Improved performance and security of fingerprint verification and identification systems by combined optical and digital enhancement techniques

Fingerprints are widely used in biometric recognition systems today. The enhancement of these fingerprints serves to improve their performance when used in biometric systems. This thesis investigates the gain in performance and security when more than one enhancement method is employed. More specifically, this thesis focuses on combining optical and digital enhancements to improve the performance and security of fingerprint verification and identification systems. This thesis supports the research hypothesis that such improvements are obtainable by the combined enhancements featured in this thesis.