Implementation and evaluation of a decentralized medical data exchange system based on the IOTA Tangle and approximate algorithms for optimal data placement

Abstract

©   Voronin V., Rybalchenko A., Shmatko O., Kolomiitsev O., Tretiak V., Kliuchka Ya., 2023   Facilitating the transfer of patient medical information across healthcare providers is crucial for ensuring high-quality care. However, this process encounters obstacles pertaining to privacy, security, and centralised control. This article outlines the creation of a decentralised system for exchanging medical data. The system utilises Distributed Ledger Technology, specifically the IOTA Tangle (open protocol (and network) for data and value transfer). This document outlines the structure and fundamental elements of a system designed for the secure and unalterable storage and transfer of medical records. The system employs masking and encryption methodologies to protect patient confidentiality while enabling healthcare practitioners to access complete information with patient authorization. The IOTA Tangle facilitates transactions without any fees and ensures the verification of data integrity through its Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) topology. Simulation trials validate the system’s capability to securely communicate medical data on a large scale, while incurring lower resource costs than typical blockchain systems. The system demonstrates the feasibility of a decentralised and self-governing method for efficient and confidential sharing of medical data, utilising Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). The secure data sharing platform facilitates the implementation of novel care and research frameworks, all the while upholding patient confidentiality and adhering to healthcare ethical standards. Also, in the development of billing Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) systems, which are designed for input, structured storage and processing of information in real time, the use of cloud technology is proposed. The problems that arise and their relevance to the solution of an integer linear programming problem with Boolean variables are shown. Approximate algorithms for optimal data placement and mathematical models for optimizing the structure of a distributed database of a cloud system are proposed, taking into account the limitations on the amount of node memory, the available costs of renting cloud resources, and the number of replicas of fragments of the distributed database.