Utilizing characteristic electrical properties of the epidermal skin layers to detect fake fingers in biometric fingerprint systems--a pilot study.

Electronic fingerprint systems are now gaining acceptance in mainstream consumer applications worldwide. It has been shown, however, that about 80% of these systems are easily fooled with different kinds of fake fingers with imprinted patterns. Hence, a live finger detection mechanism will be a crucial part of any fingerprint system used in security applications. We present such a system based on measurement of electrical characteristics of different layers of the skin.