Sexual dimorphism and bilateral difference of fingerprint sweat pore among Slovak population

Abstract

Third level dermatoglyphic markers show a high level of individuality. Despite this fact, the occurrence of individual sweat pore types is still insufficiently studied due to their problematic extraction. The aim of our study was to evaluate the variability of sweat pore types on distal fingertips in the Slovak population and to establish the most uniform method for delineating the evaluated fingerprint area of 1 cm2 in size to avoid bias in the obtained data. In this study, the variability of seven sweat pore types (round, rhomboid, elliptical, square, rectangular, triangular, hexagonal) on distal phalanges were investigated in a sample of 60 volunteers (30 females and 30 males) from the Slovak population. The evaluated area was 1 cm2. Since none of the previously used definition methods seems to be completely reliable, we developed our own method using individual types of dermatoglyphic patterns. This method allowed an uniform location of the studied fingerprint area. The results suggest that sweat pores, like other dermatoglyphic characteristics, have strong identification potential. Several statistically significant bilateral and intersexual differences were found in both male and female populations. Significant intersexual differences in all categories were found in rhomboid and rectangular sweat pore types. Their use could be applied to partial or otherwise unusable fingerprints. The results of this study could help to incorporate these prints into the identification process, allowing their full use.