Source: University of California San Diego

Technology capable of capturing the fingerprints of children and hours-old infants has been developed by researchers from the University of California San Diego.

“We think we’ve solved the problem of infant identification for both developed and developing countries,” said Eliah Aronoff-Spencer, M.D., Ph.D, assistant professor of medicine, UC San Diego School of Medicine and the Qualcomm Institute at UC San Diego. “This new technology allows for quick, accurate fingerprinting that may eliminate the need for paper identification and improve health care and security for millions.”

Previously, there have been unsuccessful attempts using technology designed for adults to fingerprint children. Yet, fingerprinting infants and children around the world is necessary in order to deliver health care, particularly in remote regions where resources are limited. Fingerprinting children and infants also supports efforts in disaster relief, migration and refugee settlement and human trafficking.

“Accurate identification of a child to enable timely vaccinations can improve care, reduce disease burden and save lives,” said Spencer. “This is just the beginning. Consider the usefulness of health identification to track not only vaccinations, but to aid or prevent infectious disease outbreaks. Consider that a person’s identity can now be secured at birth, potentially protecting from identity fraud many years in the future.

“Imagine the ability to assist refugees displaced by war or natural disasters to establish their identity so they can access needed food, aid and care. While a difficult subject, this technology may have applications to help prevent human trafficking and other causes of separation of children from their families.”

As such, UC San Diego researchers developed technology from the ground up that accommodates the behaviors, movements and size of an infant.

“Not only did we take into account the child’s physiology and reflexes, but also what would be culturally acceptable in different countries. For example, in some areas, facial photography is shunned, but photography of hands is acceptable.”

The result is a device called Ion. It is a non-contact scanning device that is capable of imaging fingers and the palm of a child’s hand. Prints taken from subjects are held as encrypted templates that can be shared across platforms securely.

The device, which fits in the user’s hand, is portable, rugged and can work with both mobile platforms and laptops. Additionally, the device works on adults as well as children, making it the first biometric platform appropriate for all ages.

Currently the technology is undergoing clinical trials with initial results showing that the device is over 99% accurate when used to re-identify an infant who was registered at just two days old. Instances where the device was used to register a child within hours of a his or her birth, the device re-identified the infant with an accuracy rate of 90%.

“The next stage is to take the device into the field in Africa and South Asia and broaden the populations we evaluate,” said Spencer. “While the device is not yet commercially available, we hope to have it ready for market within 12 months. We want to continue to validate the platform, work through workflow, security and ethical issues, and, with funding, make the technology available on a staged basis to non-governmental organizations and government programs at local and national levels.”