Automated comparison of firearm bullets

Fired bullets bear striation marks that can be thought of as a “fingerprint” left by the firearm. This new comparison approach is based on an automated extraction of a “signature” encompassing the relevant marks from an image. To this end, multiple pictures of the bullet are recorded first by using...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forensic science international 2006-01, Vol.156 (1), p.40-50
Main Author: LEON, Fernando Puente
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archives & records
Automated visual inspection
Automation
Biological and medical sciences
Bullet matching
Bullets
Comparative analysis
Firearms
Firearms identification
Forensic ballistics
Forensic medicine
Forensic science
Forensic sciences
General aspects
Identification and classification
Image comparison
Image fusion
Image processing
Imaging systems
Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects)
Medical sciences
Methods
Military supplies
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
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Description
Summary:Fired bullets bear striation marks that can be thought of as a “fingerprint” left by the firearm. This new comparison approach is based on an automated extraction of a “signature” encompassing the relevant marks from an image. To this end, multiple pictures of the bullet are recorded first by using different illumination patterns, and a high quality image is generated by means of fusion techniques. After a preprocessing, the image intensities are filtered along the striations direction, yielding a compact representation of the marks. A non-linear filter selects the striae of interest. The actual comparison takes place by cross-correlating the signatures obtained this way. Finally, an assessment strategy is proposed to objectively evaluate the performance of the system. As demonstrated with an image database of real bullets, the proposed approach outperforms a state-of-the-art commercial system.
ISSN:0379-0738
1872-6283
DOI:10.1016/j.forsciint.2004.12.016