Tongue prints: A novel biometric and potential forensic tool

Area of Science:

• Biometrics
• Forensic Science
• Human Anatomy

Background:

• The tongue, a unique internal organ, possesses individualistic features like color, shape, and surface texture.
• Existing biometric systems (fingerprint, iris, facial recognition) face limitations in security and uniqueness.
• The need for novel, secure personal identification methods has driven research into lingual biometrics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the inherent uniqueness of tongue prints for identification.
• To evaluate the superiority of tongue prints over existing biometric systems.
• To review methods for tongue print collection and feature classification.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of existing biometric technologies.
• Analysis of tongue characteristics for individual identification.
• Exploration of tongue print acquisition techniques.
• Classification of lingual features for biometric purposes.

Main Results:

• Tongue prints exhibit high uniqueness, even between identical twins.
• Tongue characteristics demonstrate sexual dimorphism, aiding in identification.
• Tongue prints show potential for enhanced security compared to conventional biometrics.
• Established methods for tongue print collection and feature categorization exist.

Conclusions:

• Tongue prints represent a novel and highly accurate biometric modality.
• The unique and dimorphic nature of tongue prints positions them as a superior identification tool.
• Tongue prints offer significant potential as a reliable forensic identification method.