Department of Anthropology (UGC Centre of Advanced Study), Panjab University, Sector-14, Chandigarh, India.
Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Tribhuvan University Institute of Medicine, Kathmandu, Nepal;.
Acta Biomed. 2021 Nov 3;92(5):e2021366. doi: 10.23750/abm.v92i5.11471.
Identification has always been very vital in forensic casework. Fingerprint patterns are population-specific and individualistic, that makes fingerprinting an important biological trait in human biology and forensics. Fingerprint is an impression of the friction ridges of the finger-ball, where friction ridges are raised portions of the epidermis. Skin on human fingertips contains ridges and valleys which together forms distinctive patterns. These patterns are fully developed in intra-uterine life and remain unaltered until the death of the individual. Injuries such as cuts, burns and bruises can temporarily damage quality of fingerprints but when fully healed, the patterns are restored. The number of ridges present in a unit area on a fingerprint is called the Fingerprint Ridge Density (FPRD). The epidermal ridge density can be determined by examining two parameters - ridge width and distance between the ridges. The thickness of the epidermal ridges varies between individuals and between the sexes. The present review of literature focuses on the sexual dimorphism on the basis of the FPRD and its possible use in forensic examinations. Most of the studies pertaining to the estimation of sex from the FPRD have been conducted in the last two decades when Mark A. Acree in 1999, devised a method of estimation of sex on Caucasian and African-American descent. The present analysis evaluates the studies found in the PubMed database conducted after Acree, 1999. The estimation of sex from the FPRD is based upon the fact that the females have a fine detailing of ridges and consequently more ridges are covered in a unit space in the fingerprints of females as compared to males. The paper also highlights -recent advancements and future perspectives in the area of FPRD. (www.actabiomedica.it).
身份识别在法医学中一直非常重要。指纹图案具有特定的人群特征和个体特征，这使得指纹成为人类生物学和法医学中重要的生物学特征。指纹是指球部指纹的摩擦嵴的印痕，摩擦嵴是表皮的凸起部分。人类指尖的皮肤包含嵴和谷，这些嵴和谷共同形成独特的图案。这些图案在子宫内生命中完全发育，并在个体死亡前保持不变。例如割伤、烧伤和瘀伤等损伤可能会暂时破坏指纹的质量，但当完全愈合后，图案会恢复。指纹中单位面积上存在的嵴的数量称为指纹嵴密度（FPRD）。表皮嵴密度可以通过检查两个参数来确定——嵴宽度和嵴之间的距离。个体之间和性别之间表皮嵴的厚度不同。本文献综述重点介绍了基于 FPRD 的性别二态性及其在法医学检查中的可能用途。大多数关于从 FPRD 估计性别的研究都是在过去二十年中进行的，当时 Mark A. Acree 在 1999 年设计了一种基于白人和非裔美国人的性别的估计方法。本分析评估了自 1999 年 Acree 以来在 PubMed 数据库中进行的研究。从 FPRD 估计性别的依据是，女性的嵴纹细节更精细，因此女性指纹中单位空间内的嵴纹数量比男性多。本文还强调了 FPRD 领域的最新进展和未来展望。（www.actabiomedica.it）。
