Automatic Identification of Ear Patterns Based on Convolutional Neural Network

Biometrics represent the most practical method for swiftly and reliably verifying and identifying individuals based on their unique biological traits. This study addresses the increasing demand for dependable biometric identification systems by introducing an efficient approach to automatically recognize ear patterns using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs). Despite the widespread adoption of facial recognition technologies, the distinct features and consistency inherent in ear patterns provide a compelling alternative for biometric applications. Employing CNNs in our research automates the identification process, enhancing accuracy and adaptability across various ear shapes and orientations. The ear, being visible and easily captured in an image, possesses the unique characteristic that no two individuals share the same ear patterns. Consequently, our research proposes a system for individual identification based on ear traits, comprising three main stages: (1) pre-processing to extract the ear pattern (region of interest) from input images, (2) feature extraction, and (3) classification. Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is employed for the feature extraction and classification tasks. The system remains invariant to scaling, brightness, and rotation. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system achieved an accuracy of 99.86% for all datasets.