title: Fourier transform infrared reflectance spectra of latent fingerprints: a biometric gauge for the age of an individual.
abstract: To determine if changes in fingerprint infrared spectra linear with age can be found, partial least squares (PLS1) regression of 155 fingerprint infrared spectra against the person's age was constructed. The regression produced a linear model of age as a function of spectrum with a root mean square error of calibration of less than 4 years, showing an inflection at about 25 years of age. The spectral ranges emphasized by the regression do not correspond to the highest concentration constituents of the fingerprints. Separate linear regression models for old and young people can be constructed with even more statistical rigor. The success of the regression demonstrates that a combination of constituents can be found that changes linearly with age, with a significant shift around puberty.
authors.affiliation: Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701, USA.
authors.forename: April
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hemmila
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McGill
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ritter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D001699:Biometry; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003878:Dermatoglyphics; D004952:Esters; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016014:Linear Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
chemical_list: D004952:Esters; D005227:Fatty Acids