Optical wavelet transform for fingerprint identification
Robert Paul. MacDonald, Steven K. Rogers, Thomas J. Burns, Kenneth H. Fielding, Gregory T. Warhola, Dennis W. Ruck · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 1994
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has recently sanctioned a wavelet fingerprint image compression algorithm developed for reducing storage requirements of digitized fingerprints. This research implements an optical wavelet transform of a fingerprint image, as the first step in an optical fingerprint identification process. Wavelet filters are created from computer- generated holograms of biorthogonal wavelets, the same wavelets implemented in the FBI algorithm. Using a detour phase holographic technique, a complex binary filter mask is created with both symmetry and linear phase. The wavelet transform is implemented with continuous shift using an optical correlation between binarized fingerprints written on a Magneto-Optic Spatial Light Modulator and the biorthogonal wavelet filters. A telescopic lens combination scales the transformed fingerprint onto the filters, providing a means of adjusting the biorthogonal wavelet filter dilation continuously. The wavelet transformed fingerprint is then applied to an optical fingerprint identification process. Comparison between normal fingerprints and wavelet transformed fingerprints shows improvement in the optical identification process, in terms of rotational invariance.