| Author | Message | ||
     Webservant (Member) Moderator Username: Member Post Number: 284 Registered: 03-1997 |
You asked, "Do the systems need to apply non-standard algorithms when dealing with..." There is no such thing as a standard AFIS algorithm. Each AFIS manufacturer has independent algorithms/processes utilizing more or less information, and/or using that information in a different manner, than competing AFIS manufacturers. The variance in accuracy/ability of different manufacturers' algorithms/processes is the reason there are benchmark tests and other competitive activities. Were all AFIS algorithms/processes the same, buying an AFIS would be merely a matter of which manufacturer is offering the best hardware package for the money. Instead, pruchasing an AFIS is a complicated decision balancing the capabilities of various AFIS packages against the needs and resources of the purchasing agency. If an agency's needs include working with small fingers/hands, then that is considered along with other needs. Typically, identifying very small fingers is not a priority. Agencies often collect DNA (nuclear, mitochondrial and Y-STR information) from the parents/siblings of missing children to facilitate identificaton. | ||
| Dragon_lordmtb (Dragon_lordmtb) Member Username: Dragon_lordmtb Post Number: 2 Registered: 03-2008 |
Thanks for that. Do the systems need to apply non-standard algorithms when dealing with a young fingerprint as the changes in width and length over time will not be uniform so the pattern being searched for will vary considerably? | ||
| Webservant (Member) Moderator Username: Member Post Number: 283 Registered: 03-1997 |
Whether or not an AFIS system can work with particular fingerprints due to the small size of the fingers/friction ridge detail spacing, is dependent on how small they are. Many ten year olds have hands the size of small women, posing no problem. In the event the fingerprints of a missing infant are available and legible enough to work with, Latent Print Examiners have options available such as enlarging the impressions to a size more similar to a an adult's fingerprints (such as 11 pixels average spacing between ridges at 500 ppi). Most AFIS systems have considerable flexibility insofar as being able to identify impressions when the ridge spacing varies (such as identifying a 225 pound 31 year old criminal from fingerprints obtained when he/she was 19 years old and weighed 131 pounds). | ||
| Dragon_lordmtb (Dragon_lordmtb) Member Username: Dragon_lordmtb Post Number: 1 Registered: 03-2008 |
I have a query on whether fingerprints of a child can be used for long term identification? As the finger rows, can the automated systems allow for this growth to get a match? |
