CHEILOSCOPY: A Comparative Analysis pertaining to geomorphological variance in the lip prints in the North and South Indian population.

After obtaining the written informed consent, the lips of the individuals who already had lipstick over the lips were cleaned with a cotton ball dipped in lipstick remover. Lip tint/Lipstick was applied with a lipstick applicator uniformly starting from center and moving laterally in a single motion. The individuals were asked to maintain a relaxed position of their lips. After one-two minutes, once the lip tint/lipstick had dried, the glued portion of the adhesive cellophane tape strip that was slightly larger than the thickness of the lip, was placed over the upper lip and the individual was asked to make a lip impression in the normal rest position of the lips by dabbing it in the center first and then pressing it uniformly toward the corners of the lips. The same procedure was used for the lower lip. Henceforth, the cellophane strip was then stuck to the executive bond paper for permanent record purpose and then visualized by magnifying lens. The lip prints were coded based on the name, sex and region ( North Indian or South Indian) of the individuals. Each of the lip print collected were kept in a separate file with details of the subjects.  The middle segment of the lip print was observed and the predominant pattern as per Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification observed was recorded as finding. The peripheral segment of the lip print was avoided as there are chances of overlapping and smudging. To circumvent bias, all the lip prints were compiled, analyzed, and interpreted only once by a single researcher well versed with the classification of lip prints. A comprehensive analysis of the lip prints were later done, based on the patterns described by Suzuki and Tsuchihashi. Further, the length and thickness of the lips were measured using standard sliding callipers. Separate measurements were taken for the upper and the lower lip. Measurement of the length of the lips were calculated  between the outermost visible points on the lip print at the angle of the mouth. Width/ thickness of the lip was measured for the upper and lower lip in the midline, at the philtrum. All the measurements were taken by one person using the same callipers and the findings were tabulated.