Pores and Ridges: High-Resolution Fingerprint Matching Using Level 3 Features

—Fingerprint friction ridge details are generally described in a hierarchical order at three different levels, namely, Level 1 (pattern), Level 2 (minutia points), and Level 3 (pores and ridge contours). Although latent print examiners frequently take advantage of Level 3 features to assist in identification, Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS) currently rely only on Level 1 and Level 2 features. In fact, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) standard of fingerprint resolution for AFIS is 500 pixels per inch (ppi), which is inadequate for capturing Level 3 features, such as pores. With the advances in fingerprint sensing technology, many sensors are now equipped with dual resolution (500 ppi/1,000 ppi) scanning capability. However, increasing the scan resolution alone does not necessarily provide any performance improvement in fingerprint matching, unless an extended feature set is utilized. As a result, a systematic study to determine how much performance gai...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2007
• Where: PAMI
• Authors: Anil K. Jain, Yi Chen, Meltem Demirkus
• Keywords: Fingerprint, Level 3, Level 3 Features, PAMI 2007