Efficient Storage and Encryption of 32-Slice CT Scan Images Using Phase Grating.

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Cryptography
• Optical Engineering

Background:

• Medical images contain sensitive patient data requiring robust protection during transmission.
• Existing encryption methods often degrade image quality due to noise, limiting their suitability for medical applications.
• Efficient storage and secure transmission are critical challenges in managing large volumes of medical imaging data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel encryption technique for medical images that optimizes storage and enhances security.
• To multiplex and encrypt multiple computed tomography (CT) scan images into a single canvas.
• To evaluate the security and image quality of the proposed encryption method against cyber-attacks.

Main Methods:

• A new method utilizing phase grating to encrypt and multiplex 32 cross-sectional CT scan images onto a single canvas.
• Encryption involves a random phase matrix followed by a transposition method.
• Image extraction is achieved using an inverse Fourier transform after decryption.

Main Results:

• Achieved high image quality with a peak-signal-to-noise ratio greater than 38 and a correlation coefficient close to 1.
• Demonstrated robustness against known-plaintext, chosen-plaintext, and chosen-ciphertext attacks, with correlation coefficients near zero.
• The proposed method shows effectiveness compared to existing techniques in terms of security and image quality.

Conclusions:

• The developed phase grating-based encryption method effectively secures medical images while optimizing storage.
• The technique provides high-fidelity image reconstruction and strong resistance to common cyber-attacks.
• This approach offers a promising solution for secure and efficient transmission of medical imaging data.