Biometrics and Their Health Implications

Healthcare is constantly evolving. One example of a major innovation shaping healthcare is biometrics, a biological measurement to help identify individuals through their biological characteristics using tools like fingerprinting, facial recognition, and retina scans. Together, these are referred to as biometric monitoring technologies (BioMeTs)¹. BioMeTs generate data by monitoring physiological and behavioral measures and analyzing them with algorithms. Wearable sensors, smartwatches, wearable health devices, and wearable sensors help capture information on individuals: heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, blood pressure, eye tracking, water intake, skin temperature, sleep quality, breathing, muscle measurements, brain activity, and many other features¹. More complex BioMeTs are able to analyze features like facial features, ocular movement, voice, and gait². For example, 3D facial imaging has been implemented in an attempt to identify signs of glaucoma, aphasia, hip and knee osteoarthritis².

BioMeTs are becoming more commercially available to consumers, with ease of use increasing, cost decreasing, and trust in these technologies rising. A recent national survey of 4,551 participants has examined patterns of use for wearable healthcare devices. The survey involved devices that collect metrics such as blood pressure, glucose levels, and oxygen levels³. The results indicated that around 30% of US adults have a wearable healthcare device, among the participants there were nearly half reported owning a wearable device, use it everyday, and around 82% of participants are willing to share their health data from the wearable device to their own healthcare providers³.

Companies such as Apple and Fitbit have created options to share wearable device measurements with health care providers, further enhancing their clinical value. According to another study on wearable devices among US adults, 82% of participants were open to sharing health data with their care providers¹. This number may increase further as wearable healthcare devices are used more heavily by younger individuals.

A concern for wearable devices is the reliability and comparison when recording fitness and health metrics with other brands such as Fitbit, Apple, Garmin, and Samsung. A systematic review was conducted on the general population with 158 publications and found that Fitbit is the most common wearable healthcare device studied⁴. Additionally, Fitbit, Apple, and Samsung measure step metrics accurately after a laboratory setting-based experiment was conducted.

In order to stay up to date and develop new wearable healthcare devices, cooperation is necessary from lawmakers, healthcare providers, wearable technology companies, and the general population. With lawmakers implementing policy to develop and regulate accuracy, along with healthcare providers and users building trust in sharing health data. The usage of wearable devices is becoming the norm with Fitbit introducing watches for younger people and Apple watches introducing health metrics for adults and elderly.