title: On relative distortion in fingerprint comparison.
abstract: When fingerprints are deposited, non-uniform pressure in conjunction with the inherent elasticity of friction ridge skin often causes linear and non-linear distortions in the ridge and valley structure. The effects of these distortions must be considered during analysis of fingerprint images. Even when individual prints are not notably distorted, relative distortion between two prints can have a serious impact on comparison. In this paper we discuss several metrics for quantifying and visualizing linear and non-linear fingerprint deformations, and software tools to assist examiners in accounting for distortion in fingerprint comparisons.
authors.affiliation: Noblis, 3150 Fairview Park Drive, Falls Church, VA 22043, USA. Electronic address: nathan.kalka@noblis.org.
authors.forename: Nathan D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Kalka
authors.affiliation: Noblis, 3150 Fairview Park Drive, Falls Church, VA 22043, USA. Electronic address: hicklin@noblis.org.
authors.forename: R Austin
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hicklin
mesh_terms: D003878:Dermatoglyphics; D004548:Elasticity; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical
keywords: Distortion; Fingermark; Fingerprint quality; Image quality; Latent fingerprint; Quality metrics