The field of biometrics is a pattern recognition problem, where the individual traits are coded, registered, and compared with other database records. Due to the difficulties in reproducing Electrocardiograms (ECG), their usage has been emerging in the biometric field for more secure applications. Inspired by the high performance shown by Deep Neural Networks (DNN) and to mitigate the intra-variability challenges displayed by the ECG of each individual, this work proposes two architectures to improve current results in both identification (finding the registered person from a sample) and authentication (prove that the person is whom it claims) processes: Temporal Convolutional Neural Network (TCNN) and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). Each architecture produces a similarity score, based on the prediction error of the former and the logits given by the last, and fed to the same classifier, the Relative Score Threshold Classifier (RSTC).The robustness and applicability of these architectures were trained and tested on public databases used by literature in this context: Fantasia, MIT-BIH, and CYBHi databases. Results show that overall the TCNN outperforms the RNN achieving almost 100%, 96%, and 90% accuracy, respectively, for identification and 0.0%, 0.1%, and 2.2% equal error rate (EER) for authentication processes. When comparing to previous work, both architectures reached results beyond the state-of-the-art. Nevertheless, the improvement of these techniques, such as enriching training with extra varied data and transfer learning, may provide more robust systems with a reduced time required for validation.

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Background: Biometric Systems (BS) are based on a pattern recognition problem where the individual traits of a person are coded and compared. The Electrocardiogram (ECG) as a biometric emerged, as it fulfills the requirements of a BS. Methods: Inspired by the high performance shown by Deep Neural Networks(DNN), this work proposes two architectures to improve current results in both identification and authentication: Temporal Convolutional Neural Network (TCNN) and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). The last two results weresubmitted to a simple classifier, which exploits the error of prediction of theformer and the scores given by the last. Results: The robustness and applicability of these architectures were tested onFantasia, MIT-BIH and CYBHi databases. The TCNN outperforms the RNNachieving 100%, 96% and 90% of accuracy, respectively, for identification and 0.0%, 0.1% and 2.2% equal error rate for authentication. Conclusions: When comparing to previous work, both architectures reachedresults beyond the state-of-the-art. Even though this experience was a success,the inclusion of these techniques may provide a system that could reduce thevalidation acquisition time.