PPG-Based Biometric Token for Key Generation to Secure Medical Data in IoT-Driven Healthcare

The rapid evolution of digital technologies has enabled the deployment of intelligent healthcare systems, such as Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs). These specific sensor networks are dedicated to continuously collect and handle sensitive physiological data, raising key privacy and security concerns. In this context, standard cryptographic algorithms are often unsuitable, as WBAN nodes have limited resources. Thus, in this article, identified as a promising solution, a biometric token generation method based on photoplethysmography (PPG) signals is proposed and validated through real-time experiments. Without complex preprocessing or error correction code, the proposed method achieves strong performance and high token repeatability, enabling secure embedded applications adapted to the resources of WBAN devices. The results obtained in this work also establish a reliable base for future key generation protocols.