Decentralized Patient-Centric Report and Medical Image Management System Based on Blockchain Technology and the Inter-Planetary File System

【Author】 Mohsan, Syed Agha Hassnain; Razzaq, Abdul; Ghayyur, Shahbaz Ahmed Khan; Alkahtani, Hend Khalid; Al-Kahtani, Nouf; Mostafa, Samih M.

【Source】INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH

【影响因子】4.614

【Abstract】Several academicians have been actively contributing to establishing a practical solution to storing and distributing medical images and test reports in the research domain of health care in recent years. Current procedures mainly rely on cloud-assisted centralized data centers, which raise maintenance expenditure, necessitate a large amount of storage space, and raise privacy concerns when exchanging data across a network. As a result, it is critically essential to provide a framework that allows for the efficient exchange and storage of large amounts of medical data in a secure setting. In this research, we describe a unique proof-of-concept architecture for a distributed patient-centric test report and image management (PCRIM) system that aims to facilitate patient privacy and control without the need for a centralized infrastructure. We used an Ethereum blockchain and a distributed file system technology called the Inter-Planetary File System in this system (IPFS). Then, to secure a distributed and trustworthy access control policy, we designed an Ethereum smart contract termed the patient-centric access control protocol. The IPFS allows for the decentralized storage of medical metadata, such as images, with worldwide accessibility. We demonstrate how the PCRIM system design enables hospitals, patients, and image requestors to obtain patient-centric data in a distributed and secure manner. Finally, we tested the proposed framework in the Windows environment by deploying a smart contract prototype on an Ethereum TESTNET blockchain. The findings of the study indicate that the proposed strategy is both efficient and practicable.

【Keywords】digital health; blockchain; smart contract; Ethereum; distributed storage; IPFS; medical images sharing; health system

【发表时间】2022 NOV

【收录时间】2022-12-08

【文献类型】理论模型

【主题类别】

区块链应用-实体经济-医疗领域