A Comprehensive Assessment of Blockchain Technology in the Healthcare Industry and Techniques to Store Medical Image
Aditi Sharma, Rajesh Kumar Kaushal, Naveen Kumar · 2024
Research on blockchain technology is now growing at a rapid pace. At first, Bitcoin was managed via a system known as the blockchain, but over time, it expanded into other industries, such as real estate transactions, supply chain management, healthcare, and the Internet of medical things. It is a distributed database that continuously grows its list of entries, known as blocks, to protect it from manipulation and tampering. This paper explores the integration of blockchain technology with the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) in the healthcare industry specifically focusing on the storage of medical images and remote patient monitoring (RPM). The study investigates the implications of blockchain in enhancing patient privacy data security interoperability and healthcare delivery within the IoMT network. Various techniques for storing medical images on a blockchain network are compared including PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System), IPFS (Interplanetary File System), and off-chain storage with hash referencing methods. The analysis includes considerations of security cost-effectiveness scalability and data integrity. This study emphasizes the need for blockchain-enabled RPM solutions in improving healthcare delivery, increasing patient involvement, and simplifying physician processes by reviewing the human condition of current literature and research data.