Novel fingerprint re-alignment solution that uses the TFCP as a reference

Abstract

Fingerprint re-alignment is an important aspect in the subject of fingerprint biometrics because a fingerprint recognition system that does not attempt to re-align an involuntarily rotated fingerprint can create opportunities for falsely rejecting a legitimate subject. It can also create opportunities for security attacks where an illegitimate subject voluntarily rotates their fingerprint, as a way of tempering with the functionality of the recognition system. This manuscript presents a new fingerprint re-alignment solution that uses the True Fingerprint Center Point (TFCP) as a reference, where the TFCP is introduced as the actual center of the fingerprint image foreground. Using the TFCP as a reference point proves – in general – to be fast, independent, and efficient for all types of fingerprints. It, in particular, is useful when dealing with the type of fingerprints that belong to the Plain Arch (PA) fingerprint class. The credibility of this proposed solution is interrogated through its applicability on fingerprint ridge surface estimation and fingerprint template matching.