A wavelet-based method for fingerprint image enhancement

The performance of AFIS (automatic fingerprint identification system) is heavily determined by the quality of the input image. Thus an effective method to enhance the fingerprint image is essential in each system. A new method based on the wavelet decomposition is proposed in this paper. We combine the texture filter method mostly used in nowadays with wavelet transform to achieve a more reliable and effective enhancement. Using this method, we obtain a more clarity fingerprint image, which can distinctly improve the precision of minutiae extraction module. Experimental results show that wavelet-based enhancement method is more effective and robust than the other existing methods such as filter-based and direct grey level approaches.