Tech Special

Vein Recognition Technology: Promising Trend

Vein recognition technology is amongst the newest biometric technologies to have emerged in the recent past. While vein recognition technology gives biometrics a push, it is high time for us to know this technology in detail. In this article, we present you the concepts and prominence of this advanced technology along with its features and applications. In Japan, when Atsushi needs lots of cash, at the bank counter, he extends the finger, his right index finger to be precise. The bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, outfits its automated teller machines with scanners that take a snapshot of the veins in each customer's finger, and then compares it with a digital image stored in a chip on the customer's ATM card. This is the technology we all are dreaming about. A technology is based on contact-less scanning and authentication, thus avoiding the need to carry the ATM based debit cards. The market research analysts in Japan, thinks the extra hassle is a small price to pay for the privilege of being able to withdraw the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars at a time from his account. It's convenient when one needs a lot of cash or want to make a mortgage payment. In many cases that would be above the limit if one was using a card with a magnetic strip. Security Guards of Japan Biometric ATMs are becoming a major security tool for Japanese banks. Today, the vein recognition technologies implemented in Japanese banks are considered as the economic sentinels. Several banks in Japan have adopted either palm vein authentication or finger vein authentication technology on their ATMs. In the past two years, dozens of financial houses have added vein scanners to their ATMs in response to legislation passed in 2006 making banks liable for withdrawals by criminals using stolen or counterfeit bank cards. More than 20,000 of Japan's 110,000 ATMs have vein scanners, and sales of the technology reached an estimated $70 million in 2006, according to the Japan Automatic Identification Systems Assn. Not bad for a business that barely existed three years ago. Because of their low error rates, vein scanners won out over other biometric technologies, including iris, facial and fingerprint scanners. Palm vein authentication technology which was developed by Fujitsu, among other companies, proved to have a false acceptance rate of 0.01177% and a false rejection rate of 4.23%. Both Fujitsu and Hitachi claim their vein scanners allow incorrect access less than one in a million tries. Finger vein authentication technology, developed by Hitachi, has a false acceptance rate of 0.0100% and a false rejection rate of 1.26%. Finger vein authentication technology has so far been adopted by banks such as Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Mizuho Financial Group and Japan Post Bank. Palm vein authentication technology has been

adopted by banks such as the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. Biometrics The prominence and acceptance of biometric technologies such as fingerprinting, facial recognition, hand geometry, and iris recognition may leave little demand for other modalities. However, the emerging vein-pattern recognition technology, with its own unique features and advantages, has maintained its position against the others. The up-and-coming biometric technologies include vein, DNA, ear, and body odor recognition. Of these, vein pattern recognition is gaining momentum as one of the fastest-growing technologies. It is on course to become the newest entrant to mainstream biometric technologies, moving from the research labs to commercial deployment. What is Vein Recognition? Vein recognition technology was developed based on the fact that everyone has different vein patterns under their skin, and has been in the spotlight in recent days. To read a vein pattern, an infrared lighting and filter are needed, and brightness contrast against the skin should be maximized. After extracting vein distribution information or feature data from an input digital image, save it to a database. The information used as featured data includes overall vein shape and feature points, which are also used for fingerprinting. The light source used here is also used for a door phone, and is know to be non-harmful. Concept Vein recognition works on the fact that every one has distinct vein patterns. Vein recognition systems record subcutaneous Infra Red (IR) absorption patterns to produce unique and private identification templates for users. The technology works as a vascular "bar" code reader for people. Veins and other subcutaneous features present large, robust, stable and largely hidden patterns. Subcutaneous features can be conveniently imaged within the wrist, palm, and dorsal surfaces of the hand and further used for identification or verification. Vein pattern IR grey-scale images are binarised, compressed and stored within a relational database of 2D vein images. Subjects are verified against a reference template. There are different types of vein recognition technology, which include finger vein, wrist vein, palm, and backhand vein recognition. The underlying concept of scanning remains the same with each of these techniques. Vein authentication uses the vascular patterns of an individual's palm/finger/back of the hand as personal identification data. Veins and other subcutaneous features in the human hand present large, robust, stable and

largely hidden patterns. The deoxidized hemoglobin in the vein vessels absorbs light having a wavelength in the near-infrared area. When an infrared ray image is captured only the blood vessel pattern containing the deoxidized hemoglobin are visible as a series of dark lines. Based on this feature, the vein authentication device translates the black lines of the infrared ray image, and then matches it with the previously registered pattern of the individual. Vein authentication technology consists of a small vein scannerthe users simply need to hold the palm/finger/back of hand a few centimeters over the scanner and the scanner reads the unique vein pattern. General Features One of the main features of vein recognition technology is the uniqueness of the pattern of veins in a persons body and how it can be utilized by technology for various applications. Some of the unique features of are:

The vein patterns are unique to each individual and apart from size; the pattern does not change over time. A contact free technology involving no physical contact with the hardware. Extremely difficult to steal/misuse as veins are not visible to naked eye. Not contact models are more hygienic than all forms of contact biometrics.

Applications Vein recognition solutions have been implemented in a number of small and medium size applications noticeably across the IT security sector. These include banks, hospitals, military and many other financial institutions. However banks are among other organizations that have successfully launched the new technology. The vein recognition technology has extensive applications and can be applied to small personal biometric systems e.g. Biowatches and Biokeys and to generic biometric applications including intelligent door handles, door locks etc". The robustness of the system can be measured from the fact that its current applications include cash machines and ATMs. Some other applications of vein recognition include:

Computer log ins Personnel Authentication Time Attendance applications Physical Access Control

Advantages of Vein Recognition Several aspects of vein recognition make it more reliable and easier to use than fingerprinting. Some of the advantages are:

The vein patterns are unique to each individual. Apart from size, the pattern does not change over time. This feature makes it suitable for

one-to-many matching, for which hand geometry and face recognition may not be suitable. Vein recognition technology has a False Rejection Rate (FRR) of 0.01% and a False Acceptance Rate (FAR) of 0.0001%, hence making it suitable for high-security applications.

Veins are located underneath the skin surface and are not prone to external distortion the way fingerprints are. This reduces the high failure to enroll (FTE) rate caused by bad samples. Vein patterns are difficult to replicate because they lie under the skin surface. Fingerprints can be duplicated using gummy fingers. Additionally, some vein recognition models come with liveness' detection that senses flow of blood in veins.

User friendliness: This technology overcomes aversion to fingerprinting and related privacy concerns since its traditional association to criminal activity is non-existent. In countries such as Japan, where there is strong opposition to fingerprinting, vein recognition has become the biometric technology of choice. It is relatively quick as it takes less than 2 seconds to authenticate. The test taker does not touch the palm vein sensor, eliminating the possibility of smudging. The system is also much more accessible for people with some physical disabilities. Some non-contact models are more hygienic than fingerprint readers.

Potential fusion with other biometric technologies: With the popularity of multimodal biometrics, vein recognition technology could be used in conjunction with hand or fingerprint biometrics. Vein recognition can provide one-to-many matching, and hand geometry can be used for one-to-one matching, thereby enhancing security.

The digitally encrypted palm vein patterns cannot be read by any other system.

Challenges Some of the disadvantages of vein recognition technology are:

Invasive: While it is less invasive than iris scanning, the fact that the technology studies the subcutaneous level can create apprehensions among people, giving them the psychological impression that it could be a painful process.

Expensive: The technology is not cheap enough for mass deployment. Vein recognition units cost $2,000 to $4,000, whereas hand geometry readers and fingerprint scanners are priced at $1,200 and $500, respectively.

Large Size: The presence of a CC camera makes the unit larger than a fingerprint reader. This prevents its adoption for the fast-growing

mobile computing and logical access application markets. Unless the size is reduced, it may not be able to match silicon scanners in terms of versatility. Although Hitachi's finger-vein scanning unit is compact enough for PC access, it is not small enough to be integrated with notebooks computers or cell phones, the way silicon fingerprint sensors are.

The technology is still untested because only vendors confirm the accuracy levels. The lack of interest from governments and standards agencies has not proved its capability yet. There are no mandates encouraging adoption either.

Like the fingerprint recognition system, the vein recognition technology has not reached many parts of the world. This technology is to yet reach the Indian market.

Deployments Much of vein recognition deployments have been in the Asia Pacific region. Due to strong resistance to fingerprinting in Japan and South Korea, the vein biometric companies have found easy acceptance. The adoption rate has been especially high in financial institutions in Japan. The Bank of Tokyo, Mitsubishi uses palm vein recognition for all ATM transactions. Other banks utilize finger-vein recognition technology. This has created fierce competition between Fujitsu's palm vein and Hitachi's finger vein technology. Banco Bradesco, the largest private bank in Brazil, announced a deal to incorporate palm vein technology into its ATMs. Hitachi's finger vein technology has found usage in PC authentication due to its small size. It is also used for gate access/door access in Singapore. Majority of applications are in financial transactional authorization, physical access control, and PC logical access. There is not much demand from government or travel verticals yet. A Brief Conclusion Vein recognition technology has been immensely popular in Japan and South Korea since 2004. Customers in the Middle East and South East Asia are considering adopting the technology. Some of the Japanese companies have started to take these technologies worldwide and push for wider acceptance in the financial transaction authorization space in North America. As the usage of biometric technologies expands, the need for different modalities for different applications becomes imperative. Vein recognition has great potential as a convenient, easy-to-use biometric technology with high security and accuracy levels. It is being marketed aggressively due to backing

from tier 1 corporations. The technology is gaining momentum, but whether it can displace fingerprint biometrics and become successful with high-profile government deployment remains to be seen.