FogChain: A Fog Computing Architecture Integrating Blockchain and Internet of Things for Personal Health Records

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) adoption grows significantly and is successful in many different domains. Nevertheless, the ever-growing demand for more connected devices pushes the requirement for scalable IoT architectures capable of maintaining the security and privacy of collected data. The latter is a particularly critical aspect when considering sensitive data, e.g., medical records. One solution to address this challenge is to modify the centralized back-end model to one based on a Blockchain, changing the way IoT data is stored and shared by providing a decentralized peer-to-peer network. This technology enables naming and tracking for connected devices, and in the case of this article, features a high availability of Personal Health Records, yet protecting patients' privacy through the use of cryptography. Furthermore, the addition of Fog computing mechanisms helps to achieve real-time data processing, supports precision medicine, and avoids single points of failure. As a result, devices have a local and more resilient ecosystem for operation. In this context, this work proposes an architecture model named FogChain, which combines the technologies Blockchain, Fog computing, and the IoT for the healthcare domain. Our main contribution is the FogChain model itself, and its concept of overcoming IoT constraints by employing a differential approach, adding an intermediary Fog layer near to the edge to improve their capabilities and resources. Experiments demonstrate that FogChain can achieve a 62.6% faster response time when compared to Cloudlike Blockchain infrastructures. The results obtained from the evaluation endorses the capacity of our model in achieving its goals while retaining application performance.

Application of privacy protection technology to healthcare big data

“…Other studies explain how blockchain has been applied to all aspects of storage, management, and exchange of medical data without focusing solely on EHR exchanges [13][14][15][16][18][19][20][21]. Some studies have focused solely on the security of health information derived from wearable devices and Internet of Things (IoT) devices [13,14,18,19].…”

“…Other studies explain how blockchain has been applied to all aspects of storage, management, and exchange of medical data without focusing solely on EHR exchanges [13][14][15][16][18][19][20][21]. Some studies have focused solely on the security of health information derived from wearable devices and Internet of Things (IoT) devices [13,14,18,19]. The IoT technology refers to a network of physical objects with built-in Internet-enabled software and sensor devices and data collected from the device is managed and exchanged without being directly operated by a person [13].…”

“…Some studies have focused solely on the security of health information derived from wearable devices and Internet of Things (IoT) devices [13,14,18,19]. The IoT technology refers to a network of physical objects with built-in Internet-enabled software and sensor devices and data collected from the device is managed and exchanged without being directly operated by a person [13]. Such technology is being extensively applied in the medical eld.…”

Internet das Coisas de Saúde: aplicando IoT, interoperabilidade e aprendizado de máquina com foco no paciente

“…A tecnologia blockchain permite o rastreamento de dados criptografados através de uma série contínua de registros que ocorrem em blocos descentralizados e independentes, sem a possibilidade de mudança da sequência, garantindo o acesso e a confiabilidade da informação [53]. Por ser um sistema distribuído, todos os blocos possuem uma cópia das informações gravadas garantindo uma maior segurança contra possíveis ataques e perdas dos dados [54]. Entre os blocos, há uma cadeia de validações que garantem a integridade 22°Simpósio Brasileiro de Computação Aplicada à Saúde (SBCAS 2022) do conteúdo dos arquivos e a confidencialidade do acesso através de uma função denominada hash, que permite compactar as informações dentro de um padrão fixo [54].…”

“…Por ser um sistema distribuído, todos os blocos possuem uma cópia das informações gravadas garantindo uma maior segurança contra possíveis ataques e perdas dos dados [54]. Entre os blocos, há uma cadeia de validações que garantem a integridade 22°Simpósio Brasileiro de Computação Aplicada à Saúde (SBCAS 2022) do conteúdo dos arquivos e a confidencialidade do acesso através de uma função denominada hash, que permite compactar as informações dentro de um padrão fixo [54]. Esses quatro pontos, confiabilidade do acesso, integridade dos dados, arquitetura descentraliza e imutabilidade são os pilares fundamentais para a estrutura do blockchain [55].…”