Apparatus and method for identifying individuals through their subcutaneous vein patterns and integrated system using said apparatus and method

An apparatus for authenticating a user by a subcutaneous vein pattern in the back of the user's hand, comprising:

• an image capturing device operable to capture an image containing a subcutaneous vein pattern from the back of a hand of a user;
• and
• a processor coupled to tee image capturing device and operable to:
• extract a plurality of branching points from the subcutaneous vein pattern of the captured image, each branching point being defined as a point where three or more vessels meet;
• extract branching characteristics for the each branching point from the subcutaneous vein pattern of the captured image, for the each branching point, the branching characteristics including the number of branches connected to the each branching point and the connection relationship between the each branching point and at least some of the other extracted branching points;
• and
• compare the extracted branching characteristics with the branching characteristics of the branching points of a stored reference image for authentication of the user.

A method of authenticating a user by a subcutaneous vein pattern in the user's hand, comprising:

• receiving an image containing a subcutaneous vein pattern from the hand of a user;
• extracting a plurality of branching points from the received image containing the subcutaneous vein pattern, the branching point being defined as a point where three or more vessels meet;
• extracting branching characteristics for each branching point from the subcutaneous vein pattern, the branching characteristics for the each branching point including the number of branches connected to the each branching point and the connection relationship between the each branching point and at least some of the other extracted branching points;
• and
• comparing the extracted branching characteristics of the branching points with the branching characteristics of the branching points of a stored reference image for authentication of the user.