A perceptive palm reader is helping one of the largest healthcare systems in the U.S. divine the true identities of its patients, ushering in a new era of biometric identity verification.

The device, resembling a small black cube and manufactured by Tokyo-based Fujitsu Corp., uses a vascular pattern recognition system to accurately identify people while they hold their palm just above the cube. The scan, requiring less than a second, captures the unique branching pattern of blood veins and instantly converts key data points into a numerical code that can be compared with other palm scans to identify matches. The miniaturized device can plug into a laptop computer via a USB port, while an alternative version released last year incorporates the palm scanner into a computer mouse to facilitate secure logins.

Carolinas HealthCare System, the nation's third largest public healthcare provider, began using PalmSecure last year in several major hospitals as part of the nation's first biometric patient identification system based on vascular recognition technology. Now deployed at eight locations and two urgent care facilities, the identification program has enrolled about 170,000 patients in all. Once patients have registered their unique biometric "vein template," it can be linked directly to their medical records.

"We have had excellent patient response and the product has performed well with no failures or replacements required to date after more than one year of use," said Carolinas spokesman Jim Burke in an e-mail interview. The main challenge, Burke said, has been educating patients on the program's benefits.

By accurately identifying patients when they check in, he said, the palm-based system has virtually eliminated the risk that a person's Social Security number or health insurance identification card could be used by someone else to fraudulently access their records or access healthcare services.

How it works At its core, the palm-reading system works by recording subdermal vein patterns.