A Hybrid Multi-Domain Feature Fusion Model Integrating MEEMD and Dual CNN for Iris Recognition

Iris biometric systems are recognized as secure alternatives to conventional authentication methods, yet challenges such as variable illumination, noise, and intricate iris textures persist. To address these issues, our study presents a novel hybrid iris recognition framework that integrates advanced deep learning with a pioneering application of Multivariate Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (MEEMD) for feature extraction—a method not previously applied in this context. Our framework first employs MEEMD to extract statistical features that capture the iris’s nonlinear and nonstationary variations. We then combine global semantic information from two pretrained convolutional neural networks—VGG16 and ResNet-152—with local micro-texture details encoded by Local Binary Patterns (LBP) to form a comprehensive feature representation. An efficient pre-processing and segmentation stage precisely isolates the iris region, and the resulting features are refined through dimensionality reduction techniques to yield a robust, compact representation. These features are subsequently classified using multiple models, each rigorously tuned via hyperparameter optimization. Experimental validation on benchmark datasets—including IITD, CASIA, and UBIRIS.v2—shows that our model achieves recognition rates of up to 98% on IITD, 97% on CASIA, and 97.30% on UBIRIS.v2, surpassing existing approaches. This work not only enhances iris recognition performance but also establishes a novel method that bridges advanced deep learning with innovative feature extraction for high-security applications.