Patent ID: 7181048

Claim:
For use with a general purpose digital imaging device comprising a housing, a lens for imaging data, an image acquisition array configured to electronically capture said imaged data, a digital processor to transform said captured data into a predetermined image format, an electricity source configured to power said sensor and said digital processor, and an interface to output said captured data, an improvement comprising a biometric capture adapter including: (a) a coupler for attachment to said digital imaging device; (b) a receptacle configured to receive a body part having a biometric characteristic of interest; and (c) one or more optical components: (i) oriented with respect to said lens in a manner designed to acquire and scale said biometric characteristic to a predetermined size; (ii) said predetermined size being a function of (A) a size of said array and (B) an imaging capability of said lens; and (d) a structural housing connected to said coupler and at least one of said optical components; said biometric capture adapter, upon coupling to said general purpose digital imaging device, thereby converting said general purpose digital imaging device into a biometric scanner.