Ultra-Scan Corporation > About Us

As a high technology company at the forefront of biometric system design, Ultra-Scan regularly competes for Department of Defense and US Government contracts that provide the opportunity to leverage the superior accuracy of our robust technology and our highly specialized experience in biometric system design to solve critical, contemporary civilian and military identity management issues. Many current high profile biometric opportunities are originating from the US Army's Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, but exciting work is underway with other agencies as well, including the Biometrics Task Force, National Institute of Justice and the National Institute of Health.

Contract Award Date: 08/31/10
Originating Agency: US Army CECOM
Contract Name: Applying Advances in Biometric Fusion to Contextual Data -- SBIR Phase I
Project Abstract: The use of contextual information is often a weak, error prone and labor intensive method of identifying and tracking Persons of Interest (POI). Ultra-Scan’s Phase I work successfully applied Neyman-Pearson fusion to weak contextual data, resulting in a powerful new algorithm that fuses discrete contextual data with biometrics in order to significantly improve system accuracy. Ultra-Scan’s algorithm actually increases performance as more weak data is fused. As a result of the Phase I effort, Ultra-Scan has established a solid foundation for the Phase II goal of developing a framework and methods for improving profile information and POI tracking, as well as constructing a prototype system to establish proof-of-concept. Upon completion of the proposed Phase II effort, Ultra-Scan expects to deliver a prototype Interoperable Contextual Fusion Platform that will:

§ Refine the company’s contextual fusion algorithm
§ Advance the fusion of contextual and biometric data for improved system accuracy
§ Create an automated, intuitive and customizable contextual mapping interface
§ Significantly improve the profiling of POIs for ID and tracking across disparate databases

The Interoperable Contextual Fusion Platform developed through this effort to better track and identify Persons of Interest has excellent potential to be commercially successful in numerous applications including: large scale government funded IdM programs (US-VISIT, ICE, BEST, DCGS-A); regional and local law enforcement; international border and traveler monitoring systems; and corporate virtualization security & compliance.

Contract Award Date: 11/24/09
Originating Agency: US Army CECOM
Contract Name: Applying Advances in Biometric Fusion to Contextual Data -- SBIR Phase I
Project Abstract: The use of contextual information is often a weak, error prone and labor intensive method of identifying and tracking Persons of Interest. Using the Neyman-Pearson Lemma, Ultra-Scan will fuse large numbers of historically weak contextual data fields to create accurate, high value identity information. The technical objective is to identify independent or weakly correlated contextual fields that can be treated as a score-based recognition system suitable for the Neyman-Pearson test, and which can then be used to significantly improve overall identification system performance. Phase I will research a large number of contextual personal identifiers that create an accurate form of personal identification when fused. The effort will create an ideal platform from which to implement a series of steps involving analysis, data modeling, estimation and software simulation to establish, with mathematical certainty, the ability to fuse large numbers of contextual fields to create a reliable form of identification.

Contract Award Date: 7/23/08
Originating Agency: Biometrics Task Force (BTF)/Director, Defense Research & Engineering
Contract Name: Interoperable Biometric Fusion Platform
Project Abstract: The growth of the biometric industry has not lived up to expectations and adoption by customers has been slow as the industry continues to wait for a superior solution to emerge. No single biometric technology can satisfy all requirements for all applications. Without utilizing the unique advantages associated with the combining of biometrics from multiple systems, improved performance cannot be realized. To take advantage of capabilities from multiple biometric systems and fuse their outputs to create a more accurate system, there are several critical technical questions that must be addressed:

1.) FUSION - How should the data be fused?
2.) DATA MODELING - Is it possible to model the marginal density functions of biometric systems, including the extreme tails of the distribution, in order to accurately predict system performance?
3.) IMPLEMENTATION - Is it possible to eliminate the need to store the joint density function for correlated biometrics and thus defeat the "Curse of Dimensionality"?
4.) INTEROPERABILITY - Is it possible to work on output data alone, without the need to modify existing biometric algorithms or share the raw biometric data?

Based on extensive internally funded research as well as Army Research Office funding, Ultra-Scan developed and patented a variety of solutions that directly address the issues of fusion, data modeling, and the "Curse of Dimensionality". These research results have been integrated into Ultra-Scan's multimodal identification software suite. Under the proposed initiative, the Company will further test and validate this software suite under real-world operating conditions, focusing on two key areas:

-- Very Large Database Operation - characterizing the system for use with very large and disparate databases, and
-- Interoperability - Use with multiple systems without the need to share raw data.

Upon successful project completion, a multimodal biometric fusion platform will be tested that will obtain performance measurements between (simulated) systems without the need to share raw data. The interoperable fusion platform will be able to treat both correlated and non-correlated biometrics equally well and thus serve as a mechanism where multiple biometric systems for the same biometric measurement can be combined (i.e. the fingerprint output from the FBI's NGI database could be combined with the fingerprint output from the DOD ABIS, etc). In this manner, the fusion platform will serve to enhance the accuracy of multimodal systems, facilitate best-of-breed biometric solutions, and advance the industry's understanding of biometric recognition technology. The tested interoperable biometric fusion platform could be transitioned to large-scale security programs which all have a need for high-performance, vendor-neutral biometric fusion solutions.

Contract Award Date: 9/15/07
Originating Agency: US Army/Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)
Contract Name: Tactical Biometric Registration and Recognition Suite -- SBIR Phase II
Project Abstract: Recent evidence has demonstrated that biometric image quality is one of the top variables affecting system accuracy, having a strong influence on performance parameters such as False Rejection Rates (FRR) and False Accept Rates (FAR). Poor image quality causes biometric matching errors, and ultimately, system weakness and vulnerability to exploitation and fraud.  As a result of the correlation between image quality and biometric performance, there exists security vulnerability in applications relying on biometrics for mission-critical identification such as those protecting the nation’s ports and borders (e.g. US-VISIT, FBI’s NGI, etc.). In fact, government agencies such as the DHS, FBI, Department of State, NIJ, DoD Biometric Fusion Center, and NIST have jointly identified an urgent near-term demand for faster, smaller, more mobile ten fingerprint capture devices to meet critical national security needs.  In response to this demand and SOCOM operational requirements, Ultra-Scan Corporation will develop a high performance ultrasonic fingerprint scanner targeted to the needs of government and security markets.

The proposed development effort will result in a prototype of the industry’s first ultrasonic 4-4-2 slap and rolled impression fingerprint scanner, offering superior image quality, 93% reduction in size, and 86% reduction in weight as compared to existing optical solutions on the market today.  The total capture device will measure approximately 3.5’’ by 4.0’’ by 0.75’’, have a weight of 10 ounces, and an active scan area of 3’’ by 4’’. Image quality will be compliant with FBI/NIST Appendix F requirements with 500 PPI standard resolution and future options to migrate to 1000 PPI resolution. Image quality will be unaffected by ambient light, glare, noise, finger or platen contamination, ghost or latent images regardless of age group, nationality, or occupation. Capture time will be less than 200 milliseconds, operational between -40 degrees F to +140 degrees F with a standard USB 2.0 interface.

Contract Award Date: 6/12/07
Originating Agency: National Institute of Health/Centers for Disease Control
Contract Name: A Fingertip Scanning System for Biological Research -- SBIR Phase II
Project Abstract: There is an expanding body of knowledge linking growth patterns, at the pre-birth and post-birth childhood developmental stages, to serious chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular illness. In order to fully explore and understand the potential correlation between growth and chronic disease, enhanced technology able to scan and analyze fingertip ridge counts is required. Currently lacking on the market, such a system has broad implications for the advancement of public health and policy. Ultra-Scan Corporation has successfully completed a Phase I effort, resulting in the development of a novel dermatoglyphic software research tool which incorporates an automatic pattern classification function and enables researchers to analyze a variety of pre-existing electronic fingertip data through seamless integration to standard statistical software. Under the proposed Phase II project, Ultra-Scan aims to develop the industry’s first application-specific ultrasonic fingertip scanning system, which will facilitate inexpensive and portable data collection and serve to automate data storage and analysis. Building upon previous R&D results and in-house imaging expertise, Ultra-Scan will develop a complete design specification and prototype the fingertip scanner system which will incorporate Phase I software, a mobile PC, and a 4-4-2 rolled impression fingertip reader for on-site field or data collection.

Contract Award Date: 1/5/07
Originating Agency: US Army
Contract Name: Soldier-Borne Biometric Authentication System -- SBIR Phase II
Project Abstract: Ultra-Scan proposes to develop a soldier-borne bioassurance system that facilitates identity and liveness sensing through ultra low cost instrumentation. The new technology will result in a disposable, physically small, low power, high accuracy bioassurance patch capable of deployment for the Army’s Future Force Warrior. It will enable persistent authentication of the soldier’s identity to the wearable computer system without requiring any unique actions outside of normal mission requirements. Real-time continuous liveness testing and operation regardless of whether the soldier is equipped with nuclear, biological, or chemical protective equipment will be part of the basic operational requirements of the system which will provide full transparency. Combining this low cost bioassurance technology and activating it through the use of a highly accurate traditional multimodal biometric system already developed and successfully commercialized by Ultra-Scan for the Army will result in a system with significant reductions to false match and false non-match occurrences. Evaluation will be performed under conditions representative of combat, with harsh environmental conditions. This will result in the full development and delivery to the Army, a complete turnkey bioassurance system with all necessary hardware, software, and a soldier-worn computer simulator for training and demonstration, ready for seamless system integration and deployment.

Contract Award Date: 9/8/2006
Originating Agency: US Army/Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)
Contract Name: Tactical Biometric Registration and Recognition Suite -- SBIR Phase I
Project Abstract: The ability to positively identify individuals and exchange standardized information between disparate databases is critical to the success of the Global War on Terror. In response to this need, Ultra-Scan Corporation proposes to develop a rugged, one-man portable multimodal biometric solution offering reliability, high performance, and standardized data outputs for use in any operational environment under extreme temperatures and heavy moisture. Ultra-Scan will leverage prior multimodal experience and developments to achieve the functional design of a tactical biometric registration and recognition suite which will incorporate voice print, facial, rolled fingerprint, and iris biometric technologies. Over a six month work period, Ultra-Scan will perform an industry survey and evaluation of available COTS and deliver the design for hardware, software, and packaging components. Additionally, Ultra-Scan proposes to use our proprietary Automated Multimodal Biometric Identification System (AMBIS) for testing purposes, which will predict actual performance when deployed with the Department of Defense ABIS.

Contract Award Date: 4/28/06
Originating Agency: National Institute of Health/Centers for Disease Control
Contract Name: Dermatoglyphic Research Tool for Enhanced Ridge Count -- SBIR Phase I
Project Abstract: Ultra-Scan proposes to develop a high quality software tool specifically for fingerprint pattern analysis by dermatoglyphic researchers. In doing so, the Company will fill a technology gap which exists and further the science of medical and anthropological dermatoglyphics. The proposed project will focus on software design and development that will enable researchers to analyze a variety of outputs previously not possible, such as fingerprint pattern classifications, ridge count and frequency, as well as core and delta locations.   Ultra-Scan will develop the system through the augmentation of Ultra-Scan's current Feature Extractor, the development of ridge count analysis tools, and system performance testing against the Company's database of NIST fingerprint images. Experience developing intuitive, user-friendly Graphical User Interfaces and image quality assessment tools will be leveraged to deliver a system which will provide high quality, accuracy, and require no operator training. This proposed research is expected to be the industry's first ridge count analysis tool suitable for dermatoglyphic research applications, spurring medical and anthropological research. The ridge count analysis tool will allow for further investigation into the documented correlation between many congenital anomalies and dermatoglyphics, possibly leading to the widespread use of fingerprint study in the field of medical diagnostics and anthropological study.

Contract Award Date: 12/15/05
Originating Agency: US Army
Contract Name: Soldier-Borne Biometric Authentication System -- SBIR Phase I
Project Abstract: This project focuses on the development of a soldier-borne biometric authentication system that facilitates sensing through ultra low cost instrumentation. The new technology will result in a disposable, physically small, low power, highly accurate and rugged “biometric assurance” sensor capable of deployment for the Army’s Future Force Warrior. It will enable persistent authentication of the soldier’s identity to the soldier-borne computer system, without requiring the soldier to perform unique actions outside of normal mission requirements. Real-time continuous liveness testing and operation regardless of whether the soldier is equipped with nuclear, biological, or chemical protective equipment will be part of the basic operational requirements for the system. Combining this low cost biometric technology and “enabling” it through the use of a highly accurate biometric measurement already developed by the United States Army, will result in a multimodal system with significant reductions to false match and false non-match occurrences. Laboratory experimentation associated with methods of persistent authentication and liveness testing will be conducted, along with the development of the necessary system architecture on how this technology should be integrated to prevent attacks or breaches of security to a node on the tactical Future Force network.

Contract Award Date: 9/28/05
Originating Agency: US Army
Contract Name: High Confidence Multimodal Biometric System -- STTR Phase II
Project Abstract: The development of a rapid and accurate personal identification system improves our nation’s capability in identifying potential terrorists and provides the most reliable means for securing government or private industry’s confidential or classified secrets. However, single biometric based applications have not been widely deployed due to the variation in accuracy and their inability to prevent fraudulent attacks on the system. An Automated Multimodal Biometric Identification System (AMBIS) along with a multimodal biometric based Identity Management Portal will be developed under this initiative, tunable to enable rapid and much more accurate identification of individuals in two typical operations: high volume low security identification and verification and high security low volume identification and verification. The system will use four of the most accurate individual biometric technologies available today including: ultrasonic fingerprint identification; iris recognition; facial imaging; and signature. An Identity Management Portal will be developed that provides a superior methodology for improving biometric data capture. The captured biometric data will then be processed using an automatic multimodal biometric identification system where the output data from each biometric source will be fused to provide a highly accurate decision.

Contract Award Date: 9/21/05
Originating Agency: National Institute of Justice
Contract Name: Quantifying the Dermatoglyphic Growth Patterns in Children Through Adolescence
Project Abstract: Ultra-Scan Corporation, a pioneer in the use of ultrasound for livescan fingerprint imaging with over 15 years experience in researching, commercializing, integrating, and deploying fingerprint identification systems, proposes to contribute to the scientific body of friction ridge structure knowledge. To date, this body of knowledge does not provide scientific understanding regarding the growth pattern of fingerprints to enable the positive identification of children over a period of several years. Ultra-Scan will develop a predictive model that is a 2-way mapping (from younger to older and older to younger) of the minutiae location, both spatial and orientation, of two sets of fingerprints captured at different points in time. The predictive model will be based on a control group of several hundred children ranging from age 2 to 18, repeatedly imaging their fingerprint ridge structure over the course of five years. The establishment of a 2-way fingerprint predictive growth model will assist latent examiners in the identification of young children, improve the accuracy of automated latent search engines, and expand the scientific body of knowledge regarding fingerprint patterns. Ultra-Scan will disseminate the resulting data analysis to the broader forensic science community in addition to the NIJ, through peer review publications and technical presentations. Ultra-Scan will leverage expertise and existing equipment to deliver statistically significant findings at minimal cost.

Contract Award Date: 7/14/04
Originating Agency: US Army
Contract Name: High Confidence Multimodal Biometric System -- STTR Phase I
Project Abstract: Rapid and accurate identification of all individuals has been the goal of the biometric industry for many years. Unfortunately, due to limitations in technology and variations in the biometric itself, no one biometric imaging modality has been able to satisfy the performance requirements of most large scale identity management applications. This research addresses the fundamental hypothesis of whether two or more biometric systems can be combined to deliver improved performance over a single biometric system. This work will develop the scientific testing methodology to combine multiple biometric measurements in order to achieve superior performance over a single biometric system. A general purpose biometric testing tool will be developed that will accept enrollment and inquiry data from multiple biometric imaging systems and generate the corresponding ROC performance curves. Upon successful completion of this initiative, system performance requirements can be presented in the form of Pfm, Pfnm, and throughput, and a metric driven approach taken to determine if those requirements are in fact, achievable. The system designer can then ascertain what types of biometric technology would be required to achieve the desired performance, and how the individual biometric technologies should be combined to meet the stated goal.

Contract Award Date: 11/13/02
Originating Agency: US Army
Contract Name: Military Grade, Field Deployable Simultaneous Dual-Fingerprint Biometric Identification System -- SBIR Phase II
Project Abstract: Ultra-Scan will develop prototype simultaneous two-finger ultrasonic fingerprint identification systems. Beta testing will be conducted and Independent Verification and Validation of the system performance will be measured using Fast Track and Phase II matching funds. The Company with their extensive portfolio of patents in this field makes them uniquely qualified to perform this work and to commercialize upon its results.

Contract Award Date: 1/14/02
Originating Agency: US Army
Contract Name: Military Grade, Field Deployable Simultaneous Dual-Fingerprint Biometric Identification System -- SBIR Phase I
Project Abstract: Ultrasound is a preferred modality for live-scan fingerprint imaging because of the superior image quality it produces (i.e. Modulation Transfer Function) that is unaffected by environmental and situational threats that affect other fingerprint sensors. Recent advancements in ultrasonic fingerprint technology indicate that significant improvements in accuracy (multiple orders of magnitude) can be achieved using an innovative solution pioneered by Ultra-Scan Corporation. The development of a large scan aperture ultrasonic fingerprint sensor provides unique three dimensional biometric data not offered by other biometric sensors. This, along with the application of a novel three-dimensional, non-linear biometric fusion algorithm will result in a next generation system with accuracies that far exceed the current state of the industry. This level of accuracy, coupled with ultrasound’s inherent insensitivity to contamination, makes it ideally suited for tactical military deployment where the environmental conditions vary tremendously.

Contract Award Date: 9/29/01
Originating Agency: US Department of Justice (Drug Enforcement Agency)
Contract Name: Livescan Ultrasonic Identification System (LUIS)
Project Abstract: The proposed R&D initiative is to develop a Live-Scan Ultrasonic Imaging System that will be an improved method of digitally recording the ridge detail from the fingers and palmar side of the hand. The initiative, when complete, will result in an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner that can interface to a modestly configured desktop PC through a USB or other standard communication link. The scanner will have a number of placement guides to support the plain and slap print functionality of the scanner to assist the operator and user in the proper placement of the individual thumbs, 4-finger slaps, whole hand placement, and side of palm placement.

Since launching its portfolio of revolutionary ultrasonic fingerprint identification products, Ultra-Scan and Ultra-Scan employees have received a number of significant awards for contributions to technology, entrepreneurship and product development.

2010 - Ultra-Scan Corporation

2010 Western New York Inventor of the Year Awards
35th Annual Niagara Frontier Intellectual Property Law Association Awards
First Place in the Small Business/Independent Inventor category and overall Inventor of the Year Award winner

2009 - Ultra-Scan Corporation

2009 Western New York Inventor of the Year Awards
34th Annual Niagara Frontier Intellectual Property Law Association Awards
First Place in the Small Business/Independent Inventor category

2007 - Ultra-Scan Corporation

2007 Tibbetts Award
Named for Roland Tibbetts, the person acknowledged as the father of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, these prestigious, national awards are made annually to those small firms, projects, organizations and individuals judged to exemplfy the very best in SBIR achievement.

2004 – Ultra-Scan Corporation

BiometriTech Product of the Year
The Model 903 Biometric Desktop Enrollment Station is selected as a BiometriTech product of the year