Conversion of palatal rugae pattern to scanable Quick Response code in an Arabian population.

Area of Science:

• Forensic Odontology
• Human Identification
• Biometrics

Background:

• Palatal rugae (PR) exhibit unique and stable patterns from early life, making them suitable for human identification.
• PR patterns remain consistent throughout an individual's life.
• The study focuses on the anterior hard palate rugae.

Purpose of the Study:

• To convert palatal rugae patterns (PRP) into alphanumeric and Quick Response (QR) codes.
• To establish the uniqueness of PRP using these codes within a study population.
• To analyze the sexual dimorphism of PRP in the Saudi population.

Main Methods:

• Photographic standardization of orthodontic dental casts from 256 Saudi patients.
• Recording individual rugae characteristics, strength, and displacement as alphanumeric codes.
• Converting codes to QR codes for uniqueness verification and scanning.

Main Results:

• All generated alphanumeric codes for palatal rugae patterns were unique.
• Significant differences in the mean number of palatal rugae were observed between males and females (P=0.0001).
• Distinct differences in rugae characteristics and strength were noted between sexes.

Conclusions:

• Alphanumeric and QR codes derived from palatal rugae patterns are unique, enabling digital record-keeping and individual identification.
• A notable degree of sexual dimorphism in palatal rugae exists within the studied Arab population.
• The developed coding system offers a novel approach to biometric identification.