Multi-resolution Analysis of Multi-spectral Palmprints using Hybrid Wavelets for Identification

Palmprint is a relatively new physiological biometric used in identification systems due to its stable and unique characteristics. The vivid texture information of palmprint present at different resolutions offers abundant prospects in personal recognition. This paper describes a new method to authenticate individuals based on palmprint identification. In order to analyze the texture information at various resolutions, we introduce a new hybrid wavelet, which is generated using two or more component transforms incorporating both their properties. A unique property of this wavelet is its flexibility to vary the number of components at each level of resolution and hence can be made suitable for various applications. Multi-spectral palmprints have been identified using energy compaction of the hybrid wavelet transform coefficients. The scores generated for each set of palmprint images under red, green and blue illuminations are combined using score-level fusion using AND and OR operators. Comparatively low values of equal error rate and high security index have been obtained for all fusion techniques. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method.