Authors:
Carlos Carreiras
1
;
André Lourenço
2
;
Ana Fred
1
and
Rui Ferreira
3
Affiliations:
1
Instituto de Telecomunicações, Portugal
;
2
Instituto de Telecomunicações and Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Portugal
;
3
Hospital de Santa Marta, Portugal
Keyword(s):
Biometrics, Person Recognition, ECG, Classification.
Abstract:
The potential of the electrocardiographic (ECG) signal as a biometric trait has been ascertained in the literature
over the past decade. The inherent characteristics of the ECG make it an interesting biometric modality,
given its universality, intrinsic aliveness detection, continuous availability, and inbuilt hidden nature. These
properties enable the development of novel applications, where non-intrusive and continuous authentication
are critical factors. Examples include, among others, electronic trading platforms, the gaming industry, and
the auto industry, in particular for car sharing programs and fleet management solutions. However, there are
still some challenges to overcome in order to make the ECG a widely accepted biometric. In particular, the
questions of uniqueness (inter-subject variability) and permanence over time (intra-subject variability) are still
largely unanswered. In this paper we focus on the uniqueness question, presenting a preliminary study of our
biometric
recognition system, testing it on a database encompassing 618 subjects. We also performed tests
with subsets of this population. The results reinforce that the ECG is a viable trait for biometrics, having
obtained an Equal Error Rate of 9:01% and an Error of Identification of 15:64% for the entire test population.
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