Global ID and Idiap Research Institute to develop contactless vein biometric scanner for hospitals

A new project to develop a contactless scanner for biometric hand vein identification has been launched by Global ID and the Idiap Research Institute to ensure cybersecurity in hospital environments in which concerns around hygiene can pose a barrier to the use of fingerprints. The CANDY project is supported by Innosuisse, and endowed with a million francs (roughly US$1 million).

Vein recognition can be performed without contact with a scanner, through infrared photographic imagery. The challenge is to meet the requirements of users, speed in particular, while satisfying security requirements. Global ID and the Idiap Research Institute intend to develop the biometric technology to fill these needs for healthcare professionals.

“Our ultimate goal is to ensure the highest level of data security and confidentiality while addressing the main disadvantages of existing biometric technologies, including reliability, robustness and high cost,” says Global ID CEO Lambert Sonna. “We have already made a device that can scan through a surgical glove, now the goal is to be able to do it without contact and faster. To achieve this, the goal is to use a multi-spectral sensor, that is to say working in several wavelengths.”

A multi-spectral approach and high definition images of the whole hand are used to prevent spoof attacks from fooling the system, according to the announcement.

“Even if venous identification is still not widespread, it is crucial to be able to detect, as soon as it is put in place, possible intrusion attempts based on the presentation of fakes,” explains Sébastien Marcel, head of the Biometrics Security and Privacy research group at Idiap.

The CANDY project is planned to last two years, and result in a prototype of a portable vein scanner which can be industrialized, and the filing of an international patent.

Global ID internationally patented a biometric 3D finger-vein recognition technology last August.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  biometrics research  |  CANDY project  |  contactless biometrics  |  cybersecurity  |  funding  |  Global ID  |  healthcare  |  Idiap  |  patents  |  vein recognition