WO2006067226A2 - Identification biometrique d'animaux de laboratoire - Google Patents

Identification biometrique d'animaux de laboratoire Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2006067226A2
WO2006067226A2 PCT/EP2005/057134 EP2005057134W WO2006067226A2 WO 2006067226 A2 WO2006067226 A2 WO 2006067226A2 EP 2005057134 W EP2005057134 W EP 2005057134W WO 2006067226 A2 WO2006067226 A2 WO 2006067226A2
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
ear
image
animal
light
pattern
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2005/057134
Other languages
English (en)
Other versions
WO2006067226A3 (fr
Inventor
Hans-Axel Hansson
Jens Cameron
Original Assignee
Dilab I Lund Ab
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Dilab I Lund Ab filed Critical Dilab I Lund Ab
Publication of WO2006067226A2 publication Critical patent/WO2006067226A2/fr
Publication of WO2006067226A3 publication Critical patent/WO2006067226A3/fr

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
    • G06V40/00—Recognition of biometric, human-related or animal-related patterns in image or video data
    • G06V40/10—Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
    • G06V40/00—Recognition of biometric, human-related or animal-related patterns in image or video data
    • G06V40/10—Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands
    • G06V40/14—Vascular patterns

Definitions

  • the invention relates generally to a biometric identification of individuals and, in particular, to an ear image capturing apparatus, an image processing system and methods for identification of laboratory animals.
  • test objects in the form of laboratory animals such as mice, rats and guinea pigs used for experimental purposes.
  • test objects in the form of laboratory animals such as mice, rats and guinea pigs used for experimental purposes.
  • samples inject substances or otherwise treat animals at scheduled intervals in order to allow observation of gradual responses in the test object.
  • Such experiments can proceed from days up to 1-2 months.
  • multiple animals coexist unconstrained in the same cage and each individual animal is taken from the cage only at events like weighing, sampling or treatment. After handling, the animal can be put back in the same cage or for various reasons in another cage.
  • the method should be a non- invasive method.
  • Biometrics defined broadly is the scientific discipline of observing and measuring relevant attributes of living individuals to identify active properties or unique characteristics. Biometrics can look for patterns of change by measuring attributes over time or look for consistency by measuring attributes of identity or unique differentiation. When looking for patterns of change, biometric technology can be considered a tool for research, diagnosis, or even medical monitoring. When looking for consistency, biometrics becomes a useful vehicle for security.
  • identification of individuals using fingerprint or hand geometry but systems based on voice or iris recognition are also known in the art. Such techniques are described in, for example, "High Confidence Visual Recognition of Persons by a Test of Statistical Independence", J. G. Daugman (1993), IEEE Trans and "Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence", 15(11), pp. 1148-1161.
  • British Patent No. 2,156,127 there is described a method and apparatus for the identification of individuals by means of scans of subcutaneous patterns of blood vessels using a radiation detector.
  • One difficulty encountered with such system is the poor signal-to- noise ratio when endeavouring to detect blood vessel locations, for example, in the back of the hand. This may be due to hairs, or the non-planar nature of the locations or uneven illumination.
  • the patent does not disclosed an animal ear image processing system and a method for identifying of a laboratory animal.
  • the invention relates to a biometric identification of individuals and, in particular, to an animal ear image capturing apparatus, an image processing system and a method for biometric identification of an individual laboratory animal used in medical testing.
  • the invention relates more specifically to an ear sensor for capturing an image of visible blood vessels in the ear of a laboratory animal and to electronic means for converting said captured image to a format which is searchable in a database of stored images.
  • the invention relates further to a method for identification of an individual laboratory animal using a captured image and data from said database of collected images.
  • the invention provides an apparatus for capturing an image of an animal's ear comprising: a light source for illuminating the ear; an image sensor for capturing an image of the ear produced by light transmitted through or reflected by the ear; a communication interface for connecting the apparatus to a computer; a control unit for controlling the light source, the image sensor and the communication interlace.
  • an animal ear image processing system designed to process an image of an ear and identify an animal, comprising: an ear sensor comprising a light source and optionally a fixture for holding the ear of the animal and an image sensor for capturing a contrasted image of the blood vessels of the animal's ear; electronic means with software and a first algorithm which identifies critical blood vessel patterns in the captured contrasted image and convert it to a searchable parameterized image representation; software with a second algorithm which can compare and recognize a parameterized image representation from a collection of images in a database; a central database with identification data of each individual animal optionally with the experimental data.
  • the invention provides an identification method for identifying individual laboratory animals comprising; capturing an image of the blood vessels of an ear of the laboratory animal; converting said image to a parameterized searchable image representation; identifying the animal by comparing images from a collection in a database.
  • the invention provides software and an algorithm which can retrieve and identify unique structures of the blood vessel pattern of an animal's ear, the algorithm featuring the elements: extraction of the structures of the blood vessel pattern from a captured image; positioning and orientation of branching points of the blood vessel pattern in the image; determination of the total length of line segments at a certain orientation for line segments of a certain orientation; decomposition of the line segments in different lengths.
  • Figure 1 is a photograph of an ear which is fixed between two transparent plates.
  • Figure 2 is a photograph of an ear which is not fixed.
  • Figure 3 is a schematic view of an embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention.
  • Figure 4 is a schematic view of a part of the apparatus with an inserted ear.
  • Figure 5 is a schematic view of a part of the apparatus with a clamped inserted ear.
  • Figures 6A, 6B, 6C are schematic views of a light pattern impinging on an ear, an equidistant dot pattern observed in the direction of the light pattern and a non-equidistant dot pattern observed in a direction at an angle to the light pattern, respectively.
  • Figures 7A, 7B, 7C are a red channel image, a green channel image and an image in which the green channel is subtracted from the red channel.
  • Figure 8 is a schematic view and a diagram of shadowing effects of objects in and outside the ear tissue.
  • the invention relates to a biometric identification of individuals and, in particular, to an animal ear image capturing apparatus, an image processing device and a method for biometric identification of a test object such as an individual laboratory animal used in medical testing.
  • a study is a collection of animals divided in groups where animals in each group are treated similarly and effects of substances are compared by comparing average effects on animals between groups. In practice one sampling is performed as follows:
  • An animal is taken out of the cage. 2. The animal is identified with the ear image processing system described in this invention. The animal is held in one hand while the ear sensor is managed with the other hand. 3. An image of the blood vessels of the ear is captured by using the ear sensor and processed. Optionally a fixture holding the animal's ear is used. 4. The animal is weighted, treated or a sample is aspirated.
  • the animal is put back in either the same cage or a different cage.
  • laboratory animal includes mouse, rat, and guinea pig.
  • blood vessel pattern includes the pattern of veins, arteries, capillaries and other blood vessels.
  • any algorithm can be used as long as the algorithm can be used to identify the blood vessel pattern in the ear of a laboratory animal. It is specifically important to identify those structures in the blood vessel pattern which make a unique identification of each individual possible. According to embodiments of the invention, the position and orientation of the branching points of the blood vessel pattern, the total length of line segments at a certain orientation for line segments of a certain orientation and finally decompose the line segments in different length may be identified.
  • FIG. 3 A schematic view of an apparatus 1 for biometric identification of a laboratory animal is shown in Figure 3.
  • the apparatus 1 comprises a slot or a compartment 3 for insertion of an ear of an animal to be identified.
  • the side walls of the compartment comprise plates 4a, 4b transparent to light.
  • a light source 5 provides light of a suitable nature as explained in further detail below.
  • an optical system 7 directs light transmitted through the plates 4a, 4b and an interposed ear to a digital image sensor 9, suitably of the CCD (charge coupled device) or CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) type.
  • the image sensor 9 captures an image.
  • a control unit 11 controls the exposure of the image sensor 9 and stores captured images in an internal memory 18.
  • the apparatus 1 may communicate with a computer 15 through a communication interlace 17. The communication may be through a USB port using cable, IR light or short range radio.
  • the computer 15 may in turn communicate with or incorporate a database 13.
  • the capturing apparatus incorporates the necessary computer power and database.
  • the identification method is performed as follows. An animal's ear is positioned between the plates 4a, 4b. When positioned correctly, as sensed by the device or by the operator, an image is captured by the image sensor 9. The image is compressed by the control unit 11 or sent directly to the computer 15 for compression. Then the computer 15 compares the captured image with images in the database 13 in which the images are coupled to identities of individual animals. A match of the captured image with a stored image results in identification of the animal.
  • Figure 4 shows the plates 4a, 4b, the optical system 7, and image sensor 9 according to an embodiment of the invention.
  • One plate 4b is movable to clamp an ear 6 in a suitable position.
  • Figure 5 shows the plates 4a, 4b clamped together as a fixture with an interposed ear 6. Incident light 2a is transmitted through the plate 4a, the ear 6, the plate 4b, the optical system 7, and finally impinging on the image sensor 9.
  • FIG. 1 shows an ear which is fixed between two transparent plates.
  • the image in Figure 2 shows an ear which is not fixed.
  • Figures 1 and 2 are images depicting an ear from one and the same rat.
  • An ear may be considered a double curved surface.
  • the ear 6 is flattened between the two plates 4a, 4b as is shown in figure 5. This avoids imaging errors otherwise resulting from curved surfaces which are not always inserted in the same way in the slot and with the same curvature as most animals can move their ears.
  • the clamping of the plates 4a, 4b is controlled by the operator and also triggers the exposure of the ear. When the distance between the plates 4a, 4b has reached a predetermined value, approximately equal to the ear thickness, and when this value is stable, at the same time as other sensors indicate that the operator wants an identification, the imaging process is started with the selected illuminations.
  • the geometry of the ear is measured and a flattened, normalised ear image is calculated on basis of the measurements.
  • One alternative is to illuminate the ear with a known line or dot pattern impinging at an angle to the ear relative to the observation with the optical system. The distortion of the known line or dot pattern may be mapped unambiguously to the shape of the ear. If the known line or dot pattern has a diverging or converging shape as a function of the distance from the light source or lens, it is possible to calculate both the curvature of and the distance to the exposed ear surface. Hence, it is possible to determine both imaging errors and scale factors. Data from these measurements are also suitable as a trigger for the identification process.
  • Figure 6A shows a straight light pattern 14a impinging on an animal's ear 6.
  • the pattern 14a may be produced by a light pattern source 10 comprising a light source such as a laser and an optical system as indicated schematically in figure 3.
  • Figure 6B shows the produced dot pattern 14b reflected from the ear 6 (or transmitted through the ear) as observed in the direction of the light pattern 14a.
  • the dots are equidistant this is not useful. Instead the ear should be observed at an angle to the direction of the light pattern 14a, as is shown in figure 6C.
  • the dots 14 b resulting from the straight light pattern 14a are not equidistant, and from their positions the appearance of the ear in a flattened state may be calculated.
  • a light source 5 with white light is used together with a colour image sensor 9 having red, green and blue channels.
  • the red and green channels are extracted.
  • an image produced by subtracting the green channel from the red channel (or vice versa) is used.
  • the red blood contained in the blood vessels absorbs green light to a much greater degree than red light.
  • Figure 7A is a red channel image
  • figure 7B is a green channel image
  • Figure 7C is an image in which the green channel is subtracted from the red channel. It may be seen that the blood vessels are visible in white. (An image with the red channel subtracted from the green channel would have shown the blood vessels as dark.) To improve the visibility even further, the gain of the red and green channels may be adjusted before subtraction.
  • a light source with a narrower colour spectrum may be used to improve the visibility even further.
  • monochrome light in the green part of the visible spectrum would be suitable.
  • the ear 6 is also illuminated with light 2b (figures 4 and 5) impinging on the same side as the image sensor 9, such that reflected light is captured in an image.
  • This image will predominantly contain information about an area on and close to the surface on which the light is reflected, for example artifacts produced by dark hairs and skin pigmentation.
  • the correct exposure values should be set for each exposure. Since a typical ear is not rectangular like a conventional light sensor, an area of the image is typically not covered by the ear, but empty and letting through all the light or reflecting no light. In one embodiment a first exposure is made and the edge structure of the ear is detected. Then the overexposed area outside the ear is ignored and correct exposure values are set on the basis of the actual ear surface.
  • the edge structure is also useful in the identification process.
  • the edge structure by itself is an identification parameter. Thus, a number of images may be excluded from the blood vessel image analysis on the basis of the edge structure.
  • the edge structure may also be used to adjust the rotation of the image relative to the images stored in the database 13.
  • the edge structure also contains information about suitable areas containing identifiable blood vessels, as the blood vessel structure typically is too fine with no discernible veins and arteries close to the edge of the ear. These sorting methods reduce the amount of data that must be processed.
  • Figure 8 shows a cross section part of an ear 6 with a blood vessel 8, and an object such as a dark hair 16 or the like located in the air.
  • a diagram of the light intensity is shown to the right.
  • the object located in the air produces a sharp shadow (high derivatives)
  • the blood vessel 8 located in the ear tissue produces a more blurred or softer shadow.
  • Dark objects enclosed in tissue cannot produce the same intensity variation as dark objects in non-spreading media (air).
  • areas with sharp shadows may be deselected because the area lying behind is probably shadowed by an object not relevant to the identification.
  • the present invention also provides an ear sensor processing system designed to process an image of visible blood vessels of an ear of an individual.
  • the ear sensor processing system comprises
  • the present invention also provides a method for identification of an individual and particular an individual laboratory animal in medical testing, the method comprising:
  • the present invention also provides software and an algorithm which can extract and identify unique structures of a blood vessel pattern of an animal's ear, the algorithm featuring the elements:
  • the structure may be a vein pattern, an arterial pattern or a combined vein/arterial blood vessel pattern of the animal's ear.
  • the disclosed method can be used in identifying changes in the blood vessel pattern in a laboratory animal in connection with medical treatment.
  • the apparatus, methods and animal ear image processing system thus have many advantages in relation to described prior art presented above.
  • the method is non- invasive, fast and simple and gives an accurate identification of the laboratory animal in the group. In contrast to implants and ear clip, it does not hurt the laboratory animal.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Image Analysis (AREA)
  • Measurement Of The Respiration, Hearing Ability, Form, And Blood Characteristics Of Living Organisms (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un appareil de capture d'image d'oreille d'animal (1), un système de traitement d'image et un procédé destiné à l'identification d'un animal de laboratoire individuel dans un test médical. Le système de traitement d'image d'oreille d'animal comprend un capteur d'oreille (9) destiné à capturer une image des vaisseaux sanguins apparaissant dans une oreille de l'animal et une unité électronique destinée à récupérer l'image et à la transformer en une représentation d'image consultable. L'invention concerne également un logiciel comprenant des algorithmes utilisés pour identifier l'organisation des vaisseaux sanguins de l'oreille de l'animal et pour identifier l'animal individuel.
PCT/EP2005/057134 2004-12-22 2005-12-22 Identification biometrique d'animaux de laboratoire WO2006067226A2 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US59321404P 2004-12-22 2004-12-22
US60/593,214 2004-12-22

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2006067226A2 true WO2006067226A2 (fr) 2006-06-29
WO2006067226A3 WO2006067226A3 (fr) 2006-09-21

Family

ID=35965937

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/EP2005/057134 WO2006067226A2 (fr) 2004-12-22 2005-12-22 Identification biometrique d'animaux de laboratoire

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2006067226A2 (fr)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2169612A4 (fr) * 2007-07-20 2015-05-06 Sony Corp Dispositif d'authentification par les veines, dispositif d'imagerie d'authentification par les veines et procédé d'éclairage de veines
KR102028049B1 (ko) * 2018-04-09 2019-10-02 김봉균 동물 귀 정맥을 이용한 동물의 인증 방법
US10474791B2 (en) 2016-09-22 2019-11-12 Acumen Detection, Inc. Methods and systems for biometric identification of dairy animals using vein pattern recognition

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4109237A (en) * 1977-01-17 1978-08-22 Hill Robert B Apparatus and method for identifying individuals through their retinal vasculature patterns
DE4421237A1 (de) * 1993-06-17 1994-12-22 Asahi Optical Co Ltd Identifikationssystem
EP1187055A2 (fr) * 2000-09-06 2002-03-13 Hitachi, Ltd. Appareil et méthode d'identification personnelle
US20030016345A1 (en) * 2001-07-19 2003-01-23 Akio Nagasaka Finger identification apparatus
WO2003030075A1 (fr) * 2001-10-03 2003-04-10 Retinalyze Danmark A/S Detection de papille optique dans une image de fond d'oeil
US20040052406A1 (en) * 1997-11-20 2004-03-18 Brooks Juliana H. J. Method and system for biometric recognition using unique internal distinguishing characteristics
US20040202354A1 (en) * 2003-04-10 2004-10-14 Olympus Corporation Imaging system, and identity authentication system incorporating the same

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4109237A (en) * 1977-01-17 1978-08-22 Hill Robert B Apparatus and method for identifying individuals through their retinal vasculature patterns
DE4421237A1 (de) * 1993-06-17 1994-12-22 Asahi Optical Co Ltd Identifikationssystem
US20040052406A1 (en) * 1997-11-20 2004-03-18 Brooks Juliana H. J. Method and system for biometric recognition using unique internal distinguishing characteristics
EP1187055A2 (fr) * 2000-09-06 2002-03-13 Hitachi, Ltd. Appareil et méthode d'identification personnelle
US20030016345A1 (en) * 2001-07-19 2003-01-23 Akio Nagasaka Finger identification apparatus
WO2003030075A1 (fr) * 2001-10-03 2003-04-10 Retinalyze Danmark A/S Detection de papille optique dans une image de fond d'oeil
US20040202354A1 (en) * 2003-04-10 2004-10-14 Olympus Corporation Imaging system, and identity authentication system incorporating the same

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2169612A4 (fr) * 2007-07-20 2015-05-06 Sony Corp Dispositif d'authentification par les veines, dispositif d'imagerie d'authentification par les veines et procédé d'éclairage de veines
US10474791B2 (en) 2016-09-22 2019-11-12 Acumen Detection, Inc. Methods and systems for biometric identification of dairy animals using vein pattern recognition
KR102028049B1 (ko) * 2018-04-09 2019-10-02 김봉균 동물 귀 정맥을 이용한 동물의 인증 방법
WO2019198867A1 (fr) * 2018-04-09 2019-10-17 김봉균 Procédé d'authentification d'animal à l'aide d'une veine d'oreille d'animal

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2006067226A3 (fr) 2006-09-21

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
JP3436293B2 (ja) 動物の個体識別装置及び個体識別システム
Wang et al. Infrared imaging of hand vein patterns for biometric purposes
JP4407714B2 (ja) 生体認証装置及び生体認証方法
JP6466920B2 (ja) 動物たちの鼻柄を用いた動物個体認識装置及び方法
JPH0721373A (ja) 個人識別装置
US7254255B2 (en) Biometric sensor apparatus and methods
Cross et al. Thermographic imaging of the subcutaneous vascular network of the back of the hand for biometric identification
US6816605B2 (en) Methods and systems for biometric identification of individuals using linear optical spectroscopy
CA2856932C (fr) Dispositifs et procedes pour identifier et surveiller les changements intervenant dans une region suspecte d'un patient
US9292916B2 (en) Methods and systems for estimating genetic characteristics from biometric measurements
EP2442274B1 (fr) Dispositif de détermination, dispositif d'entrée d'empreinte, procédé de détermination et programme de détermination
JP4020251B2 (ja) 光波分光学を使用する個体の生体測定的な識別または照合の装置および方法
US8315440B2 (en) System and method for animal identification using iris images
US20110218428A1 (en) System and Method for Three Dimensional Medical Imaging with Structured Light
KR101433882B1 (ko) 생체계측 센서
CN101116087B (zh) 光散斑样式勘查
US10156518B2 (en) Image analysis apparatus, imaging system, surgery support system, image analysis method, and storage medium
Yu et al. Contrast enhanced subsurface fingerprint detection using high-speed optical coherence tomography
JP5556663B2 (ja) 照合装置、照合方法、及びプログラム
KR101494638B1 (ko) 반사 스펙트럼 추정을 이용하여 생체 내의 혈관을 영상화하는 방법, 그 방법을 이용한 혈관천자 안내 장치 및 사용자 인증 장치
WO2006067226A2 (fr) Identification biometrique d'animaux de laboratoire
KR20170093450A (ko) 다중 광원을 이용한 표면측정장치 및 표면측정방법
RU2309672C2 (ru) Способ распознавания принадлежности отпечатка пальца живому или неживому человеку
JP3045129B2 (ja) 動物の個体識別装置
US20190362062A1 (en) Biometric authentication apparatus and biometric authentication method

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AK Designated states

Kind code of ref document: A2

Designated state(s): AE AG AL AM AT AU AZ BA BB BG BR BW BY BZ CA CH CN CO CR CU CZ DE DK DM DZ EC EE EG ES FI GB GD GE GH GM HR HU ID IL IN IS JP KE KG KM KN KP KR KZ LC LK LR LS LT LU LV LY MA MD MG MK MN MW MX MZ NA NG NI NO NZ OM PG PH PL PT RO RU SC SD SE SG SK SL SM SY TJ TM TN TR TT TZ UA UG US UZ VC VN YU ZA ZM ZW

AL Designated countries for regional patents

Kind code of ref document: A2

Designated state(s): GM KE LS MW MZ NA SD SL SZ TZ UG ZM ZW AM AZ BY KG KZ MD RU TJ TM AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IS IT LT LU LV MC NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR BF BJ CF CG CI CM GA GN GQ GW ML MR NE SN TD TG

121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application
NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: DE

32PN Ep: public notification in the ep bulletin as address of the adressee cannot be established

Free format text: NOTING OF LOSS OF RIGHTS PURSUANT TO RULE 112(1) EPC

122 Ep: pct application non-entry in european phase

Ref document number: 05823763

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A2