Vinícius Lima1,2, Filipe Bernardi1,2, Rui Rijo3, Jó Ueyama4, Domingos Alves5. 1. Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. 2. Bioengineering Postgraduate Program, São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil. 3. School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Leiria, Portugal. 4. Institute of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil. 5. Department of Social Medicine, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Intensified research and innovation and rapid uptake of new tools, interventions, and strategies are crucial to fight Tuberculosis, the world's deadliest infectious disease. The sharing of health data remains a significant challenge. Data consumers must be able to verify the consistency and integrity of data. Solutions based on distributed ledger technologies may be adequate, where each member in a network holds a unique credential and stores an identical copy of the ledger and contributes to the collective process of validating and certifying digital transactions. OBJECTIVES: This work proposes a mechanism and presents a use case in Digital Health to allow the verification of integrity and immutability of TB electronic health records. METHODS: IOTA was selected as a supporting tool due to its data immutability, traceability and tamper-proof characteristics. RESULTS: A mechanism to verify the integrity of data through hash functions and the IOTA network is proposed. Then, a set of TB related information systems was integrated with the network. CONCLUSION: IOTA technology offers performance and flexibility to enable a reliable environment for electronic health records.
BACKGROUND: Intensified research and innovation and rapid uptake of new tools, interventions, and strategies are crucial to fight Tuberculosis, the world's deadliest infectious disease. The sharing of health data remains a significant challenge. Data consumers must be able to verify the consistency and integrity of data. Solutions based on distributed ledger technologies may be adequate, where each member in a network holds a unique credential and stores an identical copy of the ledger and contributes to the collective process of validating and certifying digital transactions. OBJECTIVES: This work proposes a mechanism and presents a use case in Digital Health to allow the verification of integrity and immutability of TB electronic health records. METHODS:IOTA was selected as a supporting tool due to its data immutability, traceability and tamper-proof characteristics. RESULTS: A mechanism to verify the integrity of data through hash functions and the IOTA network is proposed. Then, a set of TB related information systems was integrated with the network. CONCLUSION:IOTA technology offers performance and flexibility to enable a reliable environment for electronic health records.
Entities:
Keywords:
Computer Security; Electronic Health Records; Health Informatics; Tuberculosis
Authors: Mohd Majid Akhtar; Danish Raza Rizvi; Mohd Abdul Ahad; Salil S Kanhere; Mohammad Amjad; Giuseppe Coviello Journal: Sensors (Basel) Date: 2021-06-25 Impact factor: 3.576