Finger vein authentication is a new biometric method utilizing the vein patterns inside one’s fingers for personal identity verification. Vein patterns are different for each finger and for each person; and as they are hidden
underneath the skin’s surface, forgery is extremely difficult. These unique aspects of finger vein pattern recognition set it apart from previous forms of biometrics and have led to its adoption by the major Japanese financial institutions as their newest security technology. This white paper discusses the origins, features, technology, applications and future
development of finger vein authentication.
1. History:
R&D to Commercialization Originally, the motivation to develop finger vein pattern recognition technology was born of Hitachi’s advanced research to measure brain-function activity in the field of medical science. In that research, near-infrared light was used to observe the increase in blood flow and was found to be applicable to recognition of the finger vein pattern. As
finger vein patterns differ for each finger and for each person, Hitachi thus discovered that finger vein pattern recognition is a viable biometric personal authentication technology for the commercial market. In the first phase (1997-2000), Hitachi developed its original light transmission technology for finger vein biometric authentication. As opposed to light reflection, whereby a captured image is taken from light reflected off the surface of the skin, light transmission captures a vein pattern image light that passes through the surface of the skin (see Section 4 for details). In the second phase (2000-2003), the technology was adapted into product form, and the first physical access control system was developed and released
in 2002. In 2002 research began on the logical access systems, with commercialization in Japan beginning in 2004. Hitachi developed ATM applications in 2004 and
commercialized them in 2005. Finger vein authentication
technology has thrived in the Japanese financial sector, with
major banks in Japan employing it for ATM end-user
verification.
2. Summary of Authentication Process
The basic principle on which the finger vein authentication
system is based is shown in Fig. 2. Near-infrared rays
generated from a bank of LEDs (light emitting diodes)
penetrate the finger and are absorbed by the hemoglobin in
the blood. The areas in which the rays are absorbed (i.e.
veins) thus appear as dark areas in an image taken by a CCD
camera located on the opposite side of the finger. Image
processing can then construct a finger vein pattern from the
camera image. This pattern is compressed and digitized so
that it can be registered as a template of a person’s biometric
authentication data. The finger vein pattern and the
template are then authenticated by means of a
pattern-matching technique. Devices were developed by
Hitachi to perform the detection process described above


Download full report
http://googleurl?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ve..._paper.pdf&ei=L3cyTt_qEsitrAf--d3MCw&usg=AFQjCNGN9aoKiPRFk2lhFyCuzp1h7y0X8w&sig2=3lTTzY0HkA1LhBKJHsDN9A