Elliptic curve-based encryption for medical imaging
Ammar Odeh, Qasem S. Abu Al-Haija, Walid A. Salameh, Anas Abu Taleb · IET conference proceedings. · 2025
As technology increasingly permeates our daily lives, the role of cryptography has become crucial, especially in the healthcare sector. Medical scans' confidentiality is paramount; unauthorized access or leakage could lead to severe privacy violations and potential misuse of personal data. Cryptography safeguards the privacy and integrity of this data, ensuring that only authorized medical personnel can access sensitive patient information. Among the various encryption techniques, elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) stands out for its efficiency and strong security features, which are particularly suited for protecting digital medical images. ECC uses the properties of elliptic curves over finite fields to provide faster, more secure encryption than traditional methods like RSA, making it ideal for environments where processing power and storage are at a premium. Moreover, the demand for robust cryptographic solutions has surged with the advent of telemedicine and mobile health applications. These platforms require the secure transmission of medical data across networks, where ECC can play a vital role in preventing potential cyber threats. As we advance, the integration of cutting-edge cryptographic techniques will continue to be a critical component in protecting the sanctity of medical data and ensuring the trustworthiness of our healthcare systems.