Abstract: Fingerprint recognition is one of the most popular methods for biometric authentication. In the process of rc cognition, the ridge orientation estimation is the most important step, since it serves for segmentation, enhancement, mi- nutiae extraction and matching. We proposed a method for orientation estimation based on morphological operation to regulate the orientation field. The experience shows that this method can correctly and robustly estimate the fingerprint orientation field for low cauality images, especially for those with creases.

Key words: I3iometric authentication, Fingerprint recognition, Orientation estimation, Morphological operation, Crease