A Framework for Securing Health Information Using Blockchain in Cloud Hosted Cyber Physical Systems

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have undergone numerous technical improvements in recent years, including the incorporation of mobile devices with the cloud computing technologies to facilitate medical data exchanges between patients and the healthcare professionals. This cutting-edge architecture enables cyber physical systems housed in the cloud to provide healthcare services with minimal operational costs, high flexibility, security, and EHR accessibility. If patient health information is stored in the hospital database, there will always be a risk of intrusion, i.e., unauthorized file access and information modification by attackers. To address this concern, we propose a decentralized EHR system based on Blockchain technology. To facilitate secure EHR exchange across various patients and medical providers, we develop a reliable access control method based on smart contracts. We incorporate Cryptocurrency, specifically Ethereum, in the suggested system to protect sensitive health information from potential attackers. In our suggested approach, both physicians and patients are required to be authenticated. Patients can register, and a block with a unique hash value will be generated. Once the patient discusses the disease with the physician, the physician can check the patient's condition and offer drugs. For experimental findings, we employ the public Block chain Ganache and solidity remix-based smart contracts to protect privacy. Ethers are used as the crypto currencies

Revolutionizing Healthcare through Health Monitoring Applications with Wearable Biomedical Devices

The Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionized the connectivity and communication of tangible objects, and it serves as a versatile and cost-effective solution in the healthcare sector, particularly in regions with limited healthcare infrastructure. This research explores the application of sensors such as LM35, AD8232, and MAX30100 for the detection of vital health indicators, including body temperature, pulse rate, electrocardiogram (ECG), and oxygen saturation levels, with data transmission through IoT cloud, offering real-time parameter access via an Android application for non-invasive remote patient monitoring. The study aims to expand healthcare services to various settings, such as hospitals, commercial areas, educational institutions, workplaces, and residential neighborhoods. After the COVID-19 pandemic, IoT-enabled continuous monitoring of critical health metrics such as temperature and pulse rate has become increasingly crucial for early illness detection and efficient communication with healthcare providers. Our low-cost wearable device, which includes ECG monitoring, aims to bridge the accessibility gap for people with limited financial resources, with the primary goal of providing efficient healthcare solutions to underserved rural areas while also contributing valuable data to future medical research. Our proposed system is a low-cost, high-efficiency solution that outperforms existing systems in healthcare data collection and patient monitoring. It improves access to vital health data and shows economic benefits, indicating a significant advancement in healthcare technology

Industry 4.0 perspectives in the health sector in Brazil

Health 4.0 can be understood as the set of procedures that seek to improve the efficiency and speed of health professionals with possible guidelines for combining patient data in hospitals. However, systematizing and qualitatively describing the contributions of industry 4.0 in the context of the Brazilian health sector is a complex task. The aim of this paper is to present an analysis of industry 4.0 related to the health sector and its respective characteristics in Brazil. In addition, it discusses the prospects for greater use of technology in health care. In methodological terms, an exploratory field research was conducted with a non-random and intentional sample of professionals working in the technological context of Brazilian health. The research is classified as descriptive and qualitative, exploratory. The results contribute to narrow the information gap about industry 4.0 in the Brazilian health sector. The study allowed to develop a concept map of health 4.0 regarding the professional profile, considering the adoption of technologies that may favor the sector

Telehealth technology: Potentials, challenges and research directions for developing countries

Telehealth has been developed and successfully applied in clinical practices, gained a strong interest and demonstrated its usefulness for medical diagnosis, treatments and rehabilitation worldwide. The advent of high speed communication technology and complex signal processing techniques, and recent advancements in cloud and cognitive computing, has created a new wave of opportunities for delivering remote healthcare applications and services, where the cost-effective diagnosis and treatment solutions as well as healthcare services are important and need to be deployed widely. Nevertheless, there is still a significant challenge in fully adopting this technology due to asymmetry among the healthcare centers, hospitals and the user-ends, especially in developing countries. This paper provides an overview of the telehealth, then to addresses the possible telehealth technologies and applications that could be applied to improve the healthcare service performance, with the focus on the developing countries. The incorporation of different technologies in telehealth including, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud and cognitive computing, medical image processing and effective encoding is introduced and discussed. Finally, the possible research directions, challenges for the efficient telehealth, and potential research and technology collaborations are outlined

Interoperability between information systems of the results of clinical analysis and electronic record of the patient

The issue of interoperability between institutions in underdeveloped countries always presents good opportunities for science to contribute to substantial improvements in real-world issues. Basic support systems, such as health institutions, are among those that can benefit most from scientific advances. This paper reports an analysis made on the lack of interoperability between health institutions, specifically with regard to the interaction between physicians' offices and clinical analysis laboratory. This research was validated with a real practical use case that is presented in this paper. In order to make the information stored in different computer applications of the health information system (HIS), more specifically in the Hospital Center Dr. Ayres de Menezes, in São Tomé and Príncipe, interoperable, two distinct applications were developed, Patient Management System (PMS) and Clinical Analysis Laboratory Management System (LMS) to implement interoperability between them. In this way, take advantage of the interoperability logic implemented between these two applications and later integrate other systems. The PMS requests medical exams through your Medical Consultation panel. The second system, LMS receives the exam request and after the exams are processed and validated, the results are sent to the requesting system. To make the interoperability service effective, the SOAP protocol was used, which allowed the exchange of information synchronously between these two applications, allowing for faster transactions of patients' pathological data, and greater confidentiality of this same information. And as the work progressed, we felt the need to create a functional prototype with REST to meet the cloud model proposal.A questão da interoperabilidade entre instituições em países subdesenvolvidos sempre apresenta boas oportunidades para a ciência contribuir para melhorias substanciais em questões do mundo real. Os sistemas de apoio básico, como as instituições de saúde, estão entre os que mais podem se beneficiar dos avanços científicos. Este trabalho relata uma análise feita sobre a falta de interoperabilidade entre instituições de saúde, especificamente no que diz respeito à interação entre consultórios médicos e laboratórios de análises clínicas. Esta pesquisa foi validada com um caso de uso prático real que é apresentado neste trabalho. De forma a tornar a informação armazenada nas diferentes aplicações informáticas do sistema nacional de saúde (SIS), mais concretamente no Centro Hospitalar Dr. Ayres de Menezes, em São Tomé e Príncipe, interoperáveis, foram desenvolvidas duas aplicações distintas, Sistema de Gestão de Pacientes (SGP) e Sistema de Gestão do Laboratório de Análises Clínicas (SGL) para implementar a interoperabilidade entre eles. Desta forma, aproveitar a lógica implementada entre estas duas aplicações e posteriormente integrar outros sistemas. O SGP solicita exames médicos através do seu painel de Consulta Médica. O segundo sistema, o SGL, recebe a solicitação dos exames e após os exames serem processados e validados, os resultados são enviados ao sistema solicitante. Para tornar o serviço de interoperabilidade efetivo, foi utilizado o protocolo SOAP, que permitiu a troca de informações de forma síncrona entre essas duas aplicações. Por outro lado, sentimos a necessidade de criar um protótipo funcional com REST para atender a proposta do modelo em nuvem

Blockchain for Healthcare Systems: Concepts, Applications, Challenges, and Future Trends

-Electronic medical records are digital documents that contain medical data pertaining to a patient\u27s medical care. Because electronic health records are regularly exchanged amongst stakeholders in healthcare, they are prone to a range of challenges such as data misuse and loss of privacy and security. These challenges may be solved by utilizing blockchain-based technologies in the healthcare area. Blockchain is a decentralized innovative technology that can completely transform, reshape, and reinvent how data is stored and processed in the healthcare sector. In this article, we offer an overview of the blockchain, its formation, its types, and how it works. We review the various applications of blockchain in the medical field and how Blockchain revolutionized the medical industry. We highlight previous scientific research on the application of blockchain to electronic health record systems (EHRs). Finally, we discuss the open research problems that limit the use of blockchain in the medical field

A FRAMEWORK FOR A CLOUD-BASED ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS SYSTEM FOR NIGERIA

  In most countries of the developed world, one of the integral components of Health Information System (HIS) is Electronic Health Records (EHR). With advances in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and the rise in the adoption of cloud computing approaches in the health sector of these countries by a substantial number of health institutions, cloud servers are now remote repository of EHRs. However, in Nigeria and many other developing countries, health information of patients is still predominantly paper-based medical records. This manual method is not scalable in terms of storage, prone to error, insecure, susceptible to damage and degradation over time, highly unavailable, time consuming in accessing and with no visible audit trail and version history to mention but a few. In this paper, a framework for a cloud-based electronic health records system that is capable of storage, retrieval and updating of patients’ medical records for Nigeria is proposed. The framework provides for various medical stakeholders in a health institution and patients to access the EHR system via a web portal by using a variety of devices in the contextual scenario whereby the health institution is migrating from paper-based patient record documentation to an EHR system

Internet of Things brings Revolution in eHealth: Achievements and Challenges

The medical field has benefited greatly from the technological revolution around our world, as well as the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT aims to make life easier and more convenient by bridging the various gaps in connecting various devices that people employ. A wide range of applications and technologies, including wearable device development, advanced care services, personalized care packages, and remote patient monitoring, benefit healthcare professionals and patients. These technologies gave rise to new terms such as the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), the Internet of Health Things (IoHT), e-Health, and telemedicine. With the advent of technology and the availability of various connected devices, smart healthcare, which has grown in popularity in recent years, has been positively redefined. Through the selection of literature reviews, we systematically investigate how the adoption (and integration) of IoT technologies in healthcare is changing the way traditional services and products are delivered. This paper outlines (i) selected IoT technologies and paradigms related to health care, as well as, (ii) various implementation scenarios for IoT-based models. It also discusses (iii) the various advantages of these applications and finally, (iv) a summary of lessons learned and recommendations for future applications