Patent ID: 8768014

Claim:
A method for obtaining an identification characteristic for a subject comprising: acquiring an image of an eye of a subject with a digital camera; segmenting the eye image into different regions with a digital image processor; extracting features in a sclera region segmented from the eye image with the digital image processor, the extraction comprising: generating with the digital image processor a linear representation of at least one vein in the sclera region segmented from the eye image, the linear representation including a plurality of line segments that correspond to the at least one vein; generating data identifying at least one feature extracted from the sclera region of the eye image with the digital image processor, the generation comprising: identifying with the digital image processor data corresponding to a center and angle of each line segment in the plurality of line segments with reference to a center of a pupil in the eye image; and storing the data identifying the at least one feature in a database with the digital image processor.