“Cheiloscopy”

CONTENT

 Introduction
 History
 Anatomical Basis of Human Lips
 Classification of Lip Prints
 Collection of Lip Prints As An Evidence
Collection of Lip Prints From The Scene of Crime
Collection of Lip Prints From The Suspect
 Significance of Cheiloscopy In Forensic Science
 Case Study
 INTRODUCTION
“ Cheiloscopy is a forensic investigation technique that deals
with identification of humans based on lips traces.”

- The word cheiloscopy derived from the Greek word ‘Cheilos’

which means lips and ‘skopein’ means to see.

- Lips have Creases and textured surfaces and have a wide

variety of expressions.

- These elevations, depressions and creases etc form a pattern

called Lip Print.

- This characteristic line serves as an individual characteristic

or identification characteristic as they vary from person to person.
 HISTORY
• In 1902, R. Fischer 1st describe the furrows/grooves on the red
part of the human lips.

• In 1932, Edmond locard 1st recommended the use of lip prints in

crime investigation.

• In 1950, Le Moyne Snyder suggested the concept of wrinkles in

lips, also stated that lip prints posses individual features. He is also
called “the father of cheiloscopy”

• In 1958, Cheiloscopic research was carried out in Poland

• In 1960, Dr. Martins Santos proposed that lip characteristic

could be used in personal identification and devised simple system
of classification.
• In 1961 1st research was carried out in Hungary.

• In 1968-1971, research carried out by Y. Tsuchihashi & T. Suzuki.

• In 1982, the project aiming Need of forensic cheiloscopy launch in

forensic institute of Warsaw university.

• In 1985 the methods of finding & recovering lip prints were studied
in Poland.

• From 1985-1997 cheiloscopic techniques have been used in crime

cases.

• During 2000-2010 cheiloscopic study and research carried out in

India.
ANATOMICAL BASIS OF HUMAN LIPS
 Classification Of Lip Prints

 In 1967 Santos was the 1st person to classify

lip grooves. He divided them into four types
namely-

1. Straight line
2. Curved line
3. Angled line
4. Sine-shaped line
 In 1970 Suzuki and Tsuchihashi devised a classification .They divided lip
prints in five types including the natural lip marks/fissures in the lips

Type I: a clear cut line or groove running Type I l: straight groove that disappear
Vertically across the lip or vertical groove half way into the lip or partial
Vertical groove

Type II: a branched groove Type III: an intersected

groove

Type IV: a reticulated groove Type V: Grooves that do not fall into
any of the above categories and
can’t be differentiated morphologically.
 Quadrant Division
 Description of pattern based on superiority of pattern
 Individual Features of The Lip Prints.
 COLLECTION OF LIP PRINTS AS AN
EVIDENCE

 Collection of lip prints from the scene of crime

Physical methods Chemical methods Optical method

1) Powders 1) Iodine 1) Visual
2) Fluorescent Powders 2) Ninhydrin examination
3) Adhesive side tape 3) Silver Nitrate with white light
4) Cyanoacrylate
Collection of lip prints from the suspect

Lips are cleaned using saline solution and dried

with sterile cotton

Brown colored lipstick is applied and

print is collected

using cellophane using tracing

tape. paper.
 SIGNIFICANCE OF CHEILOSCOPY

• Ball’s stated that “latent lip print would be available at all crime
scenes as the vermillion border of lips has minor sweat glands and
sebaceous gland which are present around the edges of the lips

• The uniqueness is a strong points used in the analysis for

personal identification and also to convince the court of law.

• It is sometime possible to extract DNA from saliva may present

on lip print.

• If the lip prints covered with remains of food or cosmetics then

the traces will be subjected to chemical examination in order to
determine the substrate covering the lips.
 CASE STUDY
December 13, 1997|By KELLI
CAPLAN Daily Press
NEWPORT NEWS — In what is
believed to be a first in Virginia,
detectives collared a suspected
peeping Tom this week after
identifying him through a lip print
left on a woman's window.
Officers charged Robert N. Smith,
41, of the 300 block of Boulder
Drive, with five counts of peeping
into a home. Without the lip print
evidence, Smith - accused of spying
on women at River Mews
Apartments - would "absolutely not"
have been arrested in the case, said
Sgt. Dave Dorner, who was involved
in the investigation.
In 1997 Lavelle L. Davis was
convicted of shooting to death
Patrick Ferguson in Illinois in
1993. The evidence that led to the
conviction of Davis centered
largely on a lip print recovered
from the scene that a forensic
examiner testified linked Davis to
the scene. Davis finally got an
appeal hearing in 2006; and there
judge, Timothy Q. Sheldon,
reversed the conviction, noting
that lip prints were not and had
never been an accepted means of
identification. Prosecutors
dropped all charges against Davis
in 2009.
Reference:
•Book reference
1. S. Indira Sudha. Biometrics & Fingerprint Analysis. Selective & Scientific
Books, pp.161-68.
2. Kasprzak J (1990). Possibilities of cheiloscopy. Forensic Sci Int 46, pp. 358-61.
3. Kannan S, Muthu K, Muthusamy S, Sidhu P (2015) .Cheiloscopy - A Vital Tool In
Crime Investigation. Int J Forensic Sci Pathol. 3(3), pp.89-93.

•Web reference
1. Rashmi,V.(2011).Cheiloscopy: An aid for personal identification. Journal of
Forensic Dental Sciences [online] 3(2), p.67-70. Available at
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3296377/ [Accessed 18 Sep,
2016].
2. Kannan S, Muthu K, Muthusamy S, Sidhu P (2015). Cheiloscopy - A Vital Tool
In Crime Investigation. Int J Forensic Sci Pathol [online]. 3(3), p.89-93.Available at

http://dx.doi.org/10.19070/2332-287X-1500022 [Accessed 25 Sep, 2016].

Thank you!!!!