Title of Invention

A BIOMETRIC METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION USING MULTIPLE PATTERNS ON NAIL SIDE OF FINGER (S)

Abstract

A method and system of personal identification involving biometrics based on image processing of multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on atleast one finger from the nail side of the hand, creating and storing the distinctive image patterns with corresponding distinctive center locations thereof on said finger(s) under a distinct Personal Identification Number (PIN) and verification of a person’s identity by searching each of the stored distinctive image patterns corresponding to the distinctive Personal Identification Number (PIN) with respect to the hand image of said person and matching utilizing 2D normalized correlation technique for similar said distinctive patterns and identifying the maximum correlation value for each of said template patterns and its location for said personal authentication. The invention would favour high security in various high security zones/purposes and avoid the limitations of simple hand /finger dimensions based personal identification.

Full Text

FORM 2THE PATENT ACT 1970 (39 OF 1970) & The Patent Rules, 2003 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION(See Section 10 and Rule 13) 1 TITLE OF THE INVENTION : A BIOMETRIC METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION USING MULTIPLE PATTERNS ON NAIL SIDE OF FINGER (S) 2 APPLICANT (S) Name : THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY Nationality : an Indian Government Department Address : Govt. Of India, Anushakti Bhavan, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Marg Mumbai 400001, Maharastra, India 3 PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION COMPLETE The following specification particularly descibes the invention and the manner in which it is be performed. l FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and system of personal identification and, in particular, to a method and system of personal identification by way of verification of a person's identity in high security applications/zones. Importantly, the method of the invention advantageously utilizes biometrics, which involves the science of using a person's physiological or behavioral characteristics to determine or verify the identity of a person. The method of the invention is directed to avoid problems of identifying individuals by mere comparison of hand dimensions such as the measurement of the length, width, thickness and surface area of the hand and of the fingers, which in case of larger populations where various individuals can have very similar hand dimensions can lead to errors in identity. The method of the invention is thus directed to ensure that the identity of individuals involving biometric application would be more confirmatory and sufficient to avoid problems of wrongful identity, which could not be realized involving the conventional identity verification techniques presently in use. The invention is also directed to a system for fast and effective personal identification involving the above biometric method and thereby facilitates improving upon the authenticity and security of high security zones apart from other advantageous applications and uses involving personal identity in various other fields of application. BACKGROUND ART Personal identification by way of verification of identity involving the measurement of the length, width ,thickness and surface area of the hand and the fingers is known and in use in many high security applications. Considering that each human hand is apparently different from every other hand and accordingly to identify a person it has been a practice in the art to carry out the measurement of the length, width, thickness and surface area of the hand and the fingers for verifying the identity of the persons. US 4,736,203 discloses an identification system, which determines whether the claimed identity of an individual is in fact the true identity involving a three dimensional image of a hand using a digitizing camera and a pair of orthogonal reflecting surfaces. The image is then compared with a previously recorded hand image for the claimed identity. If the images match, within a selectable tolerance, the person is accepted as the correct individual. If they do not match, the person is rejected. Signaling and/or control apparatus responds to the results of the comparison. US 5,073,950 teaches a method of and apparatus for verifying the identity of an individual which is based on the profile of a hand print. A set of reference data is created by determining the location of the edges of each finger separately to generate a set of finger profiles, establishing a central axis for each finger profile by reference to the edges thereof, rotating the central axis of each finger profile until it is normal to a reference line, 2 determining the width of each finger profile at predetermined locations parallel to said reference line, and recording said finger profile information. Thereafter, a candidate's finger profile can then be compared with the reference profile by comparing the width of each finger profile at predetermined locations, determining whether the corresponding between finger widths at said predetermined locations meets a predetermined criteria, and then indicating acceptance or rejection of the candidate. The apparatus does not require posts or grooves to force the hand or fingers into any predetermined position. US 6,628,810 is directed to a hand biometrics sensing device including an array of sensing elements defining a sensing area over which a person's hand is placed and which has a first portion in which the sensing elements are arranged to provide high resolution sensing suitable for sensing fingerprint patterns and a second portion in which the sensing elements are arranged to provide lower resolution sensing suitable for sensing at least one other hand biometric characteristic, for example, hand geometry, finger length, width or inter-joint dimensions. The sensing elements, which may include sense electrodes connected to switching devices such as TFTs, are arrayed in rows and columns and addressed by peripheral drive circuits via sets of row and column address conductors , resulting in a low-cost, compact device. It is also known to carry out verification of identity using the approach based on obtaining a Wide Line Integrated Profile (WLIP) measured along the length of the finger from the palm side of the hand image and matching it with the similar WLIP template obtained during enrollment using 1-D correlation. It is thus known in the art to carry out variety of such verification methodology to identity individuals including those based on the biometrics of hand. While the hand dimensions of any two individuals are normally dissimilar, but in larger population, various individuals will have very similar hand dimensions. Though fairly diverse, size and shape of the hand are not unique in the same way that the fingerprint and iris patterns are. Therefore hand-scan biometric technique based on merely geometry of the hand is found not ideal for applications in which rejecting imposters is extremely important such as in high security regions. Also while attempts were made to utilize biometric systems for identity verification, a practical system with acceptable False Acceptance and False Rejection Rates could not be realized even by using WLIP of finger from palm side of the hand image and 1-D correlation technique. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is thus the basic object of the present invention is directed to the development of a practical method and system with acceptable False Acceptance and False Rejection Rates involving biometrics which would be secured and value add to the need for personal 3 identification especially in regions/applications where rejection of the imposters is extremely important are seen as one of the few technologies that can help in securing the facilities. Another object of the present invention is directed to providing for the much required method and system with acceptable False Acceptance and False Rejection Rates involving biometrics which would be secured and enable its safe and secured applications and use in areas such as access control to high security places, secure electronic banking, health and social services etc. and possibly extended to other similar applications with the growing awareness about biometrics and its ready and user friendly applications/use. A further object of the present invention is directed to providing biometric verification method and system involving a new image processing technique based on simultaneous matching of the multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on fingers from the nail side and not merely based on the conventional approaches of verification based on the measurement of length, width, thickness and the area of the hand and fingers. Yet another object of the present invention is directed to an automated biometric method and system of verification adapted to positively identify an individual or to verify his identity using measurements of the human body which identification characteristics cannot be lost, forgotten or passed from one person to another and cannot be forged to falsify the verification process. A further object of the present invention is directed to biometric verification method and system involving a new image processing technique based on simultaneous matching of the multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on fingers from the nail side which would be non intrusive and hence fully reliable and safe for personal identity verification. Another object of the present invention is directed to biometric verification method and system involving a new image processing technique based on simultaneous matching of the multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on fingers from the nail side which would be user friendly and would not require the users to be too alert with full attention while attempting to verify his/her personal identification utilizing the system. A further object of the present invention is directed to biometric verification method and system involving a new image processing technique based on simultaneous matching of the multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on fingers from the nail side which would not involve any forensic association and hence will not cause any discomfort to users. 4 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thus according to the basic aspect of the present invention there is provided a biometric method for personal identification using multiple patterns on nail side of finger(s) comprising: selectively image processing of multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on atleast one finger from the nail side of the hand; creating and storing a registered template comprising identifying the distinctive image patterns with corresponding distinctive center locations thereof on said finger(s) to form a unique template for the person whose said finger(s) image is being processed with a distinct Personal Identification Number (PIN) and storing the same as the registered template; verification of a person's identity using said stored registered unique template comprising (a) providing the person's hand image from nail side for said verification; (b) searching each of the stored distinctive image patterns corresponding to the distinctive Personal Identification Number (PIN) with respect to the hand image of said person and matching utilizing 2D normalized correlation technique for similar said distinctive patterns ; (c) identifying the maximum correlation value for each of said template patterns and its location and carrying out the personal authentication (acceptance/rejection) based thereon. In accordance with a preferred aspect of the biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person of the invention the same comprises: selectively image processing of multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns of the four fingers excluding the thumb of the hand from the nail side; creating and storing a registered template comprising identifying the distinctive image patterns of each of the said four fingers with corresponding distinctive center locations thereof of the respective image patterns to form a unique template for the person whose said fingers image is being processed with a distinct Personal Identification Number (PIN) and storing the same as the registered template; verification of a person's identity using said stored registered unique template comprising (a) providing the person's hand image from nail side covering all four fingers excluding the thumb for said verification; 5 (b) searching each of the stored distinctive image patterns corresponding to the distinctive Personal Identification Number (PIN) with respect to the hand image of said person and matching utilizing 2D normalized correlation technique for similar said distinctive patterns on said fingers ; (c) identifying the maximum correlation value for each of said template patterns and its location and carrying out the personal authentication (acceptance/rejection) based thereon. Importantly in the above biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person for the purpose of generation of said registered unique template and carrying out said verification, the palm side of the hand is made to rest on a base plate with fingers placed stretched apart using six cylindrical pegs, five pegs for the five fingers including the thumb and sixth peg as an anchor peg between the pointer and the middle fingers. The said multiple image patterns on the fingers include regions on hand pertaining to (a) finger tip (b) nail ending and folds on the upper part of the finger (c) folds on the lower part of the finger (d) folds on the upper and lower part of the finger taken together and (e) valley regions formed between the middle and ring fingers and ring and small fingers preferably comprising 18 image patterns in all. Preferably, the said 18 image patterns are rectangular in shape and are located on four fingers comprising four on the pointer finger (PTIP, PUP, PMID and PDN), four on the middle finger (MTI P, MUP, MMID, MDN), four on the ring finger (RTIP,RUP,RMID and RDN),four on the small finger (STIP,SUP,SMID and SDN), one on the region of valley formed between the Middle and Ring fingers (VMR) and one on the region of valley formed between Ring and the Small fingers (VRS) respectively with the said center locations of each pattern preferably indicated by a dot more preferably red dot. Advantageously, in the above biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person the said 18 image patterns on the four fingers are automatically extracted and optionally, if required, resized /relocated by authorized registration personnel during registration for optimum performance from the black and white digital image of the hand and the length, width and location of each image pattern is computed from the length of the respective finger with the length of the finger in turn being estimated using image processing technique. The size of each image pattern can preferably be in the range of 3 kilobytes to 5 kilobytes when the hand image is digitized to 768X576X8 bit resolution. Also according to the further aspect in the biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person the same for the purposes of the biometric registration and verification involves the distance parameters computed of each said four fingers preferably of 15 distance parameters comprising of three distance parameters for the Pointer finger, four for the Middle 6 finger, four for the Ring finger and four for the Small finger with each of said distance parameter shown being the Euclidean distance between the center location of one pattern preferably indicated by red dot to the center location of the other pattern with said distance parameters indicated by lines of different colours preferably Yellow line indicating the distance between the TIP pattern and the DOWN (DN)pattern, Pink line indicating distance between UP pattern and DN pattern, Cyan line indicating distance between Middle (MID) pattern and the DN pattern and the Green line indicating the distance between TIP pattern and the corresponding valley pattern. Importantly, the correlation score values are either 1.0 or slightly less than 1.0 and the threshold correlation score values are slightly less than 1.0 and the limits on differences in distance parameters are kept about a fraction of millimeter to allow for small deviations. In particular in accordance with a preferred aspect of the invention, in the above biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person if out of the total of 33 parameters, all the 18 correlation score values obtained are more than the specified thresholds and all the 15 distance parameters match within specified limits to the corresponding distance parameters computed during the registration process, the person's claim for identity is accepted. In the instance, based on the correlation values and distance parameters the person's identity is not established, a Quality Degradation Factor (QDF) is computed based on the deviations observed and the users claim for identity is accepted or rejected depending upon the preset threshold limit for the QDF preferably with said the permissible value of the QDF stored alongwith the registered template. In accordance with a further aspect of the invention the above biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person also provides for possible masking if required of the one or more of the identification parameters preferably selected from the 33 identification parameters to discard such parameter for the purposes of verification. According to another aspect of the present invention there is also provided a system for biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person comprising: imaging unit having a base plate for placement of the person's hand for imaging for registration operatively connected to image processing unit and adapted for selectively image processing of multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on atleast one finger from the nail side of the hand; processor means for creating and storing a registered template comprising identifying the distinctive image patterns with corresponding distinctive center locations thereof on said finger(s) to form a unique template for the person whose said finger image is being 7 processed with a distinct Personal Identification Number (PIN) and storing the same as the registered template; means for verification of a person's identity using said stored registered unique template comprising (a) said imaging unit having said base plate for placement of the person's hand for imaging for verification from the nail side; (b) processor means for searching each of the stored distinctive image patterns corresponding to the distinctive Personal Identification Number (PIN) with respect to the hand image of said person and matching utilizing 2D normalized correlation technique for similar said distinctive patterns and identifying the maximum correlation value for each of said template patterns and its location and carrying out the personal authentication (acceptance/rejection) based thereon. In accordance with a preferred aspect the system for verification of personal identity of a person comprises: imaging unit having a base plate for placement of the person's hand for imaging for registration operatively connected to image processing unit for selectively image processing of multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns of the hand of the four fingers excluding the thumb from the nail side; processor means for creating and storing a registered template comprising identifying the distinctive image patterns of each of the said four fingers with corresponding distinctive center locations thereof of the respective image patterns to form a unique template for the person whose said fingers image is being processed with a distinct Personal Identification Number (PIN) and storing the same as the registered template; means for verification of a person's identity using said stored registered unique template comprising (a) said imaging unit having said base plate for placement of the person's hand for imaging for verification from the nail side covering all four fingers excluding the thumb for said verification; (b) processor means for searching each of the stored distinctive image patterns corresponding to the distinctive Personal Identification Number (PIN) with respect to the hand image of said person and matching utilizing 2D normalized correlation technique for similar said distinctive patterns on said fingers and identifying the maximum correlation value for each of said template patterns and its location and carrying out the personal authentication (acceptance/rejection) based thereon. 8 In the above disclosed system for biometric method of verification of personal identity the said imaging unit can comprise of a B&W CCD camera for acquiring image, compact fluorescent light for illumination and a base plate with six cylindrical pegs for guided placement of hand five pegs for five fingers and one peg as anchor peg between the pointer and middle fingers. In accordance with a further aspect the system for biometric method of verification of personal identity of a person following the above method comprises said base plate comprises pegs for guided placement of the hand for the said selectively image processing of multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on fingers from the nail side of the hand for creating and storing a registered template and also for identity verification wherein the imaging is completed either by the pressing of a key or image is automatised to freeze after proper positioning with respect to the pegs after a specified duration; a PCI bus frame grabber; and said PCI bus frame grabber integrated around a personal computer adapted to carryout said image processing ,store said registered template with Personal Identification Number (PIN) and also generate status of personal identity during verification based on the registered template. Moreover, the system for biometric method of verification of personal identity of the invention also includes user-friendly features wherein the imaging unit panel is provided with indication means preferably LEDs for indicating if any of the fingers is not touching the corresponding peg and also LEDs mounted near the pegs on the base plate to facilitate easy detection of peg coordinates. The distance of the camera from the bottom base plate is optimized such as to obtain full view of the four (Pointer, Middle, Ring and Small) fingers. The system for biometric method of verification of personal identity also includes computer means adapted to facilitate: (a) indicate through LEDs the alignment of the fingers touching the pegs; (b) acquire using said PCI frame grabber connected to said B&W CCD camera images at a resolution of 768X576X8 bits and transfer to memory for further processing; (c) automatically extract the distinctive 2D patterns from the hand image with operative user interface to visually see and selectively resize or relocate each pattern for effective registration, if required; 9 (d) save the registration details in a database; (e) placement of the person's hand on said base plate and a monitor preferably displaying a contour map of the hand for precise positioning of the hand during verification if required, (f) interface means to prompt the user (person requiring verification) to type his/her PIN and call for his/her registered template records and then grab the said users verification image and (g) processor means adapted for matching utilizing 2D normalized correlation technique for similar said distinctive patterns on said fingers and identifying the maximum correlation value for each of said template patterns and its location and carrying out the personal authentication (acceptance/rejection) based thereon considering Quality Degradation Factor (QDF)based on deviations noted and the threshold value preset to finally accept or reject the users identity. Advantageously, the system for biometric method of verification of personal identity as is provided with I/O control for controlling the imaging unit hardware adapted to indicate status and results on panel with multi-coloured LEDs, sense the contact of fingers with pegs and indicate preferably by LEDs and to drive relay for operating the turnstile gate. In accordance with yet further aspect of the invention, the above system for biometric method of verification of personal identity includes PIN management utility adapted to (i) enable any PIN which was disabled, (ii) disable a PIN temporarily,(iii) delete a PIN and remove the corresponding registration template,(iv) modify the value of QDF and (v) set/ reset mask bits corresponding to desired end use/application. It is thus possible by way of the above discussed method and system for biometric identification of personal identity to provide for a new image processing technique based on simultaneously matching of the multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on fingers from nail side of the hand. Importantly, the technique for biometric verification of the identity based on simultaneously matching the multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on fingers from nail side of the hand is totally a new technique and none of the conventional methods of personal identification including those involving biometric verification involve such multiple distinctive patterns for discriminating the individuals. Thus the method and system of the present invention is different from conventional approaches, which were based merely on the measurement of length, width, thickness and area of the hand and fingers. DETAILED DESCRIPTION IN RELATION TO ACCOMPANYING FIGURES: The details of the invention, its objects and advantages are explained hereunder in greater detail in relation to non-limiting exemplary illustrations as per the accompanying figures wherein: 10 Figure 1(a) is an illustration of the 18 distinctive 2-D Image Patterns of rectangular shape on fingers from the nail side of the hand extracted during registration; Figure 1(b) is an illustration of the 15 Euclidean Distance (ED) parameters for four fingers; Figure 2(a) is an illustration of the hand images of two Persons A & B with markings to illustrate how the length and width of the fingers in relation to the pegs are obtained based on the techniques used under the known art; Figure 2 (b ) is an hand image of an authorized person A with 18 distinctive 2-D Image Patterns; Figure 2(c) is an illustration of an hand image of an unauthorized Person B while imposing himself as Person A (By using the PIN of Person A); Figure 3 is an illustration of an embodiment of the Imaging Unit for hand scan biometric system in accordance with the present invention; Figure 4 is an illustration of the Red colored contour provided as an overlay for the precise positioning of the hand during verification. Reference is first invited to accompanying Figure 1(a) which illustrates the manner of obtaining the new image of fingers for the simultaneous matching of the multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on fingers from the nail side of the hand in accordance with the present invention. These multiple patterns on the fingers which are as shown in the Fig. 1(a), include regions on hand pertaining to 1) finger tip, 2) nail ending and folds on the upper part of the finger, 3) folds on the lower part of the finger, 4) folds on the upper and lower part of the finger taken together and 5) valley regions formed between middle and ring fingers and ring and small fingers. As can also be seen from the Fig. 1(a), there are 18-image patterns in all. They are of rectangular shape and are located four on the Pointer finger (viz. PTIP, PUP, PMID and PDN), four on the Middle finger (viz. MTIP; MUP, MMID and MDN), four on Ring Finger (viz. RTIP, RUP; RMID and RDN)/ four on the small finger (viz. STIP, SUP, SMID and SDN), one on the region of valley formed between the Middle and the Ring fingers (viz. VMR), and one on the region of valley formed between the Ring and the Small fingers (viz. VRS) respectively. Center point of each pattern is indicated by a red dot. The six cylindrical pegs (PG) help in the guided placement of fingers and ensure that all the distinctive 2-D image patterns on the four fingers mentioned above always appear at approximately the same position and orientation. Thumb finger has not been considered in the identity verification process as the full view of thumb from the nail side of hand is not 11 visible in the image. Further, the pattern of valley formed between the Pointer and the Middle fingers also cannot be used as the anchor peg occupies that region. The above mentioned 18 image patterns on the four fingers are automatically extracted from the black and white digital image of the hand. The length, width and location of each image pattern is computed from the length of the respective finger. The length of the finger in turn is estimated using image processing algorithms. Typically size of each image pattern is in the range of 3 kilobytes to 5 kilobytes when the hand image shown in Fig. 1(a) is digitized to 768x576x8 bit resolution. Fig. 1(b) shows the distance parameters computed for each of the four fingers. There are three distance parameters for the Pointer finger, four for the Middle finger, four for the Ring finger and four for the Small finger. Each of the distance parameters shown is the Euclidean distance between the center of one pattern (indicated by red dot) to the centre of the other patterns. Yellow line in Fig. 1(b) indicates the distance between the TIP pattern and the DOWN (DN) pattern. Pink line indicates the distance between UP pattern and DN pattern. Cyan line indicates distance between the distance between TIP pattern and the corresponding valley pattern, In all, there are 15 distance parameters. The new technique of verifying the identity of an individual involves two steps viz. registration and verification. During registration, the hand image of the individual is acquired from which the 18 distinctive 2D image patterns and the 15 distance parameters as mentioned above are extracted and form the unique template. A Personal Identification Number (PIN) is allotted at the time of registration. During verification the individual has to type his/her PIN to call up his/her template. A live hand image sample provided by the person is acquired and is searched for the presence of each of the 18 distinctive image patters from the template using 2D normalized correlation technique. The maximum correlation values corresponding to each of these 18 image patterns in the template are obtained for the verification image. Further, the centers of the matched regions corresponding to each of these 18 image patterns in the template are also obtained for the verification image. Based on the centers obtained for these 18 matched regions in the verification image, 15 distance parameters described earlier are computed. These 33 parameters obtained for the verification image, comprising of the 18 correlation score values i.e the maximum correlation score values and the 15 distance parameters, are used to establish the identity of the person. When the person tries to verify his own identity (By typing his/her PIN to call up his/her template) the 2-D distinctive patterns appearing in the verification image will be almost similar to the 2-D image patterns that appeared in the Registration image from which the template was formed. They will also be situated approximately at the same positions. All the Correlation Score Values will, therefore, come out to be very high (Either 1.0 or slightly less 12 than 1.0) and all the differences in distance parameters will remain within the practical limits (i.e. Typically 0.5mm or less), when the verification image of a person's hand is matched with his/her own template. The slight deviation from perfect similarity observed in the verification image, in terms of the image content and positions corresponding to the 18 image patterns of template, are due to inadvertent variation in the placement of hand, electronic noise in the image acquisition process and quantization errors. The thresholds of Correlation Score Values are, therefore, kept slightly less than 1.0 and also the limits on differences in distance parameters are also kept about a fraction of millimeter to allow for these small deviations. If all the 18 Correlation Score Values obtained are more than the specified thresholds and all the 15 distance parameters match within specified limits to the corresponding distance parameters computed during the registration process, the person's claim for identity is accepted. However, if this is not the case, then a Quality Degradation Factor (QDF) is computed based on the deviations observed in the above computed parameters and user's claim for identity is accepted or rejected depending upon the threshold limit set for the QDF. A permissible value of the QDF as decided by the authority is stored as part of the registration template. Ideally, this value should be zero, but it can be set to a slightly higher value to accommodate for deviations mentioned above. Provision also exists in the template to mask one or more of these 33 parameters to ignore their effect. Mask feature is particularly useful in case of any injury to the fingers. Thus, the template of the person generated at the time of registration comprises of 18 distinctive 2D image patterns, 15 distance parameters, QDF value and the MASK Bit Settings for the 33 parameters. When the hands are dissimilar geometrically, the 18 image patterns on the hands as well as their positions vary considerably w.r.t. each other enabling easy discrimination between them based on the 33 parameters mentioned above. It has been observed that even for persons with almost similar hand shapes, the multiple patterns on such hands vary considerably enabling discrimination between them based on the new technique presented here. This is illustrated in Fig. 2(a) to Fig. 2(c), Fig. 2(a) shows hand images of two persons, Person A & Person B, having almost similar hand dimensions. Markings on the fingers indicate the way length of the fingers and width of the fingers (at two places) were measured with 5 pegs seen in the images serving as control points. Earlier attempts have been made based on the geometrical measurements for establishing identity of the person. The dimensional differences between the fingers of Person A and Person B were noted as under Table I : 13 TABLE - I Finger Distance Parameter AD ( in mm.) Pointer Length (L 2) 0.277 Width UP (L3) 0.051 Width DIM (L4) 0.427 Middle Length (L5) 0.401 Width DN (L6) 0.212 Width DN (L7) 0.473 Ring Length (L8) 0.407 Width UP (L9) 0.168 Width DN (L10) 0.261 Small Length (L11) 0.005 Width UP (L12) 0.534 Width DN (L13) 0.022 It can be seen from above Table I that the differences in their dimensions are very small i.e. of the order of 0.5mm. or less. These differences are less than the typical threshold limits that are normally required to be put on the measurements to keep False Rejection Rate to an acceptable value. Therefore, there is a possibility that an unauthorized individual e.g. Person B can impose himself as an authorized Person A and also get identified as Person A to seek entry into a restricted area. Thus, the resistance of such a technique based on merely the geometrical measurements, is very low for rejecting imposters. However, the new technique, which is based on simultaneously matching the 18 distinctive 2D image patterns on fingers from nail side of the hand, can distinguish very distinctively, such two geometrically similar hands. Fig. 2(b) shows the hand image of Person A with 18 distinctive 2D image patterns. Fig. 2(c) shows hand image of Person B (Geometrically almost similar to Person A) while imposing himself as Person A using Person A's Personal Identification Number (PIN). Importantly, the 18 Correlation Score Values and the 15 differences in distance parameters based on the present invention when hand of Person B was matched with template of Person A were noted and the results are reproduced hereunder in Tables II and III respectively. 14 Table - II Region Distinctive 2-D image Patterns Correlation Score Values when Person B is Verified w.r.t. Template of Person A Pointer TIP 0.89 UP 0.81 MID 0.39 DN 0.49 Middle TIP 0.89 UP 0.88 MID 0.7 DN 0.48 Ring TIP 0.86 UP 0.87 MID 0.61 DN 0.82 Small TIP 0.78 UP 0.76 MID 0.78 DN 0.7 Valley MR 0.86 RS 0.89 Table - III Region Distance Parameters Difference in Dist. Parameters (in mm.) when w.r.t. Template of Person A Person B is verified Pointer PTIP - PDN 9.17 PUP " PDN 8.942 PMID " "DN 8.414 Middle M-TIP - MDN 1.332 MUP- MDN 4.903 MMID "MDN 3.142 MTIP "VMR 4.76 Ring R-TIP " RDN 5.985 RUP" RDN 2.953 RMID "RDN 6.96 RTIP "VMR 2.4 Small STIP " SQN 9.052 SUP "SDIM 12.763 SMID "SDN 8.922 STIP ~VRS 3.006 15 It can be seen that the differences in distance parameters as obtained by the present invention (Table III above) are far more than the differences in distance parameters shown in Table I which are based on merely the geometrical measurements (as per the conventional art). In addition to these 15 differences values of distance parameters, there are 18 Correlation Score Values also (Table II above, which indicate degree of similarity of each of the 18 image patterns in the template of Person A with the corresponding patterns in the Person B's hand image using 2D normalized correlation technique. It may be noted that some of the Correlation Score Values are very low indicating considerable difference in hands of Person A and Person B in those regions. (Perfect match indicates correlation score of 1.0). Thus, compared to the conventional technique (which is based on merely the geometrical measurements), the present invention (which is based on simultaneously matching the multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on fingers from nail side of the hand) is much more distinctive and can easily distinguish Person B from Person A. The present invention will, therefore, reject the claim for identity of an unauthorized person B, if he tries to impose himself as an Authorized Person A using Person A's template. Reference is now invited to accompanying Figures 3 and 4, which illustrate an embodiment of the imaging system used in the present invention and the advantages in confirming the proper imaging using such an imaging unit. As illustrated in Figure 3 the system of the invention basically involves an Imaging Unit with pegs for guided placement of the hand and a PCI bus frame grabber, integrated around a Personal Computer. Basically, it is a one-to-one system, in which the user's hand /finger image for verification is compared to the pre-stored template according to pre-defined accuracy limits. In accordance with an embodiment, the imaging unit for acquiring the image of the hand as shown in Fig.3, comprises of a B&W CCD camera for acquiring image, compact fluorescent light for illumination and an off-white laminated wooden base plate (BP) with six cylindrical pegs (PG) for guided placement of hand, 5 pegs for five fingers and one peg as anchor peg between the pointer and middle fingers. Indication is given through LEDs on the panel if any of the fingers is not touching the corresponding peg. Since LEDs (when powered) appear as bright spots in the acquired image they are also mounted near the pegs on the base plate to facilitate easy detection of peg coordinates. The distance of camera from the bottom base plate is optimized to obtain full view of the four (Pointer, Middle, Ring and Small) fingers. Touching the fingers to the respective pegs in a manner as shown in Fig. 4 ensures that all the distinctive 2-D patterns on the fingers always appear at approximately the same position and orientation. The hand image acquired using the video camera is digitized to 768x576x8 bit resolution (approximately covers an area of 196mm by 147 mm.) by the PCI bus frame grabber and is then transferred to the PC for computing various parameters. 16 The above system of the invention is adapted to carry out various operations are: i) Alignment: Indication is given through LEDs asking the person to keep the fingers in contact with the pegs and appropriate feedback is given if any of the fingers is not touching the corresponding peg. ii) Acquisition: This module acquires images at a resolution of 768x576x8 bits and transfers to memory for further processing using a PCI frame grabber connected to a black and white CCD camera. iii) Registration: The registration module automatically extracts the distinctive 2D patterns from the hand image. User interface has been provided to visually see/resize/relocate each pattern that is extracted automatically, at the discretion of an authorized person who carries out the registration process. Further details are given in the Registration Procedure. iv) Database: If the registration is successful, then the personal data of the user and the template created are saved in the hand disk against the new PIN allotted. v) Verification: An interface dialog prompts the user to type his PIN to call up his record and then place his hand on a base plate inside the imaging unit. If live sample provided by the user matches to the previously stored template within the predefined accuracy limits the user's claim for identity is accepted. A Quality Degradation Factor(QDF) is computed based on the deviations observed in various computed parameters and user's claim for identity is accepted or rejected depending upon the threshold limit set for this factor in the template. Further details are given in the Registration and Verification Procedure. vi) Training and Normal Mode: During verification the system can work either in the training mode or normal mode. The System is used for actual application e.g. access control, time and attendance etc. in the normal mode which is also the default mode of operations. All the transactions are recorded in this mode. The training mode is very useful for making the users familiar with the operation of the system. It may be added that transactions are not recorded in this mode of operations. vii) Overlay ON/OFF: The overlay option helps in precise placement of the fingers and brings down the false rejection rate (Further details are given in the Registration and Verification Procedure). It can be enabled or disabled in Training as well as Normal Mode. viii) I/O Control: This software utility controls the following imaging unit hardware modules- 17 a) To indicate the status and results on the panel (i.e. Orange LED indicating user to place his hand in the imaging unit, Red LED indicating rejection & Green LED indicating acceptance) during verification. b) To sense the contact of fingers with the pegs and indicate the same on the panel using Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) for convenience of the user during verification. c) To drive relay for operating the turnstile gate. ix) Test Utility : This displays values of all the multiple parameters during registration as well as verification. These values give indication about the quality of match. x) Detection of Peg Locations: This favours identification of the position coordination of the peg locations for four fingers viz., pointer, middle, ring and small fingers. It also gives the position coordinates for the anchor peg around which the pointer and the middle fingers are positioned (only four fingers mentioned above are used for biometric verification. Thumb finger is not considered). Since LEDs (when powered) appear as bright spots in the acquired image they are mounted near the pegs on the base plate to facilitate easy detection of peg coordinates. xi) PIN Management: The system is further adapted to favour the following utilities, which can be operated only by authorized person. a) Enable any PIN that was previously disabled. b) Disable any PIN temporarily. c) Delete any PIN. This will remove the template for the person registered under this PIN. As a result his registration will stand cancelled. d) Modify the value of QDF for the given PIN. This helps in obtaining a desired balance between False Rejection and False Acceptance error rates. e) Set/Reset mask bits corresponding to any of the parameters. This feature is particularly useful in case of any injury to the fingers. The Manner of Registration involving the system is detailed hereunder: i) After the person is prompted to insert his hand in the imaging unit, the system enters in a continuous grab mode. The image is digitized and transferred by the PCI frame grabber to the computer and displayed almost in real time for the proper adjustment of the hand in the imaging unit. ii) When the person is ready with all his fingers touching the respective pegs in a comfortable position, the live image is frozen by either pressing a key or clicking a 18 mouse. If the user does not press the key or click the mouse, the image freezes automatically after a specified duration. This forms the Reference image for extraction of the registration template. Following this, the person is prompted to take away his hand. iii) A contour map of the fingers of the person is created using a variance edge detector followed by an auto-threshold technique. iv) The system goes to continuous grab mode again with a message for the person to insert his hand inside the imaging unit. A contour map of the hand is displayed on the live hand image of the person as the overlay. The continuous grab mode helps the person to adjust his hand image along the contour map. The precise placement of hand helps in obtaining a near perfect match. v) When the placement of the fingers is finalized, the image is frozen either by pressing a key or clicking a mouse. If the key is not pressed or the mouse is not clicked, then the image freezes automatically after a specified duration. This forms an Attempt image for validation of Registration process. Following this, the person is prompted to take away his hand. vi) The 18 distinctive image patterns (similar to the image patterns shown for the hand image of Fig. 1(a) are now extracted automatically from the Reference images obtained in step (ii). After this, the Reference image is displayed back on the computer screen along with a dialog box interface to examine/resize/relocate each of these multiple patterns, if required for optimum performance. vii) 15 distance parameters (similar to the distance parameters shown for the hand image of Fig. 1(b) are now computed for the Reference image. As explained earlier, each of these distances parameters is basically the Euclidean distance between centre of one pattern to centre of other pattern. viii) The Attempt image is now searched for the presence of image patterns similar to each of the 18 image patterns selected in step (vi). Similarity between the patterns is measured by computing 2D normalized correlation values. The maximum correlation value corresponding to each of these 18 image patterns and the centers of corresponding matched regions in the Attempt image are obtained. ix) 15 distance parameters mentioned in step (vii) for the Reference image are also computed corresponding to the 18 matched regions in the Attempt image. x) If all the 18 correlation values obtained in step (viii) are greater than the specified threshold and all the 15 distance parameters computed in step (ix) for the Attempt image match within specified limits to the corresponding distance parameters computed in step (vii) for the Reference Image, the Registration process is deemed successful (otherwise, the whole Registration process has to be repeated). In that case. A dialog box interface appears prompting to enter all personal data of the 19 user. These details are added to an exiting database. At this time, a unique PIN is allotted to the person getting registered. The 18 image patterns from the Reference image along with the 15 distance parameters and the contour map data [extracted in step (Mi)] taken together, constitute the main part of the template for the person. Provision also exists in the template to allow for some deviations. For this purpose, as mentioned earlier, a Quality Degradation Factor i.e. QDF is computed whose value can be set by the authorized person at the time of Registration. Ideally the value of QDF should be zero for perfect match. But it can be set to a higher value (only by the authorized person) to accommodate for some deviations in the parameter values arising due to flexibility provided in the placement of the hand. When any new Registration is carried out, all parameters are considered for verification. However, provision exists to mask any of the 33 parameters at the time of verifying the identity of the person. Only an authorized person can set the required mask bits which are part of the template. Mask feature is particularly useful in case of any injury to the fingers. The template is stored in the hard disk against the PIN allotted to the person. The Manner of Verification involving the system is detailed hereunder: i) The person seeking verification enters his PIN. This PIN is used to access his/her template from the computer memory. ii) Then, the person is prompted to insert his/her hand in the imaging unit, and the system enters in a continuous grab mode. By the time the person puts the hand inside the imaging unit with fingers touching the respective pegs, a red coloured contour map profiling the fingers is displayed superimposed over live image of the hand (Fig.4). All the fingers should be positioned so as to align with the contour map for which sufficient time is given to the user. The precise placement of hand helps in obtaining a near perfect match. After this period, the image freezes automatically and is called the Attempt image. Following this, the person is prompted to take away his hand. The option of overlaying the contour over the hand image can be enabled / disabled. iii) The Attempt image is then searched for the presence of patterns similar to the 18 image patterns stored in the template of the individual. This search in the Attempt image is carried out using the same 2D normalized correlation technique as employed in step (viii) of the Registration process. The maximum correlation value corresponding to each of these 18 image patterns in the template and the centers of corresponding matched regions in the Attempt image are obtained. The distance parameters mentioned in step (vii) of the Registration Process are also computed corresponding to the 18 matched regions in the Attempt image. iv) If all the 18 correlation score values obtained are greater than the specified threshold and all the 15 distance parameters computed as mentioned in step (iii) 20 match within specified limits to the corresponding distance parameters computed for the reference image during registration, the Attempt is declared successful and the user's claim for identity is accepted. However, if this is not the case, then the Quality Degradation Factor (QDF) is computed based on the deviation observed in the above computed parameters and user's claim for identity is accepted or rejected depending upon the threshold limit set for this factor in the template. If QDF is less than or equal to the limit set in the template by the authorized person the user's claim for identity is still accepted. It may be added that if the mask bits corresponding to any of the parameters are set during the registration procedure, those parameters are not considered for the computation of the QDF. If QDF is greater than the limit set in the template by the authorized person, then the user's claim for identity is rejected. In the normal mode, the system records all transactions like date, time, PIN and also all the parameters values for statistical analysis. v) In case of claim being rejected, the user is given two more chances (Programmable) and in each chance, steps (ii) to (iv) are repeated. vi) Even after giving these chances, the claim for identity is still rejected, then the whole process of verification has to start from step (i) i.e. the user has to enter his PIN again. In case, the user gets rejected consecutively three times (Programmable) on entering the same PIN every time, then that particular PIN is disabled. Trial verifications carried out using the system of the invention comprising of more than ten thousand Verification Attempts, revealed that after training persons using the Training Mode, False Rejection rate reduced to a value even below 2%. No case of False Acceptance was reported during trials of these systems. The Hand-Scan technique involved in the present invention is non-intrusive. It is user friendly, as users do not have to give their full attention while attempting to verify in a system based on this technique. This is in contrast to the biometric devices based on Iris-Scan or Retina-Scan, which were difficult to use. The system of the invention further avoids the limitations of Hand-Scan bio-metric systems based on merely geometry of the hand, which are not very accurate. The method and system of verification of the invention is highly reliable and user friendly and is ideal for applications in which rejecting imposters is extremely important. It is also possible to reduce the template size in the new technique by using known image compression techniques e.g. JPEG compression, without any significant loss in the performance. Unlike Finger-scan, it does not have any forensic association and hence will not cause any discomfort to users and would therefore be acceptable for wide scale application and use meeting users comfort and liking. 21 WE CLAIM: 1. A biometric method for personal identification using multiple patterns on nail side of finger(s) comprising: selectively image processing of multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on atleast one finger from the nail side of the hand; creating and storing a registered template comprising identifying the distinctive image patterns with corresponding distinctive center locations thereof on said finger(s) to form a unique template for the person whose said finger(s) image is being processed with a distinct Personal Identification Number (PIN) and storing the same as the registered template; verification of a person's identity using said stored registered unique template comprising providing the person's hand image from nail side for said verification; searching each of the stored distinctive image patterns corresponding to the distinctive Personal Identification Number (PIN) with respect to the hand image of said person and matching utilizing 2D normalized correlation technique for similar said distinctive patterns ; identifying the maximum correlation value for each of said template patterns and its location and carrying out the personal authentication (acceptance/rejection) based thereon. 2. A biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person comprising: selectively image processing of multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns of the four fingers excluding the thumb of the hand from the nail side; creating and storing a registered template comprising identifying the distinctive image patterns of each of the said four fingers with corresponding distinctive center locations thereof of the respective image patterns to form a unique template for the person whose said fingers image is being processed with a distinct Personal Identification Number (PIN) and storing the same as the registered template; verification of a person's identity using said stored registered unique template comprising 22 (a) providing the person's hand image from nail side covering all four fingers excluding the thumb for said verification; (b) searching each of the stored distinctive image patterns corresponding to the distinctive Personal Identification Number (PIN) with respect to the hand image of said person and matching utilizing 2D normalized correlation technique for similar said distinctive patterns on said fingers ; (c) identifying the maximum correlation value for each of said template patterns and its location and carrying out the personal authentication (acceptance/rejection) based thereon. 3 A biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person as claimed in anyone of claims 1 or 2 wherein for the purpose of generation of said registered unique template and carrying out said verification, the palm side of the hand is made to rest on a base plate with fingers placed stretched apart using six cylindrical pegs, five pegs for the five fingers including the thumb and sixth peg as an anchor peg between the pointer and the middle fingers. 4 A biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 3 wherein said multiple image patterns on the fingers include regions on hand pertaining to (a) finger tip (b) nail ending and folds on the upper part of the finger (c ) folds on the lower part of the finger (d) folds on the upper and lower part of the finger taken together and (e) valley regions formed between the middle and ring fingers and ring and small fingers preferably comprising 18 image patterns in all. 5 A biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 4 wherein said 18 image patterns are rectangular in shape and are located on four fingers comprising four on the pointer finger (PTIP,PUP,PMID and PDN), four on the middle finger (MTIP,MUP,MMID,MDN), four on the ring finger (RTIP,RUP;RMID and RDN),four on the small finger (STIP,SUP,SMID and SDN), one on the region of valley formed between the Middle and Ring fingers (VMR) and one on the region of valley formed between Ring and the Small fingers (VRS) respectively with the said center locations of each pattern preferably indicated by a dot more preferably red dot. 6 A biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person as claimed in claim 5 wherein the said 18 image patterns on the four fingers are automatically extracted and optionally, if required, resized /relocated by authorized registration personnel during registration for optimum performance from the black and white digital image of the hand and the length, width and location of each image pattern is computed from the length of the respective finger with the length of the finger in turn being estimated using image processing technique. 23 7. A biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person as claimed in claim 6 wherein the size of each image pattern is preferably in the range of 3 kilobytes to 5 kilobytes when the hand image is digitized to 768X576X8 bit resolution. 8. A biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 7 comprising distance parameters computed of each said four fingers preferably of 15 distance parameters comprising of three distance parameters for the Pointer finger, four for the Middle finger, four for the Ring finger and four for the Small finger with each of said distance parameter shown being the Euclidean distance between the center location of one pattern preferably indicated by red dot to the center location of the other pattern with said distance parameters indicated by lines of different colours preferably Yellow line indicating the distance between the TIP pattern and the DOWN (DN)pattern, Pink line indicating distance between UP pattern and DN pattern, Cyan line indicating distance between Middle (MID) pattern and the DN pattern and the Green line indicating the distance between TIP pattern and the corresponding valley pattern. 9. A biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 8 wherein the correlation score values are either 1.0 or slightly less than 1.0 and the threshold correlation score values are slightly less than 1.0 and the limits on differences in distance parameters are kept about a fraction of millimeter to allow for small deviations. 10. A biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person as claimed in claim 9 wherein if out of the total of 33 parameters, all the 18 correlation score values obtained are more than the specified thresholds and all the 15 distance parameters match within specified limits to the corresponding distance parameters computed during the registration process, the person's claim for identity is accepted. 11. A biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person as claimed in anyone of claims 9 or 10 wherein if based on the correlation values and distance parameters the person's identity is not established, a Quality Degradation Factor (QDF) is computed based on the deviations observed and the users claim for identity is accepted or rejected depending upon the preset threshold limit for the QDF preferably with said the permissible value of the QDF stored alongwith the registered template. 12. A biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 11 comprising masking one or more of the identification parameters preferably selected from the 33 identification parameters to discard such parameter for the purposes of verification. 24 13 A system for biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person comprising: imaging unit having a base plate for placement of the person's hand for imaging for registration operatively connected to image processing unit and adapted for selectively image processing of multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on atleast one finger from the nail side of the hand; processor means for creating and storing a registered template comprising identifying the distinctive image patterns with corresponding distinctive center locations thereof on said fingers to form a unique template for the person whose said finger(s) image is being processed with a distinct Personal Identification Number (PIN) and storing the same as the registered template; means for verification of a person's identity using said stored registered unique template comprising (a) said imaging unit having said base plate for placement of the person's hand for imaging for verification from the nail side; (b) processor means for searching each of the stored distinctive image patterns corresponding to the distinctive Personal Identification Number (PIN) with respect to the hand image of said person and matching utilizing 2D normalized correlation technique for similar said distinctive patterns and identifying the maximum correlation value for each of said template patterns and its location and carrying out the personal authentication (acceptance/rejection) based thereon. 14 A system for verification of personal identity of a person comprising: imaging unit having a base plate for placement of the person's hand for imaging for registration operatively connected to image processing unit for selectively image processing of multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns of the hand of the four fingers excluding the thumb from the nail side; processor means for creating and storing a registered template comprising identifying the distinctive image patterns of each of the said four fingers with corresponding distinctive center locations thereof of the respective image patterns to form a unique template for the person whose said fingers image is being processed with a distinct Personal Identification Number (PIN) and storing the same as the registered template; 25 means for verification of a person's identity using said stored registered unique template comprising (a) said imaging unit having said base plate for placement of the person's hand for imaging for verification from the nail side covering all four fingers excluding the thumb for said verification; (b) processor means for searching each of the stored distinctive image patterns corresponding to the distinctive Personal Identification Number (PIN) with respect to the hand image of said person and matching utilizing 2D normalized correlation technique for similar said distinctive patterns on said fingers and identifying the maximum correlation value for each of said template patterns and its location and carrying out the personal authentication (acceptance/rejection) based thereon. 15 A system for biometric method of verification of personal identity as claimed in anyone of claims 13 to 14 wherein said imaging unit comprises of a B&W CCD camera for acquiring image ,compact fluorescent light for illumination and a base plate with six cylindrical pegs for guided placement of hand ,five pegs for five fingers and one peg as anchor peg between the pointer and middle fingers. 16 A system for biometric method of verification of personal identity of a person following the method as claimed in anyone of claims 13 to 15 comprising said base plate comprises pegs for guided placement of the hand for the said selectively image processing of multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on fingers from the nail side of the hand for creating and storing a registered template and also for identity verification wherein the imaging is completed either by the pressing of a key or image is automatised to freeze after proper positioning with respect to the pegs after a specified duration; a PCI bus frame grabber; and said PCI bus frame grabber integrated around a personal computer adapted to carryout said image processing ,store said registered template with Personal Identification Number (PIN) and also generate status of personal identity during verification based on the registered template. 17 A system for biometric method of verification of personal identity as claimed in anyone of claims 13 to 16 comprising imaging unit panel having indication means preferably LEDs for indicating if any of the fingers is not touching the corresponding 26 peg and also LEDs mounted near the pegs on the base plate to facilitate easy detection of peg coordinates. 18. A system for biometric method of verification of personal identity as claimed in anyone of claims 13 to 17 wherein the distance of the camera from the bottom base plate is optimized such as to obtain full view of the four (Pointer, Middle, Ring and Small) fingers. 19. A system for biometric method of verification of personal identity as claimed in anyone of claims 13 to 18 comprising computer means adapted to facilitate: (a) indicate through LEDs the alignment of the fingers touching the pegs; (b) acquire using said PCI frame grabber connected to said B&W CCD camera images at a resolution of 768X576X8 bits and transfer to memory for further processing; (c) automatically extract the distinctive 2D patterns from the hand image with operative user interface to visually see and selectively resize or relocate each pattern for effective registration, if required; (d) save the registration details in a database; (e) placement of the person's hand on said base plate and a monitor preferably displaying a contour map of the hand for precise positioning of the hand during verification if required, (f) interface means to prompt the user (person requiring verification) to type his/her PIN and call for his/her registered template records and then grab the said users verification image and (g) processor means adapted for matching utilizing 2D normalized correlation technique for similar said distinctive patterns on said fingers and identifying the maximum correlation value for each of said template patterns and its location and carrying out the personal authentication (acceptance/rejection) based thereon considering Quality Degradation Factor (QDF)based on deviations noted and the threshold value preset to finally accept or reject the users identity. 20. A system for biometric method of verification of personal identity as claimed in anyone of claims 13 to 19 comprising I/O control for controlling the imaging unit hardware adapted to indicate status and results on panel with multi-coloured LEDs, sense the contact of fingers with pegs and indicate preferably by LEDs and to drive relay for operating the turnstile gate. 21. A system for biometric method of verification of personal identity as claimed in anyone of claims 13 to 20 comprising PIN management utility adapted to (i) enable 27 any PIN which was disabled, (ii) disable a PIN temporarily,(iii) delete a PIN and remove the corresponding registration template,(iv) modify the value of QDF and (v) set/ reset mask bits corresponding to desired end use/application. 22 A biometric method for verification of personal identity of a person and a system for carrying out such method substantially as herein described and illustrated with reference to the accompanying figures. 26th day of August, 2006 Anjan Sen Anjan Sen & Associates Applicant's Agent 28 ABSTRACT A BIOMETRIC METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION USING MULTIPLE PATTERNS ON NAIL SIDE OF FINGER (S) A method and system of personal identification involving biometrics based on image processing of multiple and distinctive 2-D image patterns on atleast one finger from the nail side of the hand, creating and storing the distinctive image patterns with corresponding distinctive center locations thereof on said finger(s) under a distinct Personal Identification Number (PIN) and verification of a person's identity by searching each of the stored distinctive image patterns corresponding to the distinctive Personal Identification Number (PIN) with respect to the hand image of said person and matching utilizing 2D normalized correlation technique for similar said distinctive patterns and identifying the maximum correlation value for each of said template patterns and its location for said personal authentication. The invention would favour high security in various high security zones/purposes and avoid the limitations of simple hand /finger dimensions based personal identification. Figure 3

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1361-MUM-2006-CLAIMS(MARKED COPY)-(26-2-2013).pdf

1361-mum-2006-claims.doc

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1361-MUM-2006-CORRESPONDENCE(22-2-2013).pdf

1361-MUM-2006-CORRESPONDENCE(25-7-2011).pdf

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1361-MUM-2006-DRAWING(26-2-2013).pdf

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1361-mum-2006-form-26.pdf

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1361-MUM-2006-REPLY TO EXAMINATION REPORT(10-8-2012).pdf

1361-MUM-2006-REPLY TO HEARING(26-2-2013).pdf

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