Comparative study on electrocardiogram encryption using elliptic curves cryptography and data encryption standard for applications in Internet of medical things

Abstract

SummaryElectrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring systems are widely used in tele‐cardiology healthcare and applications of Internet of Medical Things. In order to guarantee the rapidity, stability, and accuracy of ECG signals in acquisition and transmission, the data delay, loss, and destruction must be considered in dynamic ECG monitoring system. Hence, data encryption as a key processing technique must carefully be selected in such applications. In this article, we comparatively studied the data encryption standard (DES) and elliptic curves cryptography (ECC) for applications in remote ECG monitoring. The study revealed that although both the encryption methods could effectively protect the integrity of data and ensure the operation of ECG monitoring system, the ECC method perform better than DES especially from the perspective of rapidity. In conclusion, the ECC is recommended as the candidate of encryption method in remote ECG monitoring systems.