title: Personal Authentication Analysis Using Finger-Vein Patterns in Patients with Connective Tissue Diseases--Possible Association with Vascular Disease and Seasonal Change.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine how connective tissue diseases affect finger-vein pattern authentication.
  
  
  METHODS
  The finger-vein patterns of 68 patients with connective tissue diseases and 24 healthy volunteers were acquired. Captured as CCD (charge-coupled device) images by transmitting near-infrared light through fingers, they were followed up in once in each season for one year. The similarity of the follow-up patterns and the initial one was evaluated in terms of their normalized cross-correlation C.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean C values calculated for patients tended to be lower than those calculated for healthy volunteers. In midwinter (February in Japan) they showed statistically significant reduction both as compared with patients in other seasons and as compared with season-matched healthy controls, whereas the values calculated for healthy controls showed no significant seasonal changes. Values calculated for patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) or mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) showed major reductions in November and, especially, February. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and patients with dermatomyositis or polymyositis (DM/PM) did not show statistically significant seasonal changes in C values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Finger-vein patterns can be used throughout the year to identify patients with connective tissue diseases, but some attention is needed for patients with advanced disease such as SSc.
authors.affiliation: Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi Ltd., Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Miyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kono
authors.affiliation: Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi Ltd., Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohmura
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshifuji
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoichiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yukawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Imura
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan.
authors.forename: Takaharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai-shi, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Shin-ichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Umemura
authors.affiliation: Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi Ltd., Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyatake
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsuneyo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mimori
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003240:Connective Tissue Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D005385:Fingers / Q000098:blood supply*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D011996:Records; D012621:Seasons; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared / Q000295:instrumentation; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D014680:Veins / Q000473:pathology*