A Blockchain and Steganography Based Approach for Storing and Accessing Medical Images

In today’s heavily digitalised world, cyber security is essential when it comes to safeguarding data and networks from malware attacks. Blockchain technology presents a data structure that is inherently secure. This paper extrapolates the concept of a blockchain to create an imagechain where the image itself acts as a block. The idea of an imagechain when combined with the technique of steganography enables us to hide data within an image. This study also addresses the difficulty in accessing medical images remotely, as in the current paradigm, patients usually have to rely on carrying a physical copy. The proposed imagechain creates a distributed network, allowing the concerned figure to access and retrieve the medical image from any node in the network. In essence, this study intends to improve the way medical images are shared across various stakeholders in a healthcare ecosystem and aims to provide a safe and secure model for the same using a combination of blockchain and image steganography.