Fingerprints: Signal Processors for Touch

[LPH]

LPH submitted a new blog post:

Fingerprints: Signal Processors for Touch

Georges Debregeas et amis at the University of Paris 6 and 7 say it looks as if the ridges and whorls in fingerprints filter mechanical vibrations in a way that best allows nerve endings to sense them. The mechanoreceptors that do this job are called Pacinian corpuscles. They sit at the ends of nerves and are responsible for sensing pressure and pain. These devices sense vibrations over a wide area of skin but are sensitive only to a limited range of vibrations. They say that fingerprints...

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