Positive patient identification

Claim 1

A system for positively identifying a patient, comprising: an eye illumination source; a sensor configured to capture an image of the patient's eye containing an iris; an optical system for transferring the image to the sensor; means for analyzing the image; an information storage/retrieval component coupled to the analyzing means and having stored therein a plurality of historical Iris Feature Vectors (IFVs) representing identification indicia of a plurality of patients; wherein the analyzing means is adapted to generate from the image a contemporaneous IFV representing an identification indicia of the patient; wherein the analyzing means is suitably programmed for comparing the contemporaneous IFV to the plurality of stored, historical IFVs, and determining a similarity relationship between the contemporaneous IFV and the historical IFVs, and wherein the analyzing means is adapted to identify in the image an inner region and an outer region, an inner region anchor feature located on an outer border of the inner region, and an outer region anchor feature located on an outer border of the outer region, the contemporaneous IFV being located in an analysis space bounded by the outer border of the inner region, and the outer border of the outer region and a third border extending between the inner region anchor feature and the outer region anchor feature, wherein said anchor features are landmarks of the patient's eye. the outer border of the inner region being located at a pupil/iris boundary, and the outer border of the outer region being located at a limbus boundary.

Claim 2

A system for positively identifying a patient, comprising: an eye illumination source; a sensor configured to capture an image of the patient's eye containing an iris; an optical system for transferring the image to the sensor; means for analyzing the image; an information storage/retrieval component coupled to the analyzing means and having stored therein a plurality of historical Iris Feature Vectors (IFVs) representing identification indicia of a plurality of patients; wherein the analyzing means is adapted to generate from the image a contemporaneous IFV representing an identification indicia of the patient; wherein the analyzing means is suitably programmed for comparing the contemporaneous IFV to the plurality of stored, historical IFVs, and determining a similarity relationship between the contemporaneous IFV and the historical IFVs, and wherein the analyzing means is adapted to identify in the image an inner region and an outer region, an inner region anchor feature located on an outer border of the inner region, and an outer region anchor feature located on an outer border of the outer region, the contemporaneous IFV being located in an analysis space bounded by the outer border of the inner region, and the outer border of the outer region and a third border extending between the inner region anchor feature and the outer region anchor feature, wherein said anchor features are landmarks of the patient's eye. the outer border of the inner region being located at a pupil/iris boundary, and the outer border of the outer region being located at a limbus boundary.

Claim 3

A method for facilitating positively identifying a patient, comprising the following steps: a) acquire an image of the patient's eye containing an iris; b) determine an inner region and an outer region of the eye; c) locate an inner region anchor feature within a search space on an outer border of the inner region and located at a pupil/iris boundary; d) locate an outer region anchor feature within a search space on an outer border of the outer region and located at a limbus boundary; e) identify a third border extending between the inner region anchor feature and the outer region anchor feature, wherein said anchor features are landmarks of the patient's eye; f) determine a plurality of iris image intensity values in a region of the image bounded by the third border and the outer border of the inner region and the outer border of the outer region; g) map the intensity values into a normalized analysis space; h) create a pattern of sample regions, choosing a size and shape for each sample region; i) sample the normalized analysis space with the sample region pattern; j) create from 1 to n Iris Feature Vectors (IFVs) for each sample region; k) create an array of IFVs for the sample regions, and; l) store the array in a storage/retrieval medium.

Claim 4

A method for facilitating positively identifying a patient, comprising the following steps: a) acquire an image of the patient's eye containing an iris; b) determine an inner region and an outer region of the eye; c) locate an inner region anchor feature within a search space on an outer border of the inner region and located at a pupil/iris boundary; d) locate an outer region anchor feature within a search space on an outer border of the outer region and located at a limbus boundary; e) identify a third border extending between the inner region anchor feature and the outer region anchor feature, wherein said anchor features are landmarks of the patient's eye; f) determine a plurality of iris image intensity values in a region of the image bounded by the third border and the outer border of the inner region and the outer border of the outer region; g) map the intensity values into a normalized analysis space; h) create a pattern of sample regions, choosing a size and shape for each sample region; i) sample the normalized analysis space with the sample region pattern; j) create from 1 to n Iris Feature Vectors (IFVs) for each sample region; k) create an array of IFVs for the sample regions, and; l) store the array in a storage/retrieval medium.