The Role of Biometrics in Healthcare

Anytime we use our phones, we likely unlock them with our fingerprint or face ID. But rarely does anyone truly consider the technology behind these biometric identification tools and their infinite uses in many fields and everyday activities.

The technology behind biometric identification uses an individual’s physiological and behavioral attributes to authenticate their identity and assess their condition. Data collected can include fingerprints, iris scans, speech, gait, and much more¹.

Biometric technology generally has two main uses: recognition and screening. Biometric recognition involves the identification of a person through various details and characteristics, such as fingerprints or iris scans². This can be utilized to recognize, for example, an unresponsive patient in an emergency.¹ Meanwhile, screening generally involves measurements, such as assessing blood pressure, cholesterol levels, blood sugar, and more³. These devices can enhance healthcare and treatment with their real-time assessments, as changes in patient conditions can easily be detected through the data collected⁴.

Both biometric recognition and screening technology can drastically change the landscape of healthcare and public health through the incorporation of more advanced technological services. This medical innovation is key to saving more lives and improving the quality of and access to treatments⁵.

Biometrics in the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, biometrics were employed in a wide range of activities. During the pandemic especially, since many biometrics are touchless tools, they helped reduce the risk of spreading the virus through contact with various surfaces⁶.

If you visited a public space during the pandemic, you likely encountered one of the most common uses of biometrics: infrared thermometers that used cameras to determine an individual’s body temperature, without having to come into contact with them. This was especially useful in limiting the transmission of the virus, as those who were sick could be easily identified and prevented from spreading the disease. Some companies further developed infrared temperature tools through which individuals can also be recognized and tagged with infrared thermometers, even when wearing a mask, further allowing easy identification of sick individuals⁷.

A unique method of COVID-19 diagnosis was also developed with biometrics. Audio recordings of the speech, coughing, and breathing of healthy individuals and COVID-19 patients were analyzed, and a system was built to diagnose those who had COVID-19 through their speech and coughing⁸. This tool could be especially useful for communities who do not have access to large quantities of COVID tests.

In many public areas, surveillance and CCTV cameras were inbuilt with biometric technology that identified whether individuals were wearing masks, prioritizing the health of the entire community.⁹ This helped ensure that the more vulnerable populations stayed healthy. While travel was mostly restricted during the pandemic, as the transition to opening airports began, many touchless kiosks and security points were introduced to limit the spread of the virus⁶.

Biometric technology overall greatly helped reduce the transmission of COVID-19 during the pandemic while also aiding with the diagnosis of COVID-19. However, biometrics also has a profound effect on our daily health, even after the pandemic.

Wearable Technology

Biometric technology is also embedded into many of the smartwatches we wear every day, such as Fitbits and Apple Watches. Not only do they track fitness metrics such as steps and calories, but also heart rate, sleep, stress levels, and many other health metrics that can allow the user to be more aware of their health. The biometric technology in smartwatches allows users to more easily set healthy lifestyle goals without the need of spending too much time or money¹⁰.

Wearable technology can also help inform healthcare providers about the health status of patients and can help explain any health outcomes. This improves the treatment that patients receive overall, as it will be more personalized to their health¹¹.

Cancer

Early detection of cancer is key to minimizing its effects on the human body. Biometric technology can help streamline and increase the efficiency of the diagnosis and treatment process.

Through biometric technology, the risk factors for cancer can be determined in various demographics¹², allowing interventions that target these problems to be implemented. From a public health standpoint, this can help decrease the rates of cancer in especially vulnerable populations and provide that demographic the necessary targeted care.

Biometric technology can also aid with the diagnosis of cancer. Recently, a method of detecting breast cancer through fingerprints was devised, acting as a highly accurate tool for an accessible way to diagnose breast cancer¹³. This could act as a cost-free and easy way of diagnosis for those that cannot afford more expensive medical bills.

Not only that, during the treatment period, biometric technology, or more specifically wearable technology, can be used to measure and track the side effects that patients face due to cancer treatment. Studies have also found that tracking and reporting various symptoms to doctors can help minimize side effects from cancer treatment¹⁴. Biometric technology can thus be incorporated into various parts of the lives of cancer patients to minimize the symptoms. However, especially when biometrics is applied to large scale health operations, the downsides must be carefully evaluated to minimize risk from the technology.

Limitations

Biometric technology has the potential to greatly enhance all aspects of healthcare by offering convenient ways to solve medical issues and make healthcare more accessible to many minorities.

Unfortunately, biometric technology can also decrease access to healthcare for certain groups¹⁵. In terms of face recognition technology, biometric technology is 100 times more inaccurate at identifying people of color¹⁶. Especially in a healthcare situation, misidentification could be the difference between life and death, so further development of biometrics is necessary.

Along with that, with the use of any technology, especially one that holds confidential information, comes the risk of the invasion of privacy. Biometric technology can be easily hacked by cybercriminals and private healthcare information can be sold on the black market, allowing hackers to profit¹⁷. Cybercriminals are not the only ones who are prone to stealing sensitive biometric data, as large companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta have been charged with profiting from illegally utilizing users’ biometric data for profit on multiple counts¹⁸.

In the workforce, employers are beginning to collect more biometric data on the health of employees, leading to workplace discrimination¹⁹. For example, if employers gained access to biometric data in femtech platforms, such as period tracking apps, it could cause employers to discriminate based on pregnancy, disproportionately affecting women²⁰.

Despite these limitations, biometric technology has the potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry. Through improvement of the technology by expanding databases, securing information, and increasing regulation, biometric tools can become one of the most accessible ways to enhance the well-being of underserved populations effectively.