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Blockchain technology and IoT-edge framework for sharing healthcare services

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Abstract

Internet of Things (IoT) can be used in the healthcare sector to exchange patients' information, but there are many concerns about the privacy and security of the patients' confidential information or transferring this information. Data integrity is difficult to ensure since generated data from IoT devices are split into parts and stored in numerous edge servers in various locations. Data loss and improper data storage in edge servers make it difficult to ensure data integrity. The various security challenges and data integrity of edge computing can be handled by integrating blockchain (BC) technologies. BC paradigm provides a new infrastructure and security rules to enable IoT devices to get trusted interoperability for information and business. So, many healthcare institutions based on BC technology have the ability for data storage and support trust. This work aims to presents an IoT-Edge framework for the exchange of data without changing utilizing data processing and BC techniques. IoT devices can monitor follow the patient's status remotely and subsequently overcome the possibility of difficult cases. The proposed system presents many healthcare institutions' features by providing the complete preservation of patients' data with its confidential transmission and submits the results of the patient examination safely. The proposed system is user-friendly and offers the required utilities for integrity and confidentiality of information. Some simulation and performance experiments are conducted; the findings indicate an acceptable performance as an IoT-Edge framework based on BC technology.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University through the Fast-track Research Funding Program. The authors thank all participants especially Almayouf RY, Alghamdi ST, Almutairi AS, Chehab, SM, Alasmari BM and Altherw RH.

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  1. Information Systems Department, College of Computer and Information Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Ala Saleh Alluhaidan

  2. Electrical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering-Shoubra, Benha University, Cairo, Egypt

    Sahar A. ElRahman

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ElRahman, S.A., Alluhaidan, A.S. Blockchain technology and IoT-edge framework for sharing healthcare services. Soft Comput 25, 13753–13777 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-021-06041-4

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