Anthropometry refers to the study of the human body measurements and proportions. Every individual is different from one another in terms of morphometric and morphological variations. These variations are utilized in the field of reconstructive surgeries to correct any deformities, develop more ergonomic products, or identify individuals, as stature and gender may be estimated from anthropological data (Purohit et al. 2024, Naqshi et al. 2024). These values also act as the mirror of some congenital anomalies as in trisomy of 13 and 18 chromosome low set of ears and microtia were reported in Trecher Collin syndrome (Purkait et al 2007, Farkas et al 1978).

The human ear auricle is a unique feature of the face that shows variations with age, gender, and ethnicity (Bozkir et al. 2006). The human ear comprises the external, middle and inner ear.  The external ear consists of the external auditory meatus and pinna. The skeletal framework of pinna is made up of elastic cartilage which is absent lobule, which is made up of fibrofatty tissue. The anterolateral surface of pinna is irregular and directed forward and laterally. These irregularities are elevations and depressions which are named helix, anti-helix, scaphoid fossa, triangular fossa, tragus, anti-tragus, conchae, cymba conchae, lobule, Darwin`s tubercle etc. (Datta 2013). These features and irregularities make the pinna or ear auricle unique to every person. The auricular morphometry varies with age, sex, side and ethnicity; therefore, the morphometric data of ear auricle of a person could be helpful in forensic science to individualize the person and for cosmetic surgeons to perform the surgeries and develop more ergonomically designed ear-related devices. 

Aim and Objectives:

Since only a few studies have been performed regarding the morphometry of the ear auricle in Northern India. This study aimed to build a database of ear morphometry in the population of Punjab and to compare the anthropometric data among different sides and genders.

The present cross-sectional study was performed at Department of Anatomy, Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Science and Research, Amritsar (Pb.) from March 2022 to December 2025. This study comprised 240 participants (120 males and 120 females) with their age ranging from 21-60 years. The ethical clearance for the study was approved the Institutional Ethical Committee (IEC) vide letter no. SGRD/IEC/2022-28 dated Feb. 17, 2022. Inclusion criteria: • The age of the participant should range from 21 -60 years • The participants should be born to Punjabi parents. Exclusion criteria: • The participants with the history of any trauma or surgery related to the ear auricle, wrestlers, and those with mentally retardation were excluded from the study. Study procedure: The participants who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study. Prior to participation, everyone was briefed about the nature and purpose of the study in the language which they could better understand and a consent from was asked to be signed. Only who have signed the consent form were enrolled to study and they may withdraw their participation at any point of study. The auricular measurements were taken with the photographic method using the predesigned wooden platform as described by Japatti et al. in their study (Japatti et al. 2018). The images thus obtained were further processed using CorelDraw software to obtain the measurements. All the images were processed and measured by the same observer to avoid the inter-observer discrepancies. The following measurements were recorded in the present study: 1. Ear length: It is the vertical distance from highest point of helix to base of lobule 2. Ear width: It is the horizontal distance from anterior most attachment of ear to posterior most point of helix. 3. Lobule Length: It is the vertical distance from base of inter-tragic notch to base of lobule. 4. Lobule Width: It is the horizontal distance from anterior most attachment of lobule to posterior margin. 5. Ear index: It was calculated by dividing the ear width by the ear length and multiplying by 100. 6. Lobule index: It was calculated by dividing the lobule width by the lobule length and multiplying by 100. Statistical analysis The measurements were recorded in Microsoft Excel sheets and analyzed by using SPSS software. These values were compared by using the independent sample t-test. For statistical analysis confidence interval was set at 95% and p- value was considered to be 0.05.

The present study included 240 participants (120 males and 120 females) with their mean age of 40.4±11.9 years for males and 40.9±11.4 years for females shown in Table 1. Table 2 presents the gender-based comparisons, while Table 3 details the findings between the right and left sides. As shown in Table 2, males consistently exhibited significantly higher values across most of the parameters. The exception was lobule length and ear index, where females have the higher values but the difference between genders did not reach statistical significance. Regarding the lateral comparisons in Table 3, most measurements were higher on the left side. However, the ear length was notably higher on the right whereas rest of the parameters were higher on left side. Despite these physical variations, none of the differences between the right and left sides was statistically significant, as all p-values remained above 0.05 except for the lobule width which as significantly higher on left side as p-value is 0.037.

*These results were found to be significant at a confidence interval of 95% and p-value is considered to be 0.05.

Johann Casper Lavater had brought the concept of “Earology” for the first time in 18^th century (Kapil et al. 2014).  In 19^th century Alphonse Bertillon stared with the consideration of ear auricle as a tool of identification (Dhanda et al. 2011; Verma et al. 2016). Authors from different part of the world had studied the various traits of ear auricle and used these traits for the purpose of identification of criminals with the help of ear prints procured from the crime scene initially but later these traits were also used in the reconstructive surgeries as auricle has shown the variations in respect to gender and ethnicities, to development of ear related devices and in the field of biometrics.

The present study includes the various auricular parameters such as ear length, ear width, lobule length, lobule width, ear index and lobule index. In the present study; Statistically significant differences were observed between males and females across most of the parameters except for the lobule length and ear index. These differences have shown the sexual dimorphism as they were statistically significant between the males and females. Sexual dimorphism in respect to ear auricle was previously reported in different age groups, ethnicities and races in various populations such as Nigeran, Italian, Turkish and Indians. In the present study; The mean ear length for male and female participant was found to be 59.51±5.85 and 56.28±5.54 respectively. The mean ear width for male and female participant was found to be 31.27±4.05 and 29.63±2.99 respectively. The mean lobule length for male and female participant was found to be 17.28±2.95 and 17.78±3.30 respectively. The mean lobule width for male and female participant was found to be 18.59±4.28 and 17.52±3.63 respectively. The mean ear index for male and female participant was found to be 52.62±5.07 and 52.85±4.91 respectively. The mean lobule index for male and female participant was found to be 108.72±23.72 and 100.48±21.56 respectively. These values are greater in males as compared to females except for the lobule length and ear index. Recently a study by Ahmed et al. 2015 also had shown the significantly higher values in males with the exception of lobule length which was found to be higher in females even in present study. Previously in the study of Rai et al. 2024, Kalra et al. 2015 and Verma et al. 2014. these auricular parameters were found to be significantly higher in males as compared to females. A similar study by Nigam et al. 2019 on 100 participants of U.P. population had shown the differences among males and females with higher values for all parameters in males but the lobule height was found to be higher in females which was significant with p-value of 0.004. Similarly, Taura et al 2019 reported the sexual dimorphism on the basis of auricular parameters as significant differences were reported in their study. Dmello et al. 2020 in Arabic population and Laxmi et al. 2017 in Punjabi population reported the higher values of auricular parameters in males as compared to the females.

An earlier study done by Eboh et al. 2013 among 368 participants of 6-60 years age of Nigeria, had shown that while the ear width it was higher in males females had shown the higher values for total ear length, lobule length and lobule width but only the lobule length and lobule width had shown the significant differences. This wasn`t in accordance to the present study. Differences were also noted on right and left sides as all the parameters on left side had shown the slightly higher values but these differences were insignificant (p-value > 0.05) these differences were also reported by the Murgod et al. 2013.  Knowledge of auricular morphometry is important as disproportionately smaller ears were reported in Down syndrome and Crouzon and Apert syndromes (Kalra et al. 2015; Farkas et al. 1978).

Table 4 Showing the comparison of values of Ear Length, Ear Width and Ear Index with previous studies.

Table 5 Showing the comparison of values of Lobule Length, Lobule Width and Lobule Index with previous studies.

The auricular parameters may serve as an additional tool to identify a person along with pre- existing identification tools such as finger prints, iris scans etc. These values may also be helpful in the forensic department to identify individuals of unknown identity from a mass disaster scene as the study has shown the significant differences between males and females, or to design the more ergonomically designed ear-related devices.

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