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Article: Retina and Iris Scans
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, andSecurity
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Retina and Iris Scans
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AGNIESZKA LICHANSKA
The retina is the neural part of the eye responsible for vision and the pattern of blood vessels serving the retina is as unique as a fingerprint.
The technology that scans the retina is known as retinal scanning. The true target for the scan is the capillary pattern in the retina. The process relies on generating images of the retina using a low-intensity light source. In the 1930s retinal capillary patterns were suggested to be unique, but the technology used to exploit this information was developed much later. Although military and high-security use of photographic retinal scans began decades earlier, by 1985, retinal scan ...