Retina Scans For Better Security

A retina scan security system is a biometric security system that uses the blood vessel patterns found on the back of the eye to identify a person. (Retina is the light-sensitive layer that lines the interior of the eye.) The underlying logic behind retina scanning is simple: Just like fingerprints, no two retinas are ever alike. However, fingerprints can be cloned, but it is impossible to clone retinas. Of course, genetic engineering will teach us many things and in the future - may be even cloning retinas retinas may become possible.- However as on date the fact remains that but as things stand today, retina cloning is impossible. Even a dead person's retina cannot be genetically cloned as it starts decaying rapidly.

A retina scanner is also called an iris scanner, and such scanners are very expensive and hence their usage is restricted to government offices and at places where high-level security is indispensable.

Don't blink now, but yYou'll be surprised to know that retina scan security has been in practice since the 1930s! . Nevertheless However, the technological advances on retina scanning have been slow and, but steady.

How a retina scanner works

The working of a retina scanning system is quite simple. The retina scanner first projects a low-intensity infrared light on to the back of the eye and then on to the retina. The infrared light reflected by the retina carries the required information about the blood vessel pattern. The reflected light is picked up by a video camera, which converts the retinal image into data form. The software supporting the retina scan technology then assigns a unique identity to the image and stores the retinal data.

Though this may sSounds stoo simple it is ?n Not so when you find out that just the iris (which is the visible colored part of the eye behind which is the retina) has 400 distinguishing characteristics,characteristics, and among 260which 260 of them which are factored into a live iris scan. These characteristics include contraction furrows, striations, pits, collagenous fibers, crypts (darkened areas on the iris), and more such complicated terms that are best left for medics and retina scan technologists to figure out.

So, aA retina scanner is not so simple after all. It has to capture the pattern made by all the minute areas mentioned above and then store them as data, which can be used for identification later.

Advantages of retina scanning

Security systems based on retina recognition/identification are the best biometric security systems available in the market today. They feature a very low near-zero failure rate (the failure rate of a retinal scan is factored at one-in-ten-million). Moreover, the data that they capture and store does not occupy too much storage space. The identification also takes not more than two seconds. Also, as stated earlier, rRetina cloning is impossible, impossible. Therefore this a fact that makes theseese systems foolproof.

Retina scanning security is gaining popularity by the day and visionaries are predicting that e-commerce legal tender of the future will feature a digital certificate with a coded image of the surfer's iris.

Disadvantages of retina scanning

A big disadvantage of good retina scanners is that they cost way too much. And, Tthere is's not enough funding from the government and the private sector. But the flipside is that prices are gradually coming down as retina scan machine sales are going up.

A bigger disadvantage is that many people are reluctant to register for a retinal scan. A potential user may be plain scared because he might feel that the infrared rays might end up damaging his eyes, especially if he has cataract. He might also feel that since the scanner was in contact with a variety of users, it might have been contaminated with germs. Or, hHe might feel that undergoing a retinal scan may reveal his medical historycondition. All these factors combine to givegive a feeling to the user that a retinal scan is intrusive and not very user-friendly.

Retina scanners and health issues

Retina scanning has two types of health-related risks inherently built into it. The first is the potential risk to the body and the second risk is an ethical risk that involves the user's (medical) privacy.

When a user goes through the retinal scan process he has to stand very close to the scanning device and the passage of infrared rays right to he back of his eyes might pose a potential health risk. Also, tThere are a number of degenerative retina-related diseases that can adversely impact the image quality. A user who passes through a retina test often may keep thinking about its potential risks and such thoughts can damage his psyche. So, there's also an element of psychological risk involved in the retinal scan.

Apart from fearing for his health, a user might feel that his health data, which he does not like to share with anyone else, might be known once his retina is scanned. Such a fear may dissuade him from going through the scan.

But, no matter what is said,A a retina scan security system has been proven to be the best amongst all biometric security scan systems. With the cost of a retina scanner security system dropping, it would be advisable for companies to take another look at this technology.