A new fingerprint enhancement algorithm

Fingerprint enhancement is an important step in fingerprint identification processing. A novel algorithm was proposed: firstly, a new property based on the first derivative of fingerprint images, namely: contrast, were given conceptual definition and introduced into the fingerprint segmentation processing; secondly, different from traditional methods, a new algorithm to estimate the orientation field of fingerprint images were introduced, with which, the fingerprints were repaired and the binarization were done. Experimental results show that the proposed method can enhancement fingerprint images properly, especially low quality fingerprint.