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Hitachi Ltd. will begin the sale of its compact and contactless finger vein biometric authentication device and a companion software development kit (SDK). Designated as the model PCT-KC8203, it will enable PC users to guard against illegitimate access or leakage of information on their computers by using the vein patterns in their finger as the key to manage their computer log-in process. The finger vein unit has achieved its small size, high accuracy rate and low cost by employing a single-chip LSI design. In addition, the SDK is available to enable the development of custom applications or integration in existing application environments. Because of the unique and non-traceable nature of the biometric technology, counterfeiting is not possible.

Given the progress of today's ubiquitous information society, the need for practical and accurate biometric solutions is growing at a fast pace. Finger-vein, pattern recognition meets these demanding requirements effectively and allows for the efficient deployment of biometric authentication devices for a variety of applications.

The finger-vein, pattern recognition technology employs the vein pattern of the finger as the biometric feature. A finger-vein pattern is impossible to counterfeit because the vein is inside the body. With some of the existing biometric systems, such as fingerprint, facial recognition, iris-scan, it is possible to acquire biometric data without the knowledge of the individual. However, it is not possible to acquire the finger-vein biometric feature without the known consent of the individual. In operation, the process of data collection is based on a contactless principle. Light penetrates through the finger using a light-transmission technique to allow the detection of the structure of the vein pattern. The vein pattern is image-processed using a special algorithm resulting in digital data that can be stored in a data bank.