WASHINGTON 24 February, 2006 - Bionics Co., Ltd. has developed a  biometrics blood vessel authentication system using the human finger, a  demonstration team with the principle inventors and system developers will be in DC 24 February On Friday 24, during at 11:00 am at the Wyndham Hotel in Washington Dc on M Street NW, a demonstration of the system will be given and an opportunity to ask and answer any questions.  Its uses are multiple in the identification of individuals, access control etc and hence perhaps a valuable addition to Law Enforcement, DOD, federal agencies, IMF, FBI, TSA, FAA, Correctional Facilities etc

The delegation includes:

Mr. Kozo Sushita                        President               Bionics Co., Ltd 

Mr. Masaaki Takasugi                Director                 Bionics Co., Ltd 

Mr. Shoji Tanaka                        R&D                      Bionics Co., Ltd 

Ms. Kae Kabata                           Secretary              Bionics Co., Ltd 

Mr. Isodai                                   Asst. Director         PBIC                

Mr. John Lee                               Executive               Bionics Co., Ltd 

Dr. Ito                                         Chairman               Bionics Co., Ltd 

The Bionics Co., Ltd. was established on January 29, 2001. Bionics Co. has developed the biometrics authentication technology, a blood vessel authentication system, which is currently the most reliable and secure in the field of security technology. The biometrics technology market is one of the new markets in the 21st century. The applications of the biometrics market have tremendous potential in the security, IT and medical fields. Not only has Bionics Co. increased its market share, but is also one of the leading companies in this field. Bionics Co. is committed to improve the ability for businesses to offer safer and more secure working environments, improving the quality of life for everyone.

Bionics Co. Ltd, a US Japanese company is the inventor and patent holder for Blood Vessel Authentication and currently the only one to have developed this Blood Vessel Authentication System.  It is currently in use and operating successfully as part of security systems at power plants, and other commercial/industrial sites.  The system provides 100% ID with no method for circumventing or fooling the system

Using near-infrared light, we can obtain transillumination image of blood vessels of a hand or a finger. This image can be used for personal identification. Recently, a practical system has been developed based on this method. This system is relatively simple and the identification time is reasonably short. In order to examine the effectiveness of the personal identification using the transillumination image of blood vessels, the fundamental characteristics of the developed system were analyzed.

The dependence of the rejection and acceptance errors on the correlation threshold was clarified. It was also found that there is over 10% clearance of correlation threshold between the minimum threshold of a sufficiently low acceptance-error and the maximum threshold of a sufficiently low rejection-error. Therefore, we can expect practically negligible rejection and acceptance errors by setting the correlation threshold between these two values. We can also control the errors by choosing an appropriate correlation thresh-old.

The importance of the security in various systems has been rapidly increasing. The personal identification is one of the key technologies to support the security in computer systems, in access-controlled areas, etc. The term “biometrics” has been used to refer the field of statistical or mathematical data analysis in the biological sciences. In these days, the term has also been used to refer the technology devoted to the individual identification using biological traits. The techniques using finger prints, iris scanning, retinal scanning and facial recognition are well known. We have pointed out the feasibility and the usefulness of the technique to use the transillumination image of a hand for the biometrics [Shimizu, 1992]. Using near-infrared light (700-1200 nm wavelength) we can obtain transillumination image of blood vessels of a hand or a finger.

The image is useful for noninvasive imaging of physiological function, as well [Shimizu, 1996], [Taka, 2000]. The pattern of blood vessels is individual-specific and does not change in aging. The pattern is hardly interfered by the dirt and scars on the surface and is not easy to imitate. The simplicity of the hardware and the speed of recognition are the great advantages of this technique over other existing methods. Recently, a practical system has been developed and used in various fields. To examine the effectiveness of the proposed method, we have analyzed the identification rate in personal identification using the developed system.

Different patterns are observed with different individuals. Figure 2 illustrates the principle of the imaging part of the developed personal identification system. A finger is illuminated with near-infrared light (950 nm wavelength) from an array of LED’s, and the transillumination image is obtained by a CCD camera through an optical filter. After image processing, the pat-tern of the blood vessels is stored in digital codes. First, the patterns of the persons to be registered are stored in the memory region of a computer system. When a subject inserts his finger in the imaging part, a transillumination image is obtained, processed and compared with the stored images, automatically. According to the result of the comparison, the next action is activated such as opening a door, starting a computer, etc. Since the comparison is based on a correlation operation, the processing time is reasonably short (typically a few seconds).

The effectiveness of this method is largely dependent on the fact that no one has a common pattern of blood vessels in a finger. We need to examine the reasonability of this hypothesis within a limit of spatial resolution of a practical system. For the analysis, 300 transillumination images were used. The images of six different fingers (index, middle, ring fingers in both hands) were obtained in each of 50 subjects. The subjects were 42 males (average age of 36.7)and 8 females (average age of 27.5). All the combinations (90000 cases) were tested and the identification rates were analyzed. Two parameters were used in the analysis. One is the rejection-error rate, or the rate to accept the other person who has to be rejected. Another is the acceptance-error rate, or the rate to reject the person himself who has to be accepted. As the threshold increases, the rejection-error rate decreases and the acceptance-error rate increases. In this figure, we can see the degree of the dependence of each error on the threshold. In practice we have to make a compromise between these two errors. It should be noted that generally there is over 10% clearance of correlation threshold between the minimum threshold of a sufficiently low acceptance-error and the maximum threshold of a sufficiently low rejection-error. Therefore, we can expect practically negligible rejection and acceptance errors by setting the correlation threshold between these two values. In some applications, rejection error is more serious than the acceptance error. In such a case, the correlation threshold should be chosen as a higher value, or closer to 1. In this way, we can control the errors by an appropriate choice of the threshold values according to the requirements of a specific application.

Bionics has proposed a technique for the personal identification using a transillumination image of a hand or a finger. A practical system has been developed and the feasibility has been verified. This system is relatively simple and the identification time is reasonably short. In order to examine the effectiveness of the personal identification using the transillumination image of blood vessels, the fundamental characteristics of the developed system were analyzed. The dependence of the rejection and acceptance errors on the correlation threshold was clarified. Based on the results of this analysis, we can expect reasonably low error rate for practical use. We can also control the errors by choosing appropriate correlation thresholds. With further improvements in the techniques of transillumination imaging, image processing and the correlation operation, higher performance of this method is expected in the near future.

References

Shimizu K. Optical trans-body imaging - Feasibility of optical CT and functional imaging of living body, Medicina Philosophica, 11:620-629. 1992.

Shimizu K, Yamamoto K. Imaging of physiological functions by laser transillumination, OSA TOPS on Advances Optical Imaging and Photom Migration, 2:348-352, 1996.

Taka Y, Kato Y, Shimizu K. Transillumination imaging of physiological functions by NIR light, World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, (CD-ROM) 4982-14105, 2000.

For more information please visit the website at http://www.bionics-k.co.jp

WASHINGTON Sun Jan 29 - Mr. Zhenghua Mei is visiting Washington between Jan 29 and Feb 5.  Mr. Zhenghua Mei is Secretary General of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Mining Industry Sub-Council (CCPIT MIS） China Chamber of International Commerce Mining Industry Commerce  (CCOIC-MIC) and General Manager of China Railway United Logistics Equipment Co.,Ltd. Mr. Mei is in charge of procurement and is looking for suppliers of the following items for China.

If you sell the above products and are interested in meeting with Mr. Mei, please contact us via email at: johnliddell@ravensworth.org

México D.F., México February 7-9, 2006 - Binational Conference & Binational Awards Gala Dinner

 The Binational Conference & Awards Dinner Gala offers an un­paralleled opportunity to meet with government and corporate offi­cials involved in US-Mexico business development.  The Binational Awards Gala Dinner will honor key individuals in the private and public sectors that have made outstanding contribu­tion to the US-Mexico relationship. http://www.usmcoc.org/pro/boardmexicofeb2006.html

Washington DC Feb 21-24 2006 - Japanese Delegation

Japanese Delegation to visit and discuss new biometric technology advances employed in Japan with private industry and the federal government.  If you are in the electronic or physical security, defense or biometric industry and would like to meet with the principal scientists, technicians and executives traveling with the delegation or would like more information please call 240-401-3369 or email johnliddell@ravensworth.org

Los Angeles, CA March 2-3, 2006 -  Transporte Internacional" Los Angeles Conference

The last fifteen years have seen a major breakthrough in the way trade is conducted in the Western Hemisphere. The negotiation and approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the nineties brought together the economies of the United States, Mexico and Canada, establishing the framework for the United States and its neighbors to move toward an integrated economic bloc.

In assessing the trade opportunities of the region, a sector that has shown major limitations and problems is transportation. The challenges faced by this sector are related among others to poor and inadequate infrastructure; lack of resources to modernize existing infrastructure and make new investments; lack of trained manpower; not enough application of technologies; and bottlenecks in the rules, regulations, and procedures for the implementation of trade. These challenges were discussed at the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce (USMCOC) Acapulco conference on September 8-10, 2005.

Over the years, beginning in 1998, Transportation studies have highlighted the challenges that the sector has been facing. These challenges were updated during the Acapulco conference and included among others: strengthening cross-border trucking operations; more compatible systems of transportation; liability issues; education initiatives; cross-border transportation process; harmonization and standardization procedures; joint cooperation between the public and private sector; and application of technologies.

At the Acapulco conference ninety-one professionals and experts, from the United States and Mexico participated, giving it a truly bi-national flavor. The group discussed challenges in the area of land, sea and air transportation and engaged in provocative and productive discussions that ended in consensus. The results of the conference are the foundation for the Chamber's new Transporte Internacional Initiative (TII).

The Acapulco conference provided the opportunity to discuss problems and opportunities in the various components of the transportation system and to review in-depth obstacles and problems that limit a fluid trade process hinders competitiveness, and pose a threat to the future trade relationship between the United States and Mexico.

Some of the problem areas that were discussed included: 

• The imbalance that exists in the Northbound and Southbound trade;

• Border-crossing issues such as duplication of efforts, lack of automation, and a need for a "one-stop shopping window;"

• Facilitating connection to different routes at border-crossings;

• The critical shortage of drivers in the United States which will make the service more costly or unable to operate efficiently in areas that are perceived as "problematic;"

• The implementation of security initiatives as a result of 9/11;

• Liability issues in cross-country transportation; and

• Inadequate communication among government agencies.

 For information about the conference to be held in Los Angeles please visit http://www.usmcoc.org/pro/transporteintla.html