Separation and sequence detection of overlapped fingerprints: experiments and first results

Rainer Kärgel; Sascha Giebel; Marcus Leich; Jana Dittmann

doi:10.1117/12.897871

13 October 2011 Separation and sequence detection of overlapped fingerprints: experiments and first results

Rainer Kärgel, Sascha Giebel, Marcus Leich, Jana Dittmann

Proceedings Volume 8189, Optics and Photonics for Counterterrorism and Crime Fighting VII; Optical Materials in Defence Systems Technology VIII; and Quantum-Physics-based Information Security; 81890U (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.897871
Event: SPIE Security + Defence, 2011, Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract

Latent fingerprints provide vital information in modern crime scene investigation. On frequently touched surfaces the fingerprints may overlap which poses a major problem for forensic analysis. In order to make such overlapping fingerprints available for analysis, they have to be separated. An additional evaluation of the sequence in which the fingerprints were brought onto the surface can help to reconstruct the progression of events. Advances in both tasks can considerably aid crime investigation agencies and are the subject of this work. Here, a statistical approach, initially devised for the separation of overlapping text patterns by Tonazzini et al.,1 is employed to separate overlapping fingerprints. The method involves a maximum a posteriori estimation of the single fingerprints and the mixing coefficients, computed by an expectation-maximization algorithm. A fingerprint age determination feature based on corrosion is evaluated for sequence estimation. The approaches are evaluated using 30 samples of overlapping latent fingerprints on two different substrates. The fingerprint images are acquired with a non-destructive chromatic white light surface measurement device, each sample containing exactly two fingerprints that overlap in the center of the image. Since forensic investigations rely on manual assessment of acquired fingerprints by forensics experts, a subjective scale ranging from 0 to 8 is used to rate the separation results. Our results indicate that the chosen method can separate overlapped fingerprints which exhibit strong differences in contrast, since results gradually improve with the growing contrast difference of the overlapping fingerprints. Investigating the effects of corrosion leads to a reliable determination of the fingerprints' sequence as the timespan between their leaving increases.

Citation Download Citation

Rainer Kärgel, Sascha Giebel, Marcus Leich, and Jana Dittmann "Separation and sequence detection of overlapped fingerprints: experiments and first results", Proc. SPIE 8189, Optics and Photonics for Counterterrorism and Crime Fighting VII; Optical Materials in Defence Systems Technology VIII; and Quantum-Physics-based Information Security, 81890U (13 October 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.897871

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