Technology
Technology
Palm vein scanning is an advanced contactless identification method on the biometric technology market. It is based on reading the pattern of the saphenous veins using infrared light absorbed by blood hemoglobin. As a result, a unique image of the vessels appears, which is processed by the sensor and checked against a database template for identity authentication.
Benefits
Palm vein scanning technology is considered young, but it quickly gained confidence and improved the quality of life of people around the world. This is because this method has a number of key advantages over traditional biometric security methods.
Accuracy
The veins of the palm are much easier to find than the vessels on other parts of the body. In addition, the surface area of the hand is significantly larger than the finger pad or the iris of the eye. This allows the scanner to capture a large amount of data - over 5,000,000 unique mesh points in the arm. Such a processing algorithm excludes the possibility of errors during identification and makes the method as accurate as possible.
Reliability
The pattern of the veins of the palm of each person is unique and remains unchanged from the moment the physiological growth is completed. As practice shows, the venous network is fully formed from the age of 14 and is stable until old age. Factors such as dirt, damp hands and superficial skin damage will not interfere with the recognition procedure. Unlike fingerprint identification, the vascular "key" is hidden deep under the skin and is not affected by the environment.
Non-contact
You don't need to touch the sensor to scan your palm. To pass identification, just bring your hand to the screen of the device. The absence of any touch ensures the hygiene of Palm vein technology. Therefore, it is indispensable in the modern world, when social distancing and contactless technologies have become the most important methods in the fight against the pandemic.
Security
Unlike the face, the vessels will not be recorded by any CCTV camera. Their image cannot be faked or stolen, nor can the data be used without the presence of the carrier. Even if fraudsters receive a drawing of your palm, they will not be able to bypass the "vitality test" in the biometric device scanner (movement of "living" blood through the veins). In addition, at all stages of the technology, additional encryption is carried out, excluding the reuse of data for their own purposes.
Comfort
The identification procedure is simple and understandable for a person of any age and level of technical skills. Even a small child will intuitively feel that it is the palm that needs to be presented to the device. And the biometric method of scanning blood vessels is better perceived by users on a psychological level. It does not evoke negative emotions, associations with delinquency or harassment, and unlike face scanning, it does not store photos on media, therefore, it provides maximum comfort in use.
Quality of work of Palm Vein
The quality of work of biometric systems is assessed by many characteristics, the most important of which are:
• FRR (False Rejection Rate) – the rate of false rejection by the identification system
• FAR (False Acceptance Rate) – false pass rate of an unregistered user.
Research shows that Palm vein technology has the lowest FAR and FRR levels compared to other identification methods.
| Identification method |
Identification speed |
FAR | External factors leading to error |
FRR | Stability of the biometric template |
Number of read points |
| Fingerprint | 1 | 0,5% | Dirt, trauma, wet skin | 5-20% | * | 12-120 |
| Face identification |
2-5 | 0,001% | Sun, shadow | 5-20% | *** | 100-100 000 |
| On the eye retina |
2-3 | 0,0004% | Contact lenses, retinal hemorrhage, sun | 1-2% | **** | Above 4,000,000 |
| Palm vein scanning |
1 | 0,00008% | Cold hands | < 1% | ***** | Above 5,000,000 |
FRR and FAR are closely related. The ideal balance of these values, which is observed in Palm vein, determines the convenience and safety of using a biometric system.
| Identification method | FAR (%) = | If FRR (%) = |
| Face identification | ~1.3 | ~2.6 |
| Voice template | ~0.01 | ~0.3 |
| Fingerprint | ~0.001 | ~0.1 |
| Finger venous mesh | ~0.0001 | ~0.01 |
| Iris / retina | ~0.0001 | ~0.01 |
| Venous mesh of the palm | <0.00008 | ~0.01 |