An Agent Framework for Dynamic Health Data Aggregation for Research Purposes

This paper presents a model of a MAS framework for dynamic aggregation of population health data for research purposes. The contribution of the paper is twofold: First, it describes a MAS architecture that allows one to built on the fly anonymized databases from the distributed sources of data. Second, it shows how to improve the utility of the data with the growth of the database

Security Engineering of Patient-Centered Health Care Information Systems in Peer-to-Peer Environments: Systematic Review

Background: Patient-centered health care information systems (PHSs) enable patients to take control and become knowledgeable about their own health, preferably in a secure environment. Current and emerging PHSs use either a centralized database, peer-to-peer (P2P) technology, or distributed ledger technology for PHS deployment. The evolving COVID-19 decentralized Bluetooth-based tracing systems are examples of disease-centric P2P PHSs. Although using P2P technology for the provision of PHSs can be flexible, scalable, resilient to a single point of failure, and inexpensive for patients, the use of health information on P2P networks poses major security issues as users must manage information security largely by themselves. Objective: This study aims to identify the inherent security issues for PHS deployment in P2P networks and how they can be overcome. In addition, this study reviews different P2P architectures and proposes a suitable architecture for P2P PHS deployment. Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) reporting guidelines. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. We searched the following databases: IEEE Digital Library, PubMed, Science Direct, ACM Digital Library, Scopus, and Semantic Scholar. The search was conducted on articles published between 2008 and 2020. The Common Vulnerability Scoring System was used as a guide for rating security issues. Results: Our findings are consolidated into 8 key security issues associated with PHS implementation and deployment on P2P networks and 7 factors promoting them. Moreover, we propose a suitable architecture for P2P PHSs and guidelines for the provision of PHSs while maintaining information security. Conclusions: Despite the clear advantages of P2P PHSs, the absence of centralized controls and inconsistent views of the network on some P2P systems have profound adverse impacts in terms of security. The security issues identified in this study need to be addressed to increase patients\u27 intention to use PHSs on P2P networks by making them safe to use

A Multiagent System for Dynamic Data Aggregation in Medical Research

The collection of medical data for research purposes is a challenging and long-lasting process. In an effort to accelerate and facilitate this process we propose a new framework for dynamic aggregation of medical data from distributed sources. We use agent-based coordination between medical and research institutions. Our system employs principles of peer-to-peer network organization and coordination models to search over already constructed distributed databases and to identify the potential contributors when a new database has to be built. Our framework takes into account both the requirements of a research study and current data availability. This leads to better definition of database characteristics such as schema, content, and privacy parameters. We show that this approach enables a more efficient way to collect data for medical research

Implementation of an agents based system for anonymous medical database retrieval

The aim of this thesis is to describe and develop in detail the implementation of a Dynamic Health Data Aggregation System for research purposes in the framework of ISyPeM2. The motivation of this work responds to the need of simple, efficient and secure systems to perform medical research using patient sensitive data, which for the time being is handicapped by several requirements such as previously established agreements between institutions, heterogeneous databases and privacy issues. This thesis aims to document the implementation of a system that addresses these issues. To implement the system, we used the principles of P2P networks for discovery of data sources (the nodes in the system), the functionality of a Multi-Agent System for coordination between data sources and the use of anonymization techniques to preserve the patient’s privacy. The thesis first examines the motivation and application for such systems, as well as the concepts needed to understand the components that conform the system and then it will proceed to present the state of the art for similar or related systems and technologies being developed for the same purpose. Afterwards, the components in the implementation will be detailed. After that, there is an in-depth explanation on how the system works and the components it is comprised, along with other implementation details, as well as a description of the development environment. In the final chapters, the results from the tests performed and the conclusions of this work will be presented, and in the appendices, there is a description of the datasets used for the performance tests, as well as the last review of the implementation code.L’objectiu d’aquesta tesi és descriure amb detall el desenvolupament e implementació d’un Sistema d’Agregació de Dades Mèdiques per a la recerca en el marc de ISyPeM2. La motivació d’aquest treball respòn a la necessitat de sistemes senzills, efficients i segurs per realitzar investigació mèdica fent servir dades sensibles dels pacients. En aquests moments, aquests sistemes són limitats per varis requeriments com acords preestablerts entre institucions, bases de dades heterogenies i problemes de privacitat. Aqueta tesi documenta la implementació d’un sistema que adreça aquests problemes. Per implementar el sistema, utilitzem els principis de xarxes P2P per descobrir les fonts de dades (els nodes del sistema), la funcionalitat de Sistemes Multi Agent per la coordinació entre fonts de dades i l’ús de tècniques d’anonimització per preservar l’identitat del pacient. Aquesta tesi primer examina la motivació i aplicació d’aquests sistemes, com també els conceptes necessaris per comprendre els components que el formen, després es procedirà a presentar el State of the art per veure tecnologies similars o relacionades que estiguin sent desenvolipades amb el mateix propòsit. A continuació ens capbussarem en els components de la implementació. Després hi ha una explicació detallada de com funciona el sistema i els components que el formen, junt amb altres detalls de la implementació i una descripció de l’entorn de desenvolupament. En els últims capítols, es presentaràn els resultats dels test que s’han dut a terme. En els apèndixs s’inclou una descripció dels datasets que s’han fet servir pels experiments, juntament amb una còpia de l’última revisió del codi de l’implementació final.El objetivo de esta tésis es describir con detalle el desarrollo e implementación de un Sistema de Agregación de Datos Médicos para la investigación en el marco de ISyPeM2. La motivación de este trabajo responde a la necesidad de sistemas sencillos, eficientes y seguros para realizar investiación médica utlizando datos sensibles de los pacientes. Actualmente, estos sistemas estan limitados por varios requerimimentos como acuerdos preestablecidos entre instituciones, bases de datos heterogéneas, y problemas de privacidad. Esta tésis documenta la implementación de un sistema que trata estos problemas. Para implementar el sistema, utilizamos los principios de redes P2P para descubrir las fuentes de datos (los nodos del sistema), la funcionalidad de Sistemas Multi Agente para la coordinación entre fuentes de datos y el uso de técnicas de anonimización para preservar la identidad del paciente. Esta tesis primero indaga en la motivación y la aplicación para estos sistemas, como también en los conceptos necesarios para entender los componentes que conforman el sistema, luego se procederá a presentar el State of the art para ver tecnologías similares o relacionadas que estén siendo desarrolladas con el mismo propósito. A continuación entraremos de cabeza en los componentes de la implementación. Después hay una explicación detallada de como funciona el sistema y los componentes que lo forman, junto con otros detalles de la implementación y una descripción de el entorno de desarrollo. En los últimos capítulos, se presentarán los resultados de los test que se han llevado a cabo. En los apéndices se incluye una descripción de los datasets utilizados para los experimentos, junto con una copia de la última revisión del código de la implementación final

Arizona Health Information Exchange

abstract: Arizona strives to be the national role model for the secure, interoperable health information exchange to facilitate safe, secure, high quality and cost effective health care. The purpose of the Health Information Exchange in Arizona is to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of wellness in the Arizona population by securely connecting patients and health care providers so that relevant and understandable information is available anytime, anywhere

Agent Environments for Multi-agent Systems – A Research Roadmap

Ten years ago, researchers in multi-agent systems became more and more aware that agent systems consist of more than only agents. The series of workshops on Environments for Multi-Agent Systems (E4MAS 2004-2006) emerged from this awareness. One of the primary outcomes of this endeavor was a principled understanding that the agent environment should be considered as a primary design abstraction, equally important as the agents. A special issue in JAAMAS 2007 contributed a set of influential papers that define the role of agent environments, describe their engineering, and outline challenges in the field that have been the drivers for numerous follow up research efforts. The goal of this paper is to wrap up what has been achieved in the past 10 years and identify challenges for future research on agent environments. Instead of taking a broad perspective, we focus on three particularly relevant topics of modern software intensive systems: large scale, openness, and humans in the loop. For each topic, we reflect on the challenges outlined 10 years ago, present an example application that highlights the current trends, and from that outline challenges for the future. We conclude with a roadmap on how the different challenges could be tackled. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015.Peer reviewe

Securely sharing dynamic medical information in e-health

This thesis has introduced an infrastructure to share dynamic medical data between mixed health care providers in a secure way, which could benefit the health care system as a whole. The study results of the universally data sharing into a varied patient information system prototypes