Experimental evaluation of the moving linear array technique applied to livescan biometrics

In this work the moving linear array technique has been used to perform 3D ecographic images of different human hands, in order to evaluate this technique to biometric recognition purposes. This technique could be considered as a possible evolution and complement of the classical optical hand geometry technique, as it allows the measurements and analysis of the internal hand region. A commercial echografic machine provided with a high frequency (12 MHz) linear array has been employed. The probe is moved in the directional orthogonal to the array and at each step a B-scan is performed and stored to form a 3D matrix. B-scan and C-scan images of the palm of the hand of different users were analysed and compared. The results have shown that, in the analysed region (about 10 mm under the palm skin), there are several anatomic elements (including hand bones, bending tendons, muscle tissue, blood vessels) that could be exploited for measurements of biometric parameters.