Identification by looking at veins: looking for volunteers for the first database of vascular images

enero 26, 2023

This unprecedented crusade, promoted by the Universidad Católica del Maule, tries to collect information from 500 people to develop a biometric method that will recognize human beings by the geometry of their veins. The identity of those participating will remain anonymous.

A call to participate in the first database in Chile that will compile images of veins from the palm of the hand, was formulated by a researcher from the Universidad Católica del Maule (UCM), who developed a biometric recognition model based on vascular patterns.

Ruber Hernández, a member of the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (CIEAM, in Spanish) of the aforementioned campus, explained that the information will be entered into an artificial intelligence program, capable of identifying a person by the geometry of their veins.

“Anyone over the age of 18 who is willing to have both hands scanned can participate. Those interested can register by filling out a form online, where they give their name and general information, for us to contact them and take samples. The idea is to invite the community to be part of a contribution to science”, he pointed out.

The device, created by the academic as part of a Fondecyt Initiation project, performs the authentication through a reader. The result stands out because it is difficult to falsify and it has a high precision, since the veins do not change over the years.

“The system works by diodes that illuminate the palm, and a camera that records the patterns of the veins. The method is completed with different characteristics of the person, such as sex, age, height, weight, and skin color. In Chile there is no database of images of palm veins, and at an international level, it would also be the first database with a large number of people, and that collects all the information on characteristic features”, added the doctor in Computer Science.

500 volunteers

It seems like a small number but getting 500 volunteers «is quite difficult,» according to the researcher.

“If there were multiple individuals in a specific city, we might eventually move to that location, because we want to reach as many people as possible. The identity of the subjects will be protected; each person is going to be assigned a number, not a name. If at any time the volunteer wants to withdraw their information, we will eliminate it without problems”, he emphasized.

Those who wish to participate in the initiative can enter the website portal.ucm.cl/cieam or visit the link https://forms.gle/sXMcGoqeFuhicHPV9.

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