Medical data sheet in safe havens - A tri-layer cryptic solution

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging Security
• Cryptography
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Secure sharing of diagnostic reports and DICOM images is crucial for collaborative patient care.
• Existing methods may not adequately protect patient privacy during inter-physician referrals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and implement a secure, tri-layer encryption solution for DICOM images.
• To ensure patient privacy and enable effective peer-to-peer referrals for collaborative treatment.

Main Methods:

• A novel algorithm combining Latin Square Image Cipher (LSIC), Discrete Gould Transform (DGT), and Rubik's encryption.
• Implementation in MATLAB and Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) environments.
• Testing under Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel conditions.

Main Results:

• LSIC provides substitution, confusion, and shuffling; DGT offers tamper-proofing and authentication; Rubik's encryption permutes pixels.
• The algorithm demonstrated a large key space, strong key sensitivity, and uniform pixel distribution.
• Validation using UACI, NPCR, correlation values, and histograms confirmed robustness.

Conclusions:

• The developed tri-layer cryptic solution effectively secures DICOM images for collaborative diagnostics.
• The method offers superior protection against attacks compared to existing techniques.
• This enhances secure communication in medical imaging, supporting faster, decisive patient care.