Accessible biometrics: A frustrated total internal reflection approach to imaging fingerprints

Abstract

Fingerprints are widely used as a means of identifying persons of interest because of the highly individual nature of the spatial distribution and types of features (or minuta) found on the surface of a finger. This individuality has led to their wide application in the comparison of fingerprints found at crime scenes with those taken from known offenders and suspects in custody. However, despite recent advances in machine vision technology and image processing techniques, fingerprint evidence is still widely being collected using outdated practices involving ink and paper - a process that can be both time consuming and expensive. Reduction of forensic service budgets increasingly requires that evidence be gathered and processed more rapidly and efficiently. However, many of the existing digital fingerprint acquisition devices have proven too expensive to roll out on a large scale. As a result new, low-cost imaging technologies are required to increase the quality and throughput of the processing of fingerprint evidence. Here we describe an inexpensive approach to digital fingerprint acquisition that is based upon frustrated total internal reflection imaging. The quality and resolution of the images produced are shown to be as good as those currently acquired using ink and paper based methods. The same imaging technique is also shown to be capable of imaging powdered fingerprints that have been lifted from a crime scene using adhesive tape or gel lifters.

Optical Measurement of Contact Forces Using Frustrated Total Internal Reflection

“…The highly surface sensitive nature of FTIR imaging has also been exploited to image the contact between microscopic objects [5] and rough surfaces [6], to measure the gait of small animals [7] and insects [8]. It has also been used for the development of touch sensitive controllers [9], in the imaging of shoes for forensic applications [1] and fingerprint imaging for biometric identification [10].…”

Dual optical force plate for time resolved measurement of forces and pressure distributions beneath shoes and feet

“…It has also found application in the measurement of the gait of small animals 18,19 and insects 20 as well as in the development of touch sensitive controllers 21 and in the measurement of pressure beneath tyres 22 . Some of the more recent studies using this technology include imaging of shoes for forensic purposes 12 and fingerprint imaging for biometric applications 23 .…”

Identification of Recycled Cooking Oil by Varying Number of Au/GO Coated Fiber Optic’s Loop Ring

“…al., 2012;Ascorbe et al, 2017) and free space optics based sensor (Gan et. al., 2019;Smith et al, 2017). Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) were found able to enhance the sensitivity of the sensor by excited surface plasmon polaritons to enhance the strength of evanescent field.…”