New light-based biometric devices offer non-invasive performance benefits

Wearable technology has been developed by researchers in the Netherlands and Israel that could be used to acquire biometric data in a non-invasive manner.

Published in the Biomedical Optics Express journal, the studies use scattered light to monitor biometrics via the so-called "speckle" effect – the grainy interference patterns produced on images when laser light reflects from an uneven surface, or scatters from an opaque material. 

When the material that is scattering the light is moving, such as when blood flows through the circulatory system, this speckle pattern shifts in a way that provide valuable information.

As such, Israel's Bar-Ilan University have been able to create a wearable biometric system that uses the speckle effect to directly monitor glucose concentration in the bloodstream, as well as general hydration levels. This could greatly facilitate the monitoring of diabetes patients in future.

Meanwhile, A Dutch team at the Delft University of Technology have used a similar method to monitor the pulse non-invasively.

Biomedical engineer Mahsa Nemati, a graduate student at the Netherlands institution, said: "Sophisticated optics are not necessary to implement this, so the costs for devices can be kept low. Another advantage is that the devices can be non-contact or far from the sample."