Novel fingerprint texture area segmentation algorithm

A novel method of fingerprint texture area segmentation is proposed. First, fingerprint image is normalized. Then, intensity difference between the ridge line and the vertical direction is computed as the basis to implement region segmentation. Finally, smoothing and open operation are used on the segmented template which can extract the texture area. Results of comparison with other five algorithms show that the proposed algorithm is fast and effective. It can remove the border of the fingerprint scanner, the background noise and other non-texture regions very well. The match experiment, which adds the segmentation method to the match algorithm, shows that this algorithm can also effectively improve the performance of Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).