Becky
Jungbauer

Luckily for palmophiliacs, there’s a new show in town, and it just may change the way we think about biometric security systems.

A new biometrics system called PalmSecure, developed by Tokyo-based Fujitsu Ltd., works by matching the unique vein pattern in your palm to an infrared scan of your palm stored in a database. The system is akin to fingerprinting, but improves upon the oft-used identification system of police stations everywhere.

Larry Greenemeier writes in this month’s Scientific American:

“Although vascular-recognition systems are still relatively new, they promise to trump fingerprint-based biometrics in a few ways: Fingerprint scanners require a finger to touch the scanner, which can create smudges that impair accuracy and potentially spread germs. PalmSecure users, however, do not have to touch the device—which is a square with 1.4-inch (35-millimeter) sides and standing about one inch (27 millimeters) high—for it to read their hand's vascular pattern. PalmSecure can read a palm as long as it is placed within two inches (50 millimeters) of the device, so direct contact is not necessary. Such a pattern is also more difficult to fake because it requires that blood be flowing through the hand; experiments have shown that fingerprint scanners can be duped by photocopied prints, cadaver fingers and prints captured in Play-Doh.”

The system is remarkably reliable, according to Fujitsu . In a study of 75,000 people aged five to 85, the system granted illegitimate access to only six people (0.00008 percent of the time) and denied 750 legitimate users (0.01 percent) access. The scanner makes use of a special characteristic of the reduced hemoglobin coursing through the palm veins, Fujitsu says – it absorbs near-infrared light. “This makes it possible to take a snapshot of what's beneath the outer skin, something very hard to read or steal.”

Japan’s largest bank, Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, uses PalmSecure as part of a three-point verification system for transactions – their ATM card, a PIN and their palm. Other businesses and schools in Japan use the technology to log in to computers and access security doors.

The Hospital for Charged Particle Therapy at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan also uses PalmSecure, allowing secure access of electronic medical records .

The technology has made waves in the U.S. as well - the Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte uses PalmSecure to register patients and protect their medical records.

A new type of mouse model

Fujitsu recently debuted a mouse model using the palm vein biometric authentication sensor. The company is also looking to incorporate the scanning system in mobile phones. 

Fujitsu says that vein patterns are unique even among identical twins, but Greenemeier notes that not everyone is convinced by the plausibility of the claim.

“Mark Ombrellaro, a vascular surgeon at Eastside Vascular in Bellevue, Wash., who is also chief executive officer of Redmond, Wash.–based health care technology company TouchNetworks, is skeptical of PalmSecure's ability to identify specific blood flow patterns. ‘You need to tune it so that you're not getting too much noise, otherwise you get more of a blobogram,’ he says. Fujitsu states that its technology maps only the blood vessels carrying oxygen-free blood back to the heart—these blood vessels absorb PalmSecure's near-infrared light waves and look darker than the surrounding tissue.

While Fujitsu's claim that every person has a unique vascular pattern in the palm of his or her hand sounds ‘reasonable,’ Ombrellaro says, ‘I honestly don't think anyone knows for sure.’”

It definitely gives new meaning to asking for help: “Give me a hand, will you?”

For those who would like to try their hand at reading their palm – pun intended – check out this site for step-by-step instructions.