bio-, bi-, -bia, -bial, -bian, -bion, -biont, -bius, -biosis, -bium, -biotic, -biotical +

1. Pertaining to those aspects of the natural sciences, especially the biologic and physiologic sciences, that relate to or underlie medicine.
2. Biological and medical, i.e., encompassing both the science(s) and the art of medicine.
3. A reference to or relating to both biology and medicine.
4. Of or having to do with medicine considered in the context of the biological sciences, with emphasis on its relationship to the basic sciences underlying clinical practice.

The use of engineering methods, instrumentation, and technology to solve medical problems, including the manufacture of artificial limbs and organs, the design and construction of hospitals, the development of community health programs, and the study of ways to control the environment.

1. That branch of medicine dealing with functioning and survival of people in abnormal environments, especially in space.
2. Clinical medicine based on the principles of the natural sciences (biology, biochemistry, biophysics, etc.) to solve medical problems.
3. The science concerned with the effects of the environment on the human body; especially, environments associated with space travel.

1. A structure bounding a cell or cell organelle; it contains lipids, proteins, glycolipids, steroids, etc.
2. Any membrane, such as a cell membrane of an organism.

1. Study of the effects of atmospheric conditions (weather) on living organisms.
2. That branch of ecology that deals with the effects on living organisms of the extra-organic aspects of the physical environment; such as, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, rate of air flow, and air ionization.

It involves not only natural atmosphere but also artificially created atmospheres; such as, those to be found in buildings and shelters, and in closed ecological systems; for example, satellites and submarines.

1. A device for measuring carbon dioxide given off by organisms and, hence, for determining the quantity of living matter present.
2. An instrument by which minute quantities of carbon dioxide can be measured; used in measuring the carbon dioxide given off from functioning tissue.

1. Someone who specializes in the science of biometry, or biometrics, which is the study biostatistics including the calculation of the probable duration of human life.
2. A person who uses statistical techniques to analyze biological data.

A point of sale (POS) technology which uses biometric authentication to identify the user and authorize the deduction of funds from a bank account.

Fingerprint payment, based on fingerscanning, is the most common biometric payment method. Often, the system uses two-factor authentication, in which the finger scan takes the place of the card swipe and the user types in a PIN (personal ID number) as usual.

In the United States, biometric payment has gained popularity in grocery stores, gas stations, and convenience stores. In March 2006, "Pay By Touch", the leading biometric payment provider, reported that more than two million customers had enrolled in their biometric services and that "Pay By Touch" had authenticated approximately eight billion dollars in transactions.

The system of biometric payments is controversial. Traditionally, fingerprints have been associated with law enforcement. Critics of biometric payment fear that fingerprints could be made available to government agencies or law enforcement officials.

Biometric payment service providers are quick to point out that they don't keep the customer's actual fingerprint in their databases. They keep an encrypted number derived from the finger's point-to-point measurements. It is that number which is used to verify a customer's identity, not the actual fingerprint.

In the final analysis, a biometric payment system; like any system that accesses sensitive information, is only as secure as the associated databases and transactions.

1. The science of measuring physical characteristics, to verify a person’s identity which includes voice recognition, iris and face scans, and fingerprint recognition.

This definition is a recent application from the tech world [a recently created application]. This sense of biometrics should not be confused with the much older sense, which refers to the application of statistical and mathematical methods for data analysis in the biological sciences. Also known as biometry (as shown in the next word group), this use of the term has been in the language since the early 1900s.

2. Quantification of psychopathological differences between subjects, specifically by assessing each subject across multiple dimensions. In psychiatry, those dimensions include sensation, perception, cognition, learning, psychophysiological reactions, and personality traits and characteristics.

More info about the science of biometrics.

A biometric tool that measures bodily features for better security.

A biometric tool that is important for physical-access control.

Biometrics Index.

Biometrics is used almost exclusively to measure of human-biological traits for security reasons.

New biometrics program looks for perspiration to authenticate real-living fingers.

Biometrics has perceived problems and will integrate "smart" passports.

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