THREE DIMENSIONAL MINUTIAE EXTRACTION IN THREE DIMENSIONAL SCANS

A system and method extract a plurality of three dimensional identification minutiae from a three dimensional image of a biometric identification feature. The extracted three dimensional identification minutiae from the three dimensional image may be compared to one or more sets of three dimensional identification minutiae to determine an identification and/or confirm an identification. In a preferred embodiment, the system and method extract three dimensional identification minutiae from a three dimensional image of a fingerprint, and compare the extracted three dimensional identification minutiae from the fingerprint to one or more sets of three dimensional identification minutiae associated with previously classified fingerprints to determine and/or confirm an identification.