Decentralized Medical Image Sharing: A Blockchain Based Approach with Subject Sensitive Hashing for Enhanced Privacy and Integrity

Abstract

This research presents a blockchain-based framework for secure and efficient medical image sharing, prioritizing data integrity and privacy. The framework involves two key phases: image compression with feature extraction and image encryption with storage on the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS). Medical images are compressed using the JPEG algorithm to reduce file size while maintaining diagnostic value. A deep neural network-based subject sensitive hashing (SSH) algorithm ensures feature map integrity by extracting consistent features from both original and compressed images. Encrypted images, along with SSH-generated hashes, are securely stored in the IPFS server. The encryption key and hash sequence are used for secure image retrieval, with smart contracts validating access requests based on the hash sequence. This multi-stage feature extraction approach demonstrates robust image integrity, security, and privacy, as verified by experimental results. Achieving an average correctness rate of 98% across multiple datasets, the framework significantly enhances healthcare data management by addressing the challenges of secure, scalable, and private medical image sharing. This research contributes to the development of more efficient, reliable, and privacy-conscious solutions for medical image handling in healthcare systems.