Fingerprint pattern recognition for medical uses-A frequency domain approach

A method of automatically classifying fingerprints into three groups, whorl, loop, and arch is described. It can help medical scientists to study the relationship between fingerprint patterns and medical disorders, such as breast cancer. In the research, a frequency domain approach that uses the feature of Fourier spectrum was developed; that is, prominent peaks in the spectrum give the principal direction of fingerprint patterns. Using the above feature, the authors obtain the principal direction of every subregion. The pattern of the whole image then can be determined. The frequency domain approach allows one to classify whorl faster and is less sensitive to the quality of fingerprint image, but it does not easily allow for the classification of arch and loop when triradii areas are too small