A Robust Blockchain Architecture for Electronic Health Data using Efficient Lightweight Encryption Model with Re-Encryption Scheme

Abstract

The handling of electronic health records (EHRs) from the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is one of the most challenging research areas as it consists of sensitive information which is a target for attackers. Also, it is highly complex and expensive to deal with modern healthcare systems as it requires a lot of secured storage space. However, these problems can be mitigated with the improvement in health record management using blockchain technology. To improve data security, patient privacy, and scalability, the proposed work develops a scalable lightweight framework based on blockchain technology. Initially, the COVID-19 related data records are hashed by using an enhanced Merkle tree (EMT) data structure. The hashed values are encrypted by lattice-based cryptography with a Homomorphic Proxy Re-Encryption scheme (LBC-HPRS) in which the input data are secured. After the completion of the encryption process, the blockchain uses IPFS to store secured information. Finally, the Proof of Work (PoW) concept is utilized to verify and validate the security of the input COVID-based data records. The experimental setup of the proposed work is performed by using a python tool and the performance metrics like encryption time, re-encryption time, decryption time, overall processing time and latency prove the efficacy of the proposed schemes.