Seeing Beyond the Surface

Multispectral imaging is a sophisticated technology that was developed to overcome the fingerprint capture problems conventional imaging systems have in less-than-ideal conditions. The core problem was that conventional technologies rely on unobstructed and complete contact between the fingerprint and the sensor, a condition that is elusive in the real world.

The more effective solution was based on using multiple spectrums of light and advanced polarization techniques to extract unique fingerprint characteristics from both the surface and subsurface of the skin. The nature of human skin physiology is such that this subsurface information is both relevant to fingerprint capture and unaffected by surface wear and other environmental factors.

Dry fingerprints
Wet fingerprints
Dirty fingerprints
Bright light
Soft fingerprints

Non spoofable technology

The technology allows to discriminate a real finger from an imposter or “spoof” fingerprint, making the sensor to be a leader in liveness detection. Multiple images of surface and subsurface fingerprint data is quickly acquired and reconstructed to produce a single high-quality fingerprint image.

The capturing process

  • 1

    Multiple illumination wavelengths, angles, and polarizations

  • 2

    Acquire images of objects whether or not they are in contact with the sensor

  • 3

    Raw images are combined to reconstruct the fingerprint or other object

Multispectral imaging looks at and beyond the skin surface to the subsurface foundation of the fingerprint ridges. Different wavelengths of visible light interact with the skin in different ways, enabling significantly enhanced data capture. The fingerprint pattern on the surface echoes the subsurface structures from which they arose during development.

Multispectral imaging exploits the dependent relationship between surface and subsurface fingerprint patterns; subsurface data collected by multispectral imaging technology supports and augments surface data to create the highest-quality fingerprint image available.

Multiple images of surface and subsurface fingerprint data is quickly acquired and reconstructed to produce a single high-quality fingerprint image.