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Decentralising the Internet of Medical Things with Distributed Ledger Technologies and Off-Chain Storages: A Proof of Concept

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Smart Objects and Technologies for Social Good (GOODTECHS 2021)

Abstract

The privacy issue limits the Internet of Medical Things. Medical information would enhance new medical studies, formulate new treatments, and deliver new digital health technologies. Solving the sharing issue will have a triple impact: handling sensitive information easily, contributing to international medical advancements, and enabling personalised care. A possible solution could be to decentralise the notion of privacy, distributing it directly to users. Solutions enabling this vision are closely linked to Distributed Ledger Technologies. This technology would allow privacy-compliant solutions in contexts where privacy is the first need through its characteristics of immutability and transparency. This work lays the foundations for a system that can provide adequate security in terms of privacy, allowing the sharing of information between participants. We introduce an Internet of Medical Things application use case called “Balance”, networks of trusted peers to manage sensitive data access called “Halo”, and eventually leverage Smart Contracts to safeguard third party rights over data. This architecture should enable the theoretical vision of privacy-based healthcare solutions running in a decentralised manner.

This research was funded by Regione Marche with DDPF n. 1189 and by the Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Urbino.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Urbino, Piazza della Repubblica 13, 61029, Urbino, Italy

    Gioele Bigini, Valerio Freschi, Alessandro Bogliolo & Emanuele Lattanzi

  2. DIGIT srl, Corso Garibaldi 66-68, 61029, Urbino, Italy

    Alessandro Bogliolo

Authors
  1. Gioele Bigini
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  2. Valerio Freschi
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  3. Alessandro Bogliolo
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  4. Emanuele Lattanzi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gioele Bigini .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Telecomunicações, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal

    Ivan Miguel Pires

  2. Marche Polytechnic University, Ancona, Italy

    Susanna Spinsante

  3. Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, Sts Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, North Macedonia

    Eftim Zdravevski

  4. Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, Sts Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, North Macedonia

    Petre Lameski

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© 2021 ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

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Bigini, G., Freschi, V., Bogliolo, A., Lattanzi, E. (2021). Decentralising the Internet of Medical Things with Distributed Ledger Technologies and Off-Chain Storages: A Proof of Concept. In: Pires, I.M., Spinsante, S., Zdravevski, E., Lameski, P. (eds) Smart Objects and Technologies for Social Good. GOODTECHS 2021. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 401. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91421-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91421-9_7

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-91420-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-91421-9

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