But technology does not always follow legislation. There are still few maternity wards that take finger, palm, or sole prints, and of those that do, most still use ink and paper. This method is inaccurate and often does not help to identify a child or prevent switches and disappearances.<\/p>\n
Natosafe, a startup founded in the state of Paran\u00e1 in 2014, is attempting to change things. The company has developed a system to identify children aged 0 to 5, based 100% on Brazilian technology. The solution uses a scanner called NilmaOne to collect high-resolution biometric data from babies. This scanner is connected to a data management platform called Infant.Id, which allows public agencies to issue documents, identify and recognize individuals, and monitor links to parents, essential to preventing disappearances.<\/p>\n
\u201cNilmaOne\u2019s digital scanning technology offers unprecedented image quality and detail, which is crucial to enabling fingerprint analysts to establish a link between a child’s biometric data and the mother’s,\u201d explains Antonio Maciel Aguiar Filho, president of the Brazilian Federation of Official Identification Experts (FENAPPI).<\/p>\n
Another company that provides biometric solutions for newborns is Griaule, based in Campinas, S\u00e3o Paulo State. Its GBS Baby technology is also capable of collecting fingerprints, palm prints, and footprints from newborn babies. “To ease the financial burden faced by maternity wards and hospitals in Brazil implementing these systems, the company has adopted conventional fingerprint readers, which are widely available, and focused on palm print reading,” explains Thiago Ribeiro, director of Griaule.<\/p>\n
According to him, development of the system began in 2016 when the company partnered with the Center for Women’s Health (CAISM) at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) to study the biometric identification of babies. A palm print is generally considered sufficient to prevent baby switches and kidnappings at hospitals. For other purposes, such as border control and vaccinations, the options are limited by the fact that many Brazilian states accept fingerprints only. Neonatal biometrics can also be used to identify children in refugee camps.<\/p>\n Natosafe’s solution has been adopted in the states of Pernambuco, Mato Grosso, Rio de Janeiro, and Goi\u00e1s\u2014the latter was the first to begin issuing high-resolution biometric records in August this year. The system was created by a team of 15 professionals, including hardware and software engineers, data and computer scientists, and UX (user experience) designers, supported by fingerprint experts and health professionals.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to be a global benchmark in the biometric identification of children,\u201d says Eduardo Liebel, sales manager at Natosafe. \u201cWe are already in talks to distribute our solutions to countries across South America, Europe, and the Middle East,\u201d he adds, noting that the scanner created by the company is certified by the FBI, a prestigious seal of quality for the device.<\/p>\n The story behind Natosafe’s technology began many years ago, far from Curitiba. It all started in Pernambuco in 1985, when Nilma da Silveira Azevedo took the entrance exam for the Recife Police Department and began her career as a fingerprint expert at the Tavares Buril Identification Institute (IITB).<\/p>\n \u201cOne day, my director asked me to compare prints taken from a child with a set from a Live Birth Certificate, a document issued for every newborn baby so that they can be registered with the authorities. It was an impossible task because of the poor quality of the prints provided by the mother,\u201d recalls Azevedo. \u201cI saw this situation again and again, so I learned how to take identity prints from newborns and then started visiting maternity hospitals to teach the techniques to health professionals, as well as alerting them to the importance of doing it properly.\u201d<\/p>\n The next step was to establish an identification form for recording the fingerprints of the mother and footprints of the baby, still using ink and paper. As the difficulties taking good quality prints continued\u2014it is not uncommon for them to look like unidentifiable ink blots\u2014Azevedo started looking for companies interested in combining technology with her experience in neonatal biometrics.<\/p>\n Natosafe, which at the time was called Akiyama and was focused on the development of biometric solutions in general, agreed to a partnership. In 2014, the company started work on the NilmaOne scanner, named after Azevedo, which was completed last year. The machine is portable and multifunctional: the same sensor can be used to scan the mother’s fingerprints and the baby\u2019s fingerprints, palm prints, and footprints.<\/p>\n The data are collected in the newborn\u2019s first few hours of life. A computer controls the scanner and captures images automatically\u2014the operator simply positions the fingers, hands, or feet to be scanned and the device does the rest. The ergonomic shape of the scanner facilitates the image capture process and even allows the device to be used inside neonatal incubators to collect biometric data from premature babies.<\/p>\n![](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/074-077_biometria-neonatal_298-0-desktop.png\")
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