Crypto-Watermarking of Transmitted Medical Images

Abstract

Telemedicine is a booming healthcare practice that has facilitated the exchange of medical data and expertise between healthcare entities. However, the widespread use of telemedicine applications requires a secured scheme to guarantee confidentiality and verify authenticity and integrity of exchanged medical data. In this paper, we describe a region-based, crypto-watermarking algorithm capable of providing confidentiality, authenticity, and integrity for medical images of different modalities. The proposed algorithm provides authenticity by embedding robust watermarks in images' region of non-interest using SVD in the DWT domain. Integrity is provided in two levels: strict integrity implemented by a cryptographic hash watermark, and content-based integrity implemented by a symmetric encryption-based tamper localization scheme. Confidentiality is achieved as a byproduct of hiding patient's data in the image. Performance of the algorithm was evaluated with respect to imperceptibility, robustness, capacity, and tamper localization, using different medical images. The results showed the effectiveness of the algorithm in providing security for telemedicine applications.

NSCT domain–based secure multiple‐watermarking technique through lightweight encryption for medical images

“…Research established that the combinations of these two security techniques are providing dual-level security for secret/personal information in various applications. 1,4 (A) (B)…”

“…Digitization of modern health care has led to the development and growth of communication and information systems. Nowadays, we find great surge in telehealth applications, such as teleconsulting, telediagnosis, and telesurgery, which are being utilized for providing effective health care facilities 1–4 . This involves the exchange of vital health data among physicians, hospital personnel, and patients, which need to be secured against any form of malicious and unintentional attacks.…”

“…Securing these data helps avoid misdiagnosis, privacy breaches, threat to confidentiality and integrity, and alteration of data 1–4 . Since it involves the transmission of sensitive information over public networks, the threat to security becomes a major issue in this scenario 1,2 . Confidentiality, authenticity, and integrity are the basic components of security.…”

Adaptive medical image encryption algorithm based on multiple chaotic mapping

“…Images are now widely used in modern clinic diagnosis. The diagnostic images with confidential information related to patients’ privacy are stored and transmitted via public networks (Cao et al, 2016, Al-Haj et al, 2017). With the rapid development of the internet and new communication technologies, sharing of information such as image information and position information (Chen and Zou, 2017) has become easier and faster (Kwok and Tang, 2007).…”

A novel approach to medical image watermarking for tamper detection and recovery of region of interest using block compression and checksum

“…Number of lossless compression techniques is available like Huffman coding, Shannon-Fano algorithm, dictionary coding, run length coding etc., [17]. In Al-Haj, Ahmad Mohammad [18], the medical image is divided into ROI and RONI and applied Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) to the medical image, where hash value of watermark is embedded in sub-bands. The disadvantage of this method is that, it is only used for authentication of ROI but it fails in recovering the ROI in case of tampering of ROI.…”