# US 12,223,760 B2 · Systems and methods for performing fingerprint based user authentication using imagery captured using mobile devices > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,223,760 B2 - Document ID: US12223760B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/532,306 - Filed: 2021-11-22 - Published: 2022-05-26 - Granted: 2025-02-11 - Earliest claimed: 2015-02-06 - Assignees: Veridium IP Limited - Applicants: Veridium IP Limited - Inventors: Jonathan Francis Mather; Asem Othman; Richard Tyson; Andrew Simpson - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12223760B2 ## CPC - G06V 40/12: Fingerprints or palmprints - G06T 7/11: Region-based segmentation - G06V 40/1347: {Preprocessing; Feature extraction} - G06V 40/1353: {Extracting features related to minutiae or pores} - G06V 40/1359: {Extracting features related to ridge properties; Determining the fingerprint type, e.g. whorl or loop} - G06V 40/1365: {Matching; Classification} - G06V 40/1371: {Matching features related to minutiae or pores} - G06V 40/1376: {Matching features related to ridge properties or fingerprint texture} - G06V 40/1382: {Detecting the live character of the finger, i.e. distinguishing from a fake or cadaver finger} - G06V 40/1388: {using image processing} - G06V 40/1394: {using acquisition arrangements} - G06V 40/1341: {Sensing with light passing through the finger} - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL ## Abstract Technologies are presented herein in support of a system and method for performing fingerprint recognition. Embodiments of the present invention concern a system and method for capturing a user's biometric features and generating an identifier characterizing the user's biometric features using a mobile device such as a smartphone. The biometric identifier is generated using imagery captured of a plurality of fingers of a user for the purposes of authenticating/identifying the user according to the captured biometrics and determining the user's liveness. The present disclosure also describes additional techniques for preventing erroneous authentication caused by spoofing. In some examples, the anti-spoofing techniques may include capturing one or more images of a user's fingers and analyzing the captured images for indications of liveness. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of enhancing a fingerprint image for performing fingerprint recognition of a user via a mobile device having a camera, a storage medium, instructions stored on the storage medium, and a processor configured by executing the instructions, the method comprising: receiving, at the processor, a fingerprint image depicting a fingerprint of the user and captured using the camera of the mobile device; identifying, with the processor using a finger detection algorithm, a fingertip segment in the fingerprint image; enhancing, with the processor, the fingerprint image, wherein the enhancing of the fingerprint image comprises: processing, with the processor using an analysis module, the fingertip segment to enhance detail of the image captured by the camera of the mobile device to mimic a quality and attributes of fingerprint impression images captured from live scan sensors, generating an enhanced fingerprint image that mimics attributes of fingerprint impression images captured from live scan sensors and is suitable for matching with fingerprint impression images captured from live scan sensors, wherein one of the attributes is a frequency of fingerprint ridges, wherein the generating step includes scaling the enhanced fingerprint image according to a prescribed reference frequency of fingerprint ridges, wherein the prescribed reference frequency is an attribute of images stored in the storage medium that were captured from live scan sensors, and identifying, with the processor, discriminatory fingerprint features from the fingertip segment of the enhanced fingerprint image; and storing the enhanced fingerprint image in the storage medium as a representation of the discriminatory features. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the enhancing of the fingerprint image comprises: brightening regions of the fingerprint image that have pixels determined to represent skin relative to regions having pixels determined to not represent skin based on p-values for the pixels in an adaptive color model. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the enhancing of the fingerprint image comprises: implementing an enhancement filter on the fingertip segment to boost a contrast between ridges and furrows of the fingerprint in the fingertip segment, the enhancement filter including a histogram equalization. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the processing includes applying a set of Gabor filters tuned to a smoothed ridge orientation map. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: comparing the representation of the discriminatory features to a stored biometric identifier corresponding to the user, wherein the stored biometric identifier is a fingerprint impression image captured from a live scan sensor; and authenticating the identity of the user if the representation of the discriminatory features match the corresponding features of the stored biometric identifier corresponding to the user. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the enhanced fingerprint image to a remote computing system for matching the enhanced fingerprint image to an Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (IAFIS) database of fingerprint impression images. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, with the processor from the fingerprint image, a liveness of the user. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the step of enhancing the image comprises enhancing discriminatory features depicted in the image of the fingertip segment, and excluding non-discriminatory features from the image of the fingertip segment. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: scaling the enhanced fingerprint image; and storing the enhanced fingerprint image in the storage medium as the representation of the discriminatory features. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: normalizing the frequency of the fingerprint ridges of the enhanced fingerprint image to a reference frequency. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating the enhanced fingerprint image further comprises: applying a filter to the enhanced fingerprint image to remove frequencies that do not correspond to the frequency of the fingerprint ridges. ### Claim 12 A system for enhancing a fingerprint image for performing fingerprint recognition of a user via a mobile device having a camera, a storage medium, and a processor in operative communication with the camera and the storage medium, the system comprising: a software application comprising instructions in the form of code stored on the storage medium, wherein the instructions are executable in the processor and configure the processor to: receive a fingerprint image depicting a fingerprint of the user captured using the camera of the mobile device; identify, using a finger detection algorithm, a fingertip segment in the fingerprint image; enhance the fingerprint image, wherein to enhance the fingerprint image, the processor is configured to: process, using an analysis module, the fingertip segment to enhance the detail of the image captured by the camera of the mobile device to mimic a quality and attributes of fingerprint impression images captured from live scan sensors, and wherein the processor is further configured to generate an enhanced fingerprint image that mimics attributes of fingerprint impression images captured from live scan sensors and wherein the enhanced fingerprint image is suitable for matching with fingerprint impression images captured from live scan sensors, wherein one of the attributes is a frequency of fingerprint ridges, scale the enhanced fingerprint image according to a prescribed reference frequency of fingerprint ridges, the prescribed reference frequency being an attribute of images stored in the storage medium that were captured from live scan sensors, and identify discriminatory fingerprint features from the fingertip segment of the enhanced fingerprint image; and store the enhanced fingerprint image in the storage medium as a representation of the discriminatory features. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The system of claim 12, wherein to enhance the fingerprint image, the processor is configured to: brighten regions of the fingerprint image that have pixels determined to represent skin relative to regions having pixels determined to not represent skin based on p-values for the pixels in an adaptive color model. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The system of claim 12, wherein to enhance the fingerprint image, the processor is configured to: implement an enhancement filter on the fingertip segment to boost a contrast between ridges and furrows of the fingerprint in the fingertip segment, the enhancement filter including a histogram equalization. ### Claim 15 (depends on 12) The system of claim 12, wherein to process the fingertip segment, the processor is configured to apply a set of Gabor filters tuned to a smoothed ridge orientation map. ### Claim 16 (depends on 12) The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to: scale the enhanced fingerprint image according to a frequency of fingerprint ridges; and store the enhanced fingerprint image in the storage medium as the representation of the discriminatory features. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The system of claim 16, wherein the processor is further configured to: normalize the frequency of the fingerprint ridges of the enhanced fingerprint image to a reference frequency. ### Claim 18 (depends on 12) The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to: compare the representation of the discriminatory features to a stored biometric identifier corresponding to the user, wherein the stored biometric identifier is a fingerprint impression image captured from a live scan sensor; and authenticate the identity of the user if the representation of the discriminatory features match the corresponding features of the stored biometric identifier corresponding to the user. ### Claim 19 (depends on 12) The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to: transmit the enhanced fingerprint image to a remote computing system for matching the enhanced fingerprint image to an Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (IAFIS) database of fingerprint impression images. ### Claim 20 (depends on 12) The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine, from the fingerprint image, a liveness of the user. ### Claim 21 (depends on 12) The system of claim 12, wherein to enhance the fingerprint image, the processor is configured to: enhance discriminatory features depicted in the image of the fingertip segment; and exclude non-discriminatory features from the image of the fingertip segment. ### Claim 22 (depends on 12) The system of claim 12, wherein to generate the enhanced fingerprint image, the processor is further configured to: apply a filter to the enhanced fingerprint image to remove frequencies that do not correspond to the frequency of the fingerprint ridges.