Abstract: To correct the tilted image in the digital system for forensic identification of the palatal rugae and to evaluate its effect. Methods: Firstly, the criteria for standard palatal rugae image and the selection rules for feature points were set. Secondly, feature points according to the rules were characterized, and two lines were fitted and found their direction vector. Finally, to obtain the corrected images, the tilted images were rotated by the angle determined by the two direction vectors. Results: From the visual effect, the correction results were ideal, and the difference from the angle of the standard image could be ignored, and the stability of the algorithm was further demonstrated. Conclusion: The algorithm can correct the target image very well to get standard images and has strong robustness.

Key words: Forensic odontology, Palatal rugae, Forensic identification, Direction vector, Image correction