Original Research Article
Year: 2016 | Month: February | Volume: 3 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 28-32
Biometric Finger Print: Its Authentication and Effectiveness on Health Care Professionals
Sidhart Timsinha1*, Saurabh Narayan2**, Suvarna Manjarikar3*
1Assistant Professor, 2Assistant Manager, 3Professor & HOD,
*Department of Forensic Medicine, **Human Resource Department,
Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara, Nepal.
Corresponding Author: Sidhart Timsinha
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Biometric identification is accepted as more accurate and less time consuming by various agencies. This has resulted in application of biometric identification in diverse fields, from preparation of nationwide databases to daily attendance taking of employees of governmental and Private sectors. Fingerprint recognition is affected by various physiological factors like age, wear and tear of skin, and technological factors like sensor technologies. The present study is based on employee database registering attendance through biometric means and its effectiveness.
Objective: Biometric identification is not infallible and is prone to non-correctable errors. Wearing down of fingerprint pattern is found to be a major source of errors in registering biometric fingerprint attendance.
Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study undertaken on the employees comprising of teaching, non-teaching staffs and medical officers of a Teaching Hospital of Pokhara, Nepal undergoing biometric verification for purpose of attendance. A total of 805 employees constituted the subjects of this research.
Results: Out of total number of 805 subjects, 11 (1.36%) people had problems registering their attendance through biometric means. Out of these 11 people, 3 (27%) belonged to elderly staff or senior by age category (> 60 years). About 8 (72.7%) were manual workers belonging to various departments like plumbing, sanitation, engineering etc. The occupational wearing down of fingerprint pattern (72.7%) and age related (27.27%) were the most probable cause for non-registering of the attendance by biometric machines.
Conclusion: An important conclusion of the study is that biometric identification is not infallible and is prone to non-correctable errors. Wearing down of fingerprint pattern was found to be a major source of errors in registering biometric fingerprint attendance.
Keywords: Biometrics, Databases, Fingerprint recognition.