Biometric methods are among the safest and most secure solutions for identity recognition and verification.One of the biometric features with sufficient uniqueness for identity recognition is the finger knuckle print (FKP). This paper presents a new method of identity recognition and verification based on FKP features, where feature extraction is combined with an entropy-based pattern histogram and a set of statistical texture features. The genetic algorithm (GA) is then used to find the superior features among those extracted. After extracting superior features, a support vector machine-based feedback scheme is used to improve the performance of the biometric system. Two datasets called Poly-U FKP and FKP are used for performance evaluation. The proposed method managed to achieve 94.91% and 98.5% recognition rates on the Poly-U FKP and FKP datasets and outperformed all of the existing methods in this respect. These results demonstrate the potential of this method as a simple yet effective solution for FKP-based identity recognition.
Key words:Entropy-based pattern, texture feature, genetic algorithm, biometric, finger knuckle print based coding scheme was used for FKP recognition [12]. In [13], the local orientation information extracted by Gabor filters and the Fourier transform coefficients were considered, respectively, as local and global features of FKP images. Woodard et al. used a sensor to create a three-dimensional hand dataset and then utilized the features extracted from fingers for identification [14]. However, the cost, size, and weight of the sensor and the prolonged data retrieval and processing of this method limit its use as a practical biometric solution. In a study by Ferrer et al., they developed a biometric identification system that considers the FKP as a biometric feature and uses the hidden Markov model in the identification phase [15]. However, this method has an extensive processing phase and works well only when a limited amount of data is being processed. Rawikanth et al. used the FKP region to detect the orientation and scale of finger images. However, the subspace analysis method used in the feature extraction phase was not able to extract the features of the knuckles very effectively [16].