LOS ANGELES--In Memphis, Tenn., a small medical supply company called Luminetx has developed a new method of palm-reading that it hopes will rival fingerprinting or retinal scans as a way to perfectly identify individuals.

The technology is based on an infrared scan of the blood cells running through veins, which is then analyzed by a computer.

Luminetx originally developed the technique as a way to help doctors and nurses find veins in patients needing injections. But now, through a new division called Snowflake Technologies, the company is marketing it to banks, credit card companies and even homeland-security officials as a high-tech biometric identification tool.

"Our vein structures are completely different, especially when you look at the palm," said Luminetx Chief Executive Officer Jim Phillips, speaking at The Entertainment Gathering conference here on Wednesday. "In a way, it's like looking at a bar code. We convert your veins to a bar code."

The drive for technology that can uniquely identify individuals has been given new urgency both by the ongoing threat of terrorist attacks, and the growing incidence of identity theft.

Basic biometric tools such as fingerprinting and retinal scans are now being widely installed at airports and other transit points. Biometrics experts in the United States and Europe are trying to develop standards that can help unify a fast-changing industry.

Some of the older tools have been found to be relatively easily bypassed, however. Researchers at Clarkson University have found that fingerprint scanners could be fooled with images lifted from Play-Doh, for example, or a model of a finger made with dental plaster.

Reproducing a three-dimensional model of a human vein system, complete with blood, could be more difficult, however.

Source: Borland, John. "Mapping veins as a human 'bar code'." cNet News.com. Published: February 1, 2006, 6:32 PM PST. 2-2-2006. http://news.com.com/Mapping+veins+as+a+human+bar+code/2100-1008_3-6034134.html?tag=st_lh