Identification plays a very important role in any crime investigation. Cheiloscopy helps in identifying the humans based on the lips’ traces. The pattern of wrinkles on the lips has individual characteristics like fingerprints. A review of the literature reveals very little research done on lip prints so far. The present article reviews in detail the history, scope of cheiloscopy, and the use of lip prints in crime detection. It also highlights the current research carried out in the field of cheiloscopy. An effort has been made to help the researchers by reviewing in detail the various methods of classifying and analyzing the lip prints. It concludes by enlightening the readers with the fact that the possibilities to use the red part of lips to identify a human being are wider than it is commonly thought.

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A 10-year-old female child presented with a gradually increasing swelling of 2 months' duration on the left side of her face. The history given by the guardian was not very specific. However, the history revealed possible contact between the child and a tuberculous patient. The initial clinical and radiological evaluation indicated either a chronic residual dentoalveolar abscess, tuberculosis (TB) of the mandible or a malignancy. Routine laboratory investigations were grossly unremarkable with only the erythrocyte sedimentation rate being mildly raised. Further investigations were carried out, including a purified protein derivative test, chest screening, sputum examination, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for HIV and abdominal ultrasound, which were all negative. CT of the mandible showed a soft tissue mass in the submandibular region with an osteolytic lesion in the body of the mandible on the left side, and fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) showed the presence of a tuberculoid granuloma. FNAC, along with the clinical and radiographic findings and history, led to the diagnosis of primary TB of the mandible. Although FNAC is not as effective as an actual biopsy, it is often adequate for diagnosis and avoids a major surgical operation, which would be required for obtaining tissue for a biopsy. This case emphasises the role of proper history taking, diagnostic work-up and management. It also draws attention to the literature pertaining to the diagnosis of TB based on FNAC, especially in TB endemic areas where sophisticated tests such as the polymerase chain reaction are either unavailable or unaffordable.

Aim:To evaluate the uniqueness and to define a standard method for the analysis of lip prints.Materials and Methods:Lip prints of 100 students were taken using Scotch tape without any distortion. These prints were then scanned for the digital analysis. Using Adobe Photoshop 7 software an attempt was made to trace each and every line using Suzuki and Tsuchihashi's classification. Weighted value scoring system was used to check for the uniqueness of the lip prints.Results:No two lip prints had exactly matching scores in all four Quadrants. No statistically significant difference was found in the change of pattern in lip print images collected after 12 months from the same individual. With digital analysis, up to 15 lines were traceable in 66%, 71%, 52% and 51% of Quadrant I, II, III and IV respectively.Conclusion:Lip prints are unique to an individual. The digital method of analyzing lip print images serves better visualization, ease in identification and recording of the lip print pattern. Weighted Value Scoring system can be considered as a standard method for determining the uniqueness of the lip prints.

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