Method and Device for Biometric Verification and Identification
sensors
Method and Device for Biometric Verification and Identification (TOP2-202)
Biometric Subject Verification and Identification Based Upon Electrocardiographic Signals
Overview
NASA has developed a method for verifying the identity of a person based on his or her heartbeat electrocardiogram signal. The technique uses an algorithm that has been shown to be more reliable than other current procedures, such as fingerprint verification, retina verification, or detecting biometric identifiers from heart signals. It eliminates artifacts and abnormal beats, thereby reducing overall error. The process automatically extracts from one or more electrocardiographic leads (channels) a set of biometric features which are characteristic to an individual and can be employed to verify the identity of one individual or to identify an individual from a group. The electrocardiographic signal is recorded in each lead from a pair of electrodes placed on the skin of the individuals arms or legs. Each electrocardiographic lead characterizes the hearts electrical vector as projected on a separate dimension. This allows a multidimensional characterization of the hearts electrical activity, which can result in improved subject verification performance.
The Technology
The advantage of using cardiac biometrics over existing methods is that heart signatures are more difficult to forge compared to other biometric devices. Iris scanners can be fooled by contact lenses and sunglasses, and a segment of the population does not have readable fingerprints due to age or working conditions. Previous electrocardiographic signals employed a single template and compared that template with new test templates by means of cross-correlation or linear-discriminant analysis.The benefit of this technology over competing cardiac biometric methods is that it is more reliable with a significant reduction in error rates. The benefit of this technology is that it creates a probabilistic model of the electrocardiographic features of a person instead of a single signal template of the average heartbeat. The probabilistic model described as Gaussian mixture model allows various modes of the feature distribution, in contrast to a template model that only characterizes a mean waveform. Another advantage is that the model uses both physiological and anatomical characterization of the heart, unlike other methods that mainly use only physiological characterization of the heart. By combining features from different leads, the heart of the person is better characterized in terms of anatomical orientation because each lead represents a different projection of the electrical vector of the heart. Thus, employing multiple electrocardiographic leads provides a better performance in subject verification or identification.
Benefits
- Better performance by employing multiple electrocardiographic leads
- Uses both physiological and anatomical characterization of the heart
- Eliminates artifacts and abnormal beats that overall errors are reduced
Applications
- Personnel identity verification
- Mobile biometrics
- Justice/Law enforcement
- Homeland Security/Airports/ National ID documents
- Military Organizations
Similar Results
HeartBeatID
Cardiac muscle is myogenic and is capable of generating an action potential and depolarizing and repolarizing signals from within the muscle itself. An intrinsic conduction system (ICS), a group of specialized cardiac cells, passes an electrical signal throughout the heart. This technology is a method and associated system to identify a person based on the use of statistical parameters, peak amplitudes and/or time interval lengths and/or depolarization-repolarization vector angles and/or depolarization-repolarization vector lengths for PQRST electrical signals associated with heart waves. The statistical parameters, estimated to be at least 192, serve as biometric indicia to authenticate or to decline to authenticate an asserted identity of a candidate person. There are three on-line modes of operation enrollment, verification, and identification as well as two off-line modes statistics and settings. In enrollment the raw electrocardiography (ECG) signal is processed and the results in the form of parameters are serialized and saved. Verification and Identification procedures use the feature parameters for recognition (classification) of subjects based on the same kind of parameters (features) of heartbeats extracted from the ECG signal of a person to be verified or identified.
Digital to Analog Transformation and Reconstruction of ECG Data
NASA innovators developed a method and apparatus for digital to analog conversion and reconstruction of multichannel electrocardiograms. The technology uses an algebraically optimized hardware configuration and software format that re-creates the presence of a connected patient when the patient is no longer actually present. This simplified method makes it easier and possible to transmit stored digital ECG data collected on one machine into another for an automated second opinion. Along with this functionality, the technology would make it possible to share the data collected for difficult-to-interpret 12-lead ECGs and rhythms with others in different locations.
The device allows for very inexpensive ECG hardware front ends to be utilized for data collection since the digital data obtained will always be accurately convertible back to analog for fuller analysis at any central ECG receiving station. This capability would be useful for several situations, such as patients being monitored for heart conditions at home, student athletes participating in ECG screening programs, and individuals being screened in underdeveloped countries or remote areas. The NASA developed technology would be useful in collecting ECG data in environments such as military mobile units, oil platforms, mountaineering, and expeditions.
This NASA Technology is available for your company to license and develop into a commercial product. NASA does not manufacture products for commercial sale.
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