Patent US5751836A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5751836A
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Automated, non-invasive iris recognition system and method
Assignee: Sarnoff Corp
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Filing: 1996-09-27
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Granted: 1998-05-12
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Expires: 2016-09-27
Abstract
Abstract Iris recognition is achieved by (1) iris acquisition that permits a user to self-position his or her eye into an imager's field of view without the need for any physical contact, (2) spatially locating the data defining that portion of a digitized video image of the user's eye that defines solely the iris thereof without any initial spatial condition of the iris being provided, and (3) pattern matching the spatially located data defining the iris of the user's eye with stored data defining a model iris by employing normalized spatial correlation for first comparing, at each of a plurality of spatial scales, each of distinctive spatial characteristics of the respective irises that are spatially registered with one another to quantitatively determine, at each of the plurality of spatial scales, a goodness value of match at that spatial scale, and then judging whether or not the pattern which manifests solely the iris of the user's eye matches the digital data which manifests solely the model iris in accordance with a certain combination of the quantitatively-determined goodness values of match at each of said plurality of spatial scales.
Inventors
- 👤 Richard Patrick Wildes
- 👤 Jane Circle Asmuth
- 👤 Keith James Hanna
- 👤 Stephen Charles Hsu
- 👤 Raymond Joseph Kolczynski
- 👤 James Regis Matey
- 👤 Sterling Eduard McBride
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 10:23
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06V; G06V40/00; G06V40/10; G06V40/18; G07; G07C; G07C9/00; G07C9/30; G07C9/32; G07C9/37; G06V10/00; G06V10/20; G06V10/24; G06V10/245
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
216 words
In a system including an imager having a lens for deriving a focused image of an eye of a user of the system to examine the iris of said user's eye; the improvement comprising: alignment means for permitting said user to self-position his or her eye into said imager's field of view without the need for any physical contact with said system; a digital frame grabber coupled to said imager for deriving digital data representative of said focused image of said user's eye; image processing means responsive to the digital data from said frame grabber that manifests said user's eye for localizing the iris of said eye by, in sequential order, (1) locating that data which is within the image of the user's eye that defines the limbic boundary of said iris, (2) locating that data which is within said limbic boundary that defines the pupilary boundary of said iris, (3) locating that data which is within said limbic boundary that defines the boundaries of the upper and lower eyelids of said eye, and (4) then employing that data that is outside of said pupilary boundary, inside said limbic boundary, and below the upper eyelid and above the lower eyelid thereby to delimit said data to that portion thereof which manifests the iris of said eye.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
216 words
In a system including an imager having a lens for deriving a focused image of an eye of a user of the system to examine the iris of said user's eye; the improvement comprising: alignment means for permitting said user to self-position his or her eye into said imager's field of view without the need for any physical contact with said system; a digital frame grabber coupled to said imager for deriving digital data representative of said focused image of said user's eye; image processing means responsive to the digital data from said frame grabber that manifests said user's eye for localizing the iris of said eye by, in sequential order, (1) locating that data which is within the image of the user's eye that defines the limbic boundary of said iris, (2) locating that data which is within said limbic boundary that defines the pupilary boundary of said iris, (3) locating that data which is within said limbic boundary that defines the boundaries of the upper and lower eyelids of said eye, and (4) then employing that data that is outside of said pupilary boundary, inside said limbic boundary, and below the upper eyelid and above the lower eyelid thereby to delimit said data to that portion thereof which manifests the iris of said eye.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
37 words
The system of claim 1, wherein: said image processing means includes means for low-pass filtering and then subsampling said digital data from said frame grabber prior to localizing the iris of said eye in said sequential order.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
63 words
The system of claim 1, wherein: said image processing means employs image-filtering means to derive enhanced images and histogramming means that embody a voting scheme for recovering said iris boundaries from said enhanced images; whereby said recovery of said iris boundaries does not require knowledge of any initial conditions other than the digital data representative of said focused image of said user's eye.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
197 words
In an image-processing method responsive to digital data defining a digitized image of the eye of an individual for delimiting said digital data to that portion thereof that defines the iris of said eye of said individual to the relative exclusion of other components of the eye of the individual; said method comprising the steps of: a delimiting step of locating that data which is within the image of said individual's eye that defines the limbic boundary of said iris, the pupilary boundary of said iris, and the boundaries of the upper and lower eyelids of said eye; the delimiting step comprising the steps of: a) image-filtering said one of the limbic boundary of said iris, the pupilary boundary of said iris, and the boundaries of said upper and lower eyelids to derive an enhanced image thereof; and b) histogramming said enhanced image, in which said histogramming step embodies a voting scheme for recovering said one of said iris boundaries from said enhanced image; whereby said recovery of said one of said iris boundaries does not require knowledge of any initial conditions other than the digital data defining said digitized image of said eye of said individual.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
197 words
In an image-processing method responsive to digital data defining a digitized image of the eye of an individual for delimiting said digital data to that portion thereof that defines the iris of said eye of said individual to the relative exclusion of other components of the eye of the individual; said method comprising the steps of: a delimiting step of locating that data which is within the image of said individual's eye that defines the limbic boundary of said iris, the pupilary boundary of said iris, and the boundaries of the upper and lower eyelids of said eye; the delimiting step comprising the steps of: a) image-filtering said one of the limbic boundary of said iris, the pupilary boundary of said iris, and the boundaries of said upper and lower eyelids to derive an enhanced image thereof; and b) histogramming said enhanced image, in which said histogramming step embodies a voting scheme for recovering said one of said iris boundaries from said enhanced image; whereby said recovery of said one of said iris boundaries does not require knowledge of any initial conditions other than the digital data defining said digitized image of said eye of said individual.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
127 words
The method of claim 4, wherein said delimiting step includes the sequential steps of: c) first, locating that portion of said digital data that defines said limbic boundary of said iris; d) second, locating that portion of said digital data which is within said limbic boundary that defines said pupilary boundary of said iris; e) third, locating that portion of said digital data which is within said limbic boundary that defines said boundaries of said eye's upper and lower eyelids; and f) fourth, employing only that portion of said digital data that is outside of said pupilary boundary, inside said limbic boundary, and below the upper eyelid and above the lower eyelid thereby to delimit said digital data to that portion thereof which manifests said eye's iris.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 4, further including the further step of: low-pass filtering and then subsampling said digital data defining said digitized image of said eye of said individual prior to performing said delimiting step.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
104 words
In a system including an imager having a lens for deriving a focused image of an eye of a user of the system to examine the iris of said user's eye; the improvement comprising: a digital frame grabber coupled to said imager for deriving digital data representative of said focused image of said user's eye; image processing means responsive to the digital data from said frame grabber that manifests said user's eye for localizing the iris of said eye, the image processing means including: eyelid boundary means for locating that data which defines the boundaries of the upper and lower eyelids of said eye.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
104 words
In a system including an imager having a lens for deriving a focused image of an eye of a user of the system to examine the iris of said user's eye; the improvement comprising: a digital frame grabber coupled to said imager for deriving digital data representative of said focused image of said user's eye; image processing means responsive to the digital data from said frame grabber that manifests said user's eye for localizing the iris of said eye, the image processing means including: eyelid boundary means for locating that data which defines the boundaries of the upper and lower eyelids of said eye.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
92 words
The system according to claim 7, wherein the image processing means further includes: limbic boundary means for locating that data which is within the image of the user's eye that defines the limbic boundary of said iris, and pupilary boundary means for locating that data which is within said limbic boundary that defines the pupilary boundary of said iris, and wherein eyelid boundary means further includes means for locating data which is within the limbic boundary of said iris which defines the boundaries of the upper and lower eyelids of said eye.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 2, wherein the image is filtered and subsampled to produce a reduced resolution image and the processing means includes means for localizing the iris using the reduced resolution image.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
42 words
The image-processing method of claim 6, wherein the low pass filtering and then subsampling step further comprises the step of producing a reduced resolution image and the image-processing method further comprises the step of localizing the iris using the reduced resolution image.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US4641349A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-05-11 | 2001-11-10 | 2002-05-12 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-05-11 | 2005-11-10 | 2006-05-12 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-05-11 | 2009-11-10 | 2010-05-12 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |