MSU researchers collecting infants’ fingerprint data in India

Researchers from the Michigan State University (MSU) Biometrics Research Group are spearheading a new project that allows researchers and medical workers to receive key information from a single finger scan, according to a report by The State News.

Through the project, medical employees will be able to accurately identify children by scanning their fingerprint.

The workers will receive key patient information such as recent immunizations, and ultimately be able to determine if the child is malnourished.

The fingerprint recognition system will ultimately help people in lower-income areas with sparse access to medical care, according to Sunpreet Aror, an MSU Biometrics Research Group researcher and doctoral student.

The biometrics group, which primarily focuses on face and fingerprint recognition technology, is led by MSU professor Anil Jain. The group also includes several graduate and doctoral students, as well as one postdoctoral researcher.

In preparation for the project, Arora and his team reviewed existing research on child fingerprint capture and recognition.

“I began by evaluating different commercially available fingerprint readers from the perspective of capturing child fingerprints,” Arora said. “Once the choice of readers was narrowed down, then we organized data collection camps every few months in India, where I was one of the two students who was involved in capturing fingerprints of children in the operational setting.”

The MSU researchers had to find out at what age a child’s fingerprint could be reliably scanned. The group was able to successfully capture the fingerprint of a subject who was only six hours old, using a high-quality fingerprint reader.

“Any technological advancement or research, which can help the community and healthcare of children, is good,” computer science doctoral student Inci Baytas said. “What they do is really helpful for many people around the world.”

The group’s work has already received praise from several scholars, including computer science and engineering professor Alex Liu.

Article Topics

Anil Jain  |  biometrics  |  biometrics research  |  fingerprint recognition  |  infant biometrics  |  MSU