一种快速有效的虹膜图像预处理方法

为解决虹膜识别中的虹膜定位时间较长、虹膜内边界变形、眼睑和睫毛普 遍存在的问题,提出了一种新的虹膜图像预处理方法,该方法对虹膜图像采用数学形态学算 子对图像进行处理,合理有效地减少了边缘图像中非虹膜的边缘点;然后对图像直方图采用 双直线拟合直方图求取检测眼睑和睫毛的阈值。对中科院自动化所CASIA-IrisV3 虹膜数据 库的实验结果显示,提出的虹膜图像预处理方法准确快速,能合理有效去除眼睑和睫毛。     

Reliable algorithm for iris segmentation in eye image

The paper presents a novel algorithm for iris segmentation in eye images taken under visible and near infrared light. The proposed approach consists of the following stages: reflections localization, reflections filling in, iris boundaries localization and eyelids boundaries localization. Here, each of these stages is detailed. Authors’ solution obtained the second rank in the “Noisy Iris Challenge Evaluation – Part I” contest, in which all iris segmentation algorithms submitted to the contest were evaluated and compared.     

A new iris segmentation method for non-ideal iris images

Many researchers have studied iris recognition techniques in unconstrained environments, where the probability of acquiring non-ideal iris images is very high due to off-angles, noise, blurring and occlusion by eyelashes, eyelids, glasses, and hair. Although there have been many iris segmentation methods, most focus primarily on the accurate detection with iris images which are captured in a closely controlled environment. This paper proposes a new iris segmentation method that can be used to accurately extract iris regions from non-ideal quality iris images. This research has following three novelties compared to previous works; firstly, the proposed method uses AdaBoost eye detection in order to compensate for the iris detection error caused by the two circular edge detection operations; secondly, it uses a color segmentation technique for detecting obstructions by the ghosting effects of visible light; and thirdly, if there is no extracted corneal specular reflection in the detected pupil and iris regions, the captured iris image is determined as a “closed eye” image.     

A highly accurate and computationally efficient approach for unconstrained iris segmentation

Biometric research has experienced significant advances in recent years given the need for more stringent security requirements. More important is the need to overcome the rigid constraints necessitated by the practical implementation of sensible but effective security methods such as iris recognition. An inventive iris acquisition method with less constrained image taking conditions can impose minimal to no constraints on the iris verification and identification process as well as on the subject. Consequently, to provide acceptable measures of accuracy, it is critical for such an iris recognition system to be complemented by a robust iris segmentation approach to overcome various noise effects introduced through image capture under different recording environments and scenarios. This research introduces a robust and fast segmentation approach towards less constrained iris recognition using noisy images contained in the UBIRIS.v2 database (the second version of the UBIRIS noisy iris database). The proposed algorithm consists of five steps, which include: (1) detecting the approximate localization of the eye area of the noisy image captured at the visible wavelength using the extracted sclera area, (2) defining the outer iris boundary which is the boundary between iris and sclera, (3) detecting the upper and lower eyelids, (4) conducting the verification and correction for outer iris boundary detection and (5) detecting the pupil area and eyelashes and providing means for verification of the reliability of the segmentation results. The results demonstrate that the accuracy is estimated as 98% when using 500 randomly selected images from the UBIRIS.v2 partial database, and estimated at ?97%$97\%$ in a “Noisy Iris Challenge Evaluation (NICE.I)” in an international competition that involved 97 participants worldwide, ranking this research group in sixth position. This accuracy is achieved with a processing speed nearing real time.     

A new segmentation approach for iris recognition based on hand-held capture device

Iris segmentation is an important step for automatic iris recognition. This paper presents a new iris segmentation method for hand-held capture device. We use a geometrical method for pupil detection. The bottom point of pupil is used as the reference point for pupil localization because it is insensitive to pupil dilation and not affected by the top eyelid or eyelashes. To decrease computational cost, the outer (or limbus) boundary of iris is localized based on shrunk image using Hough transform and modified Canny edge detector. The lower part of iris pattern is used for recognition in order to reduce the occlusion by eyelashes and eyelids. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method has an encouraging performance.     

一种快速虹膜定位方法

虹膜定位是虹膜识别中非常重要的一个环节。首先利用灰度平均值法找到瞳孔内初始定位点,并提出一种通过边缘检测模板的新瞳孔定位方法,同时引入C-均值动态聚类分析法提高定位精度。然后在外边界粗定位的基础上,改进了虹膜外边界的精确定位方法,采用此种粗定位与精定位相结合的方法极大缩短了虹膜定位的时间,提高了定位的准确性。大量实验表明,该虹膜定位方法简单可靠,精确度高,取得了非常好的定位效果。     

Noisy iris segmentation with boundary regularization and reflections removal

The paper presents an innovative algorithm for the segmentation of the iris in noisy images, with boundaries regularization and the removal of the possible existing reflections. In particular, the method aims to extract the iris pattern from the eye image acquired at the visible wavelength, in an uncontrolled environment where reflections and occlusions can also be present, on-the-move and at variable distance. The method achieves the iris segmentation by the following three main steps. The first step locates the centers of the pupil and the iris in the input image. Then two image strips containing the iris boundaries are extracted and linearizated. The last step locates the iris boundary points in the strips and it performs a regularization operation by achieving the exclusion of the outliers and the interpolation of missing points. The obtained curves are then converted into the original image space in order to produce a first segmentation output. Occlusions such as reflections and eyelashes are then identified and removed from the final area of the segmentation. Results indicate that the presented approach is effective and suitable to deal with the iris acquisition in noisy environments. The proposed algorithm ranked seventh in the international Noisy Iris Challenge Evaluation (NICE.I).     

A cascaded deep learning framework for iris centre localization in facial image

Accurate iris centre localization is crucial in many computer vision and facial biometric applications such as gaze estimation, human–computer interaction, iris recognition, and liveness detection. However, it is challenging in an uncontrolled environment due to variations like pose, scale, rotation, specular reflection, and image quality. Therefore, a cascaded deep learning framework for iris centre localization in facial images is proposed that is robust to the abovementioned variations. The proposed approach consists of (i) YOLOv3 for eye detection, (ii) UNet for iris segmentation, and (iii) statistical modelling for iris centre localization. The eyes are first detected using the YOLOv3, and subsequently, iris segmentation is performed within the detected eyes using the UNet. Following iris segmentation, statistical modelling is employed to enhance the localization accuracy of the iris centre. Experiments were performed on benchmark databases, resulting in a standardized error measure S_ED of 3.405 pixels for BioID and 3.259 pixels for GI4E databases. In addition, the robustness of the proposed eye detection model was further evaluated on the Yale B for illumination variations and the CAS-PEAL for pose variations.     

活体虹膜图像的定位与分割

介绍了一种活体虹膜的定位与分割算法。算法主要分为两部分：圆环的定位与非虹膜区域的去除。本算法根据眼睛的生理特点和数字虹膜图像的实际情况,利用传统定位方法与数学形态学相结合对虹膜区域进行快速而准确的定位,并分别提出了去除眼睑、睫毛和光斑影响的解决方案。算法中也考虑到实际应用可能遇到的影响虹膜定位与分割的问题。实验表明,该算法取得较好的分割结果,并且具有鲁棒性。     

Efficient iris segmentation method in unconstrained environments

Recently, iris recognition systems have gained increased attention especially in non-cooperative environments. One of the crucial steps in the iris recognition system is the iris segmentation because it significantly affects the accuracy of the feature extraction and iris matching steps. Traditional iris segmentation methods provide excellent results when iris images are captured using near infrared cameras under ideal imaging conditions, but the accuracy of these algorithms significantly decreases when the iris images are taken in visible wavelength under non-ideal imaging conditions. In this paper, a new algorithm is proposed to segments iris images captured in visible wavelength under unconstrained environments. The proposed algorithm reduces the error percentage even in the presence of types of noise include iris obstructions and specular reflection. The proposed algorithm starts with determining the expected region of the iris using the K-means clustering algorithm. The Circular Hough Transform (CHT) is then employed in order to estimate the iris radius and center. A new efficient algorithm is developed to detect and isolate the upper eyelids. Finally, the non-iris regions are removed. Results of applying the proposed algorithm on UBIRIS iris image databases demonstrate that it improves the segmentation accuracy and time.     

Robust and accurate iris segmentation in very noisy iris images

Iris segmentation plays an important role in an accurate iris recognition system. In less constrained environments where iris images are captured at-a-distance and on-the-move, iris segmentation becomes much more difficult due to the effects of significant variation of eye position and size, eyebrows, eyelashes, glasses and contact lenses, and hair, together with illumination changes and varying focus condition. This paper contributes to robust and accurate iris segmentation in very noisy images. Our main contributions are as follows: (1) we propose a limbic boundary localization algorithm that combines K-Means clustering based on the gray-level co-occurrence histogram and an improved Hough transform, and, in possible failures, a complementary method that uses skin information; the best localization between this and the former is selected. (2) An upper eyelid detection approach is presented, which combines a parabolic integro-differential operator and a RANSAC (RANdom SAmple Consensus)-like technique that utilizes edgels detected by a one-dimensional edge detector. (3) A segmentation approach is presented that exploits various techniques and different image information, following the idea of focus of attention, which progressively detects the eye, localizes the limbic and then pupillary boundaries, locates the eyelids and removes the specular highlight.     

Robust iris segmentation on uncalibrated noisy images using mathematical morphology

This paper proposes a new approach for fast iris segmentation that relies on the closed nested structures of iris anatomy (the sclera is brighter than the iris, and the iris is brighter than the pupil) and on its polar symmetry. The described method applies mathematical morphology for polar/radial-invariant image filtering and for circular segmentation using shortest paths from generalized grey-level distances. The proposed algorithm obtained good results on the NICE-I contest and showed a very robust behavior, especially when dealing with half-closed eyes, different skin colours/illumination or subjects wearing glasses.     

Automated personal identification system based on human iris analysis

In general, a typical iris recognition system includes iris imaging, iris liveness detection, iris image quality assessment, and iris recognition. This paper presents an algorithm focusing on the last two steps. The novelty of this algorithm includes improving the speed and accuracy of the iris segmentation process, assessing the iris image quality such that only the clear images are accepted so as to reduce the recognition error, and producing a feature vector with discriminating texture features and a proper dimensionality so as to improve the recognition accuracy and computational efficiency. The Hough transform, polynomial fitting technique, and some morphological operations are used for the segmentation process. The phase data from 1D Log-Gabor filter is extracted and encoded efficiently to produce a proper feature vector. Experimental tests were performed using CASIA iris database (756 samples). These tests prove that the proposed algorithm has an encouraging performance.

基于Adaboost算法的虹膜合格状态检测

虹膜图像的采集是业界公认的难点,也是制约虹膜识别广泛应用的主要原因。怎样快速方便地采集到一幅清晰度足够并且有丰富纹理的高质量虹膜图像,对虹膜识别的速度和准确度都起着至关重要的作用。提出了一种基于Adaboost的虹膜图像合格状态检测和定位算法,能够快速有效地一次性检测出虹膜图像采集中的各种不合格图像,例如图像中没有完整眼睛、眼睛睁开程度不够、闭眼、斜视、运动模糊等。大量实验结果表明,该算法具有较好的检测准确率,对各种干扰情况有较强的鲁棒性,并且检测速度快,能够达到实时要求。对于检测合格的图像,还可以大致定位出虹膜在图像中的位置,为后续的虹膜定位节省时间。     

一种新的虹膜图像配准算法*

提出了新的虹膜配准算法。该算法以虹膜外边界为基准,对虹膜图像的平移和伸缩进行校正。在较好保持虹膜纹理特征分布的前提下,快速有效地得到了虹膜的矩形展开。仿真实验证明,使用该算法预处理虹膜图像,可以获得较好的分类效果。算法为虹膜识别及相关研究提供了新思路。     

一种改进的虹膜快速定位算法

针对现有虹膜定位算法的局限性,提出一种检测变形瞳孔的算法,实现了精确快速的虹膜定位,并通过最大类间方差法确定图像阈值。变形瞳孔近似椭圆,因此利用最长弦定位内边界。由于瞳孔虹膜近似同心,利用圆灰度梯度算子小范围搜索外边缘。此算法精确定位了变形瞳孔,避免了外边缘搜索的盲目性,提高了虹膜定位的精度与速度。     

基于Snake模型的虹膜定位算法

虹膜识别被认为是目前最准确可靠的生物特征识别方法．快速、准确地定位虹膜是虹膜识别系统的关键．提出一种基于Snake模型的虹膜定位算法：采用Canny检测算子定位虹膜内边缘，运用Snake模型锁定虹膜外边缘．实验表明，该方法速度快、精度高，并且具备良好的鲁棒性．     

Toward Accurate and Fast Iris Segmentation for Iris Biometrics

Iris segmentation is an essential module in iris recognition because it defines the effective image region used for subsequent processing such as feature extraction. Traditional iris segmentation methods often involve an exhaustive search of a large parameter space, which is time consuming and sensitive to noise. To address these problems, this paper presents a novel algorithm for accurate and fast iris segmentation. After efficient reflection removal, an Adaboost-cascade iris detector is first built to extract a rough position of the iris center. Edge points of iris boundaries are then detected, and an elastic model named pulling and pushing is established. Under this model, the center and radius of the circular iris boundaries are iteratively refined in a way driven by the restoring forces of Hooke's law. Furthermore, a smoothing spline-based edge fitting scheme is presented to deal with noncircular iris boundaries. After that, eyelids are localized via edge detection followed by curve fitting. The novelty here is the adoption of a rank filter for noise elimination and a histogram filter for tackling the shape irregularity of eyelids. Finally, eyelashes and shadows are detected via a learned prediction model. This model provides an adaptive threshold for eyelash and shadow detection by analyzing the intensity distributions of different iris regions. Experimental results on three challenging iris image databases demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms state-of-the-art methods in both accuracy and speed.     

Neural network based biometric personal identification with fast iris segmentation

This paper presents the iris recognition system for biometric personal identification using neural network. Personal identification consists of localization of the iris region and generation of a data set of iris images followed by iris pattern recognition. In this paper, a fast algorithm is proposed for the localization of the inner and outer boundaries of the iris region. Located iris is extracted from an eye image, and, after normalization and enhancement, it is represented by a data set. Using this data set a Neural Network (NN) is used for the classification of iris patterns. The adaptive learning strategy is applied for training of the NN. The results of simulations illustrate the effectiveness of the neural system in personal identification. Recommended by Guest Editor Phill Kyu Rhee. This work was supported by the Near East University. The authors would like to thank Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences for providing CASIA iris database. Rahib Hidayat Abiyev was born in Azerbaijan, in 1966. He received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Azerbaijan State Oil Academy (old USSR) in 1997. He worked as a Research Assistant at the research laboratory “Industrial intellectual control systems” of Computer-aided control system department. From 1999-present he is working as an Associate Professor at the department of Computer Engineering of Near East University. He is the Chairman of Computer Engineering Department. His research interests are softcomputing, pattern recognition, control systems, signal processing, optimization. Koray Altunkaya was born in Turkey, in 1982. He received the MSc. degree in Computer Engineering from Near East University, North Cyprus in 2007. He is working as an Research Assistant at the research laboratory “Applied Computational Intelligence” of Computer Engineering Department. His research interests are image processing, neural networks, pattern recognition, digital signal processing.     

DADCNet: Dual attention densely connected network for more accurate real iris region segmentation

Most existing performance evaluation standards for iris segmentation algorithms, such as the typical recall, precision, and F-measure (RPF-measure) protocol, are based on a pixel-to-pixel comparison between the mask image obtained after segmentation and the corresponding ground truth (GT) image. However, one of the most important problems is that if the published GT images have errors when locating the iris region, then the reference value of these evaluation indicators will be reduced, which is not conducive to the development of iris recognition technology. To address this problem, this paper proposes to use a mask image segmented by a deep learning method to replace the corresponding GT image. The main work of this paper is as follows. First, a dual attention densely connected network (DADCNet) containing two attention modules and an improved skip connection is proposed to segment the real iris region more accurately than the corresponding GT image. Second, the recognition performance of the two input classes obtained from the mask image after DADCNet segmentation and the corresponding published GT image in the same recognition network is utilized to further show that the former is more reliable in positioning the real iris than the latter. To make the proposed network more convincing, extensive experiments are conducted on four representative and challenging iris databases, which is obtained under different spectral conditions. These results show that the proposed DADCNet achieves state-of-the-art performance and that the mask image obtained after DADCNet segmentation can replace the published corresponding GT image.