Abstract: A method and apparatus of identification by extracting and matching biometric detail from a subcutaneous vein infrared image. The image's Region of Interest is identified and artifacts are removed. A bank of filters, such as Symmetric Gabor Filters, Complex Gabor Filters, Log Gabor Filters, Oriented Gaussian Functions, or Wavelets, filters the image into a set of key value images that are subdivided into regions. An enrollment key, defined by ordered statistical measures of pixel intensities within the regions, is compared using a distance metric to a stored verification key. Various statistical measures may be used, such as variance, standard deviation, mean, absolute average deviation, max value, min value, max absolute value, median value, or a combination of these statistical measures. Various distance metrics may be used, such as Euclidean, Hamming, Euclidean Squared, Manhattan, Pearson Correlation, Pearson Squared Correlation, Chebychev, or Spearman Rank Correlation.