Department of Anthropology (UGC Centre of Advanced Study), Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.
Depaitment of Forensic Medicine, Maharajgunj Medical Campus, Tribhuvan Institute of Medicine, Kathmandu, Nepal.
J Craniofac Surg. 2022 Jun 1;33(4):1093-1098. doi: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000008056. Epub 2021 Aug 3.
The human external ear is a morphologically perplexing structure with wide variations in its features across individuals. Advances in forensic science have established the use of morphological features and prints of different parts of the human body in establishing the identity of an individual. The present study aims to establish such an identification process by examining the use of comparative analysis of ear prints and ear photographs.
The study examined the morphological features of ear prints of 140 participants (71 males and 69 females) ranging in age from 18 to 25 years (with a mean age of 20.22 ± 1.77 years), recruited from a North Indian population. Prints of both the ears were recorded, using the inking method. The morphological features of the ear prints were compared with the photographs of the ear for their uniqueness and individualization using likelihood ratios.
The degree ofantihelix curvature demonstrated the highest correlation (98.57%) between the morphological features visible on the ear and the expressions of these features in an ear print. The impression of earlobes, Darwin tubercle, crus of the helix, and shape of the external ear showed accuracy between 70% and 90%, whereas correlations below 70% accuracy were recorded for the other features. The likelihood ratios for 12 parameters were reported to be more than 10x, representing that the identification made using these parameters was > 10 times more likely to be true identification as compared to false positives. Moreover, 5 parameters were found to show high sensitivity, with values greater than 3 standard deviations (0.997), with an additional 9 parameters found to have good sensitivity at values greater than 2 standard deviations (<0.95). Similarly, 2 parameters were found to show high specificity, with values greater than 3 standard deviations (0.997), with an additional 18 parameters found to have good sensitivity at values greater than 2 standard deviations (<0.95).
Elevated features of the ear, such as helix, antihelix, antitragus, tragus, and inter-tragic notch; particularly the degree of antihelix curvature, are more easily impressed and identifiable on an ear print. The results support that ear prints may provide important clues to assist in establishing the identity of an individual if several morphological features are evaluated concurrently.
人类外耳是一种形态结构复杂的结构，其特征在个体之间存在广泛的差异。法医学的进步已经确立了使用人体不同部位的形态特征和印痕来确定个体身份。本研究旨在通过检查耳印和耳照片比较分析的使用来建立这种识别过程。
本研究检查了来自印度北部人群的 140 名参与者（71 名男性和 69 名女性）的耳印形态特征，年龄在 18 至 25 岁之间（平均年龄为 20.22 ± 1.77 岁）。使用油墨方法记录双耳的印痕。使用似然比比较耳印和耳照片上的形态特征，以确定其独特性和个体性。
耳弓曲率的程度显示了耳上可见的形态特征与耳印中这些特征的表达之间的最高相关性（98.57%）。耳垂、达尔文结节、耳轮的拱起和外耳的形状的印迹显示出 70%至 90%的准确性，而其他特征的相关性低于 70%的准确性。报告了 12 个参数的似然比大于 10x，这表明使用这些参数进行的识别比假阳性更有可能是真实的识别。此外，发现 5 个参数具有高灵敏度，值大于 3 个标准差（0.997），另外 9 个参数在值大于 2 个标准差（<0.95）时具有良好的灵敏度。同样，发现 2 个参数具有高特异性，值大于 3 个标准差（0.997），另外 18 个参数在值大于 2 个标准差（<0.95）时具有良好的灵敏度。
耳的凸起特征，如耳轮、反耳轮、对耳轮、耳屏和耳屏间切迹；特别是反耳轮的曲率程度，更容易在耳印上留下印记并识别。结果支持，如果同时评估多个形态特征，耳印可能提供重要线索，有助于确定个体身份。
