Researchers are working on identification system that also scans blood vessels in finger

Researchers from the Australian Editych Cowan University, among others, are working on a biometric security system that not only scans the fingerprint, but also the veins in the finger. This should significantly increase security.

The proposed authentication technology is based on a sensor that combines the data of the fingerprint with that of blood vessels. This would significantly improve recognition and thus security compared to just scanning the fingerprint. The sensor that scans the blood vessels uses infrared light. The arrangement of the blood vessels in our fingers is highly unique, which in theory makes it suitable for authentication purposes.

Speaking to the website Phys.org, researcher Wencheng Yang says that fingerprint scanning alone works better than other existing security systems, but it also has its limitations. Following him, we leave fingerprints everywhere and these can be duplicated quite easily with, for example, adhesive tape or clay.

According to Yang, the fact that this research concerns cancelable biometrics is an important advantage. In this case, the original biometric data is not directly stored one-to-one, but is transformed in a non-reversible, mathematical way into a template that cannot be traced. If a malicious person gains access to this template, it can be revoked as if it were a password being changed. The biometric attribute is then retransmitted through another transformation. This preserves privacy, as with the computing power of a modern computer it is difficult to extract the biometric characteristics from a transformation.

According to the researchers, the use of fingerprints is nearing its end, partly because we will increasingly need security mechanisms in the future. The technology that also scans blood vessels could become commonplace in five to ten years, according to Yang. The research is published in the journal Pattern Recognition under the title A Fingerprint and Finger-vein Based Cancelable Multi-biometric System.