An investigation into the relationship between deposited fingerprint and other body characteristics

The research presented in this thesis investigated the relationship between deposited fingerprints and body size. The application of the research is the prevention of artificial fingerprint usage to bypass existing biometric fingerprint systems, contributing to an increase in the strength of their security. An anthropometric survey of finger, hand and body size was conducted to investigate the relationship between body size and finger size (n=89). Body measurements were found to correlate well when grouped according to two groups, skeletal length dimensions including stature and limb lengths, and skeletal width dimensions, including limb breadths and depths. Correlations as high as 0.9 were found within these groups. Factors found influential upon correlation strength include gender and the proximity of the limbs: for example, finger length has a higher correlation with hand length than with stature. [Continues.]