Method of generating a normalized digital image of an iris of an eye

1. A method of generating a normalized digital image of an iris of an eye for the purpose of creating an iris code for identification of vertebrates, including humans, the method comprising the steps of:

capturing one or more digital images of the eye with a camera;

constructing a plurality of imaginary outer iris boundaries in the one or more digital images, based on a known dimension of the outer iris boundary of the eye of a given species of vertebrates; and

using said imaginary boundaries for transforming the one or more digital images into a plurality of normalized iris image that are insensitive to variations in a dimension of a pupil of the eye.

2. The method according to claim 1 , for an eye having an elongated pupil, wherein each imaginary outer iris boundary is constructed by first erecting non-intersecting spokes on a boundary of the pupil, each spoke being normal to the boundary of the pupil, and then connecting outer end points of the spokes, wherein all the spokes have the same length and this length is calculated by:

setting a fixed number that represents, for a given species of vertebrates, a known standard dimension of the outer boundary of the iris in a first direction normal to a second direction of largest elongation of the pupil,

subtracting the dimension of the boundary of the pupil region in said first direction from said fixed number, and

dividing the difference by two.

3. The method according to claim 1 , for an eye having an elongated pupil, wherein each outer boundary of the iris is constructed by placing an oval with a fixed shape and a fixed size into the image such that the oval is centered on the pupil area and has a large axis coinciding with the direction of largest elongation of the pupil.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the construction of the imaginary outer iris boundaries in the one or more digital images is preceded by:

determining a camera-to-eye distance at the moment of image capture;

scaling the digital image to a standard camera-to-eye distance;

wherein the construction of the boundaries is done using the scaled digital image.

5. A method of identifying an individual by checking a plurality of pairs of iris codes, each pair including a sample iris code of an eye of said individual and a reference iris code, wherein said sample and reference iris codes are created from normalized images obtained with the method according to claim 1 and comprise at least two sample iris codes for which different imaginary outer iris boundaries have been used for forming the normalized iris images, and wherein the individual is determined to be identified when said check results in at least one pair of matching codes.

6. A method of identifying an individual by checking a plurality of pairs of iris codes, each pair including a sample iris code of an eye of said individual and a reference iris code, wherein said sample and reference iris codes are created from normalized images obtained with the method according to claim 1 and comprise at least two reference iris codes for which different imaginary outer iris boundaries have been used for forming the normalized iris images, and wherein the individual is determined to be identified when said check results in at least one pair of matching codes.

7. A data record stored on a machine readable data carrier, said data record including a binary iris code created from a normalized image obtained with the method according to claim 1 .

8. The data record according to claim 7 , including a plurality of binary iris codes for the same eye, said codes being obtained from normalized iris images that have been generated which different imaginary outer iris boundaries.

9. An iris code generation kit comprising a camera and software and hardware suitable for carrying out the method according to claim 1 .

10. An identification system for identifying vertebrates, including humans, on the basis of an iris code match, comprising at least one iris code generation kit according to claim 9 and a database storing data records according to claim 7 or 8 .