Retinal Scanning Biometrics Presentation by Ajinkya Bhave 30 th April, 2003

Structure of the Eye

What is the Retina?  A very thin layer of tissue on the back of the eye (1/50 “ thick)  Has rods and cones to sense light and colour  Transmits impulses through the optic nerve  Multiple layers of cells comprise the retina  Retina = CCD + DSP all in one

Rods & Cones

The Technology

Background  One of the earliest biometric techniques – early 1930’s  Very high level of accuracy (0.0001% FAR)  One of the most ‘information-rich’ biometrics (over 400 feature points)  Considered an ‘intrusive’ technology

Principle  Identifies individuals by retinal blood vessel pattern  Unique for each individual (including twins)  Patterns do not change over an individual’s lifetime  Exceptions include diabetes and macular degenerative diseases

Technique  Subject looks into a focussing camera at close range (~ ½ inch) for several seconds  Low power IR (~7mW) is directed into the pupil  Resulting picture is captured by the camera  May require several such images to get a good template  Image processing filters out relevant feature points  Pattern is matched against stored templates

Commercial Systems  Only 2 currently in the market  Widely differing hardware  Widely differing price tags

Eyedentify

System specifications  Enrollment time : less than 1 minute ;  Stand alone verification time : 1.5 seconds ;  Stand alone recognition time. : less than 5 seconds with 1500 persons enrolled ;  Storage capacity : 3000 individuals in flash RAM memory  Template size : 96 bytes  Cost : $2000-$2500

Retinal Technologies

System specifications  Handheld device  Variable capture distances – ? upto 3 feet?  Uses aspheric lens array to get this range  Laser opthalmoscope captures retinal image  Template size : 50 bytes  Estimated cost: ~ $200

Extracting Intensity Profile

Performing Scan

Locating Blood Vessels

Generating Circular Bar Code

Strengths  Accuracy – FAR rates as low as %  Stability of biometric sample  Resistant to fraud  Small template size – large database on a small, standalone device

Comparison Chart

Weaknesses  Cumbersome to use practically  Trained operative needed during operation  Consumer perceptions (safety)  Cost (apparently not anymore with RT)

Applications  Security in Military areas  Access-control …  Screening …  Tracking livestock across regions – (disease-spread prevention)

Retinal Reflections ?