Compact system for registering papillary ridge patterns

The invention relates to the field of biometric identification. The technical result consists in decreasing the overall dimensions and increasing the reliability of a system for registering papillary ridge patterns, while providing for reduced cost, high image quality, rapid operating speed and reduced energy consumption. The present system comprises a light source, an element which defines the position of a reading surface, an optical system, and a multi-element image receiver, wherein the reading surface is optically linked to the image receiver by rays passing through a guiding optical element, comprising a refractive surface and a reflective surface, by means of consecutive refraction on the refractive surface, reflection on the reflective surface and total internal reflection on the refractive surface.