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Evaluating Template Uniqueness in ECG Biometrics

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Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering ((LNEE,volume 370))

Abstract

Research over the past decade has demonstrated the capability of the electrocardiographic (ECG) signal to be used as a biometric trait, through which the identity of an individual can be recognized. Given its universality, intrinsic aliveness detection, continuous availability, and inherent hidden nature, the ECG is an interesting biometric modality enabling the development of novel applications, where non-intrusive and continuous authentication are critical factors. Examples include personal computers, the gaming industry, and the auto industry, especially for car sharing programs and fleet management solutions. Nonetheless, from a theoretical point of view, there are still some challenges to overcome in bringing ECG biometrics to mass markets. In particular, the issues of uniqueness (related to inter-subject variability) and permanence (related to intra-subject variability) are still largely unanswered. This work focuses on the uniqueness issue, evaluating the performance of our ECG biometric system over a database encompassing 618 subjects. Additionally, we performed tests with subsets of this population. The results cement the ECG as a viable trait to be used for identity recognition, having obtained and Equal Error Rate of \(9.01\,\%\) and an Error of Identification of \(15.64\,\%\) for the entire test population.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under grants PTDC/EEI-SII/2312/2012, SFRH/BD/65248/2009 and SFRH/PROTEC/49512/2009, whose support the authors gratefully acknowledge. We would also like to thank Joana Santos for her hard work labeling the ECG records.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Telecomunicações, Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal

    Carlos Carreiras, André Lourenço, Hugo Silva & Ana Fred

  2. Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, R. Conselheiro Emídio Navarro 1, 1959-007, Lisbon, Portugal

    André Lourenço

  3. Hospital de Santa Marta, R. de Santa Marta 50, 1169-1024, Lisbon, Portugal

    Rui Ferreira

Authors
  1. Carlos Carreiras
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  2. André Lourenço
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  3. Hugo Silva
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  4. Ana Fred
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  5. Rui Ferreira
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carlos Carreiras .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal INSTICC, Setúbal, Portugal

    Joaquim Filipe

  2. Ford Research & Adv. Engineering, Dearborn, Michigan, USA

    Oleg Gusikhin

  3. Univ Paris-Est Creteil (UPEC), Créteil, France

    Kurosh Madani

  4. Carleton University, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Jurek Sasiadek

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Carreiras, C., Lourenço, A., Silva, H., Fred, A., Ferreira, R. (2016). Evaluating Template Uniqueness in ECG Biometrics. In: Filipe, J., Gusikhin, O., Madani, K., Sasiadek, J. (eds) Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics. Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, vol 370. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26453-0_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26453-0_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-26451-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-26453-0

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