Method for the identification of persons

• US 6,228,029 B1
• Filed: 04/29/1999
• Issued: 05/08/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hanger Solutions, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Eccardt, Peter-Christian, Vossiek, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Lateef, Marvin M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PATEL, MAULIN M
• Application Number:
  US09/301,448
• Time in Patent Office: 740 Days
• Field of Search: 600/437, 600/443, 600/447, 600/438, 600/439, 600/399
• US Class Current: 600/437
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1172 using fingerprinting
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/1371 Matching features related to minutiae or pores

Abstract

An identification of persons is conducted on the basis of the sweat gland channel structures in the horny layer of the skin of a finger. For that purpose, ultrasound waves are transmitted into the skin and the received echos are evaluated.

Claims

1. A method for identification of a person by detecting skin structures of the person, comprising the steps of:

utilizing ultrasound to detect the skin structures to identify the person; and

detecting as said skin structures a lateral position of channels connecting sweat glands to sweat pores in predetermined skin layers.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the sweat pores, channels, and sweat glands lie in a horny layer.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the channels which are detected lie in skin layers below a surface of the skin and above a transition to skin forming layers beneath a horny layer, and wherein said skin layers are between 100 to 250 μ

m below the skin surface.

4. The method according to claim 1 including the step of also detecting an external structure of a horny layer.

5. The method according to claim 1 including the step of also detecting subdermal skin forming layers beneath a horny layer.

6. The method according to claim 1 including the step of providing a twodimensional array of greater than 20*20 up to a maximum of 150*150 ultrasound transducers.

7. The method according to claim 6 including the step of providing 100*100 ultrasound transducers in the array.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein a two-dimensional array of ultrasound transducers is provided having a transducer distance of 50 to 200 μ

m spacing.

9. The method according to claim 1 including the step of detecting a transition between a low-water horny layer and a hydrous skin-forming layers lying below the low-water horny layer.

10. The method according to claim 1 including the step of varying measuring depth for compensation of different skin thicknesses.

11. The method according to claim 1 including the step of acquiring a time position of an echo maximum, and producing an evaluatable height profile via a distance measurement.

12. The method according to claim 1 wherein detected data are supplied to a pattern recognition system.

13. The method according to claim 1 wherein detected patterns are compared to patterns from a data bank.

14. The method according to claim 1 wherein the skin structures are in a fingertip of the persons.

15. A method for identification of a person by detecting skin structures of the person, comprising the steps of:

utilizing ultrasound to detect the skin structures to identify the person; and

detecting as said skin structures channels connecting sweat glands to sweat pores in predetermined skin layers.