-y