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Fingerprint Change: Not Visible, But Tangible
Author(s) -
Negri Francesca V.,
De Giorgi Annamaria,
Bozzetti Cecilia,
Squadrilli Anna,
Petronini Pier Giorgio,
Leonardi Francesco,
Bisogno Luigi,
Garofano Luciano
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.13422
Subject(s) - fingerprint (computing) , biometrics , adjuvant chemotherapy , identification (biology) , medicine , chemotherapy , fingerprint verification competition , fingerprint recognition , dermatology , computer science , surgery , cancer , artificial intelligence , biology , breast cancer , botany
Hand–foot syndrome, a chemotherapy‐induced cutaneous toxicity, can cause an alteration in fingerprints causing a setback for cancer patients due to the occurrence of false rejections. A colon cancer patient was fingerprinted after not having been able to use fingerprint recognition devices after 6 months of adjuvant chemotherapy. The fingerprint images were digitally processed to improve fingerprint definition without altering the papillary design. No evidence of skin toxicity was present. Two months later, the situation returned to normal. The fingerprint evaluation conducted on 15 identification points highlighted the quantitative and qualitative fingerprint alteration details detected after the end of chemotherapy and 2 months later. Fingerprint alteration during chemotherapy has been reported, but to our knowledge, this particular case is the first ever reported without evident clinical signs. Alternative fingerprint identification methods as well as improved biometric identification systems are needed in case of unexpected situations.