A robust NIfTI image authentication framework to ensure reliable and safe diagnosis

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Digital Security
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Digital medical imaging is vital for disease diagnosis and telemedicine.
• Increasing reliance on digital images heightens risks of data tampering and authenticity issues.
• Secure authentication methods are essential for NIfTI (Neuroimaging Informatics Technology Initiative) image formats.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a robust and secure watermarking technique for NIfTI image authentication.
• To ensure the integrity and ownership of digital medical images against unauthorized access and manipulation.
• To evaluate the proposed method's performance in terms of security, imperceptibility, and robustness.

Main Methods:

• A hybrid watermarking approach integrating Slantlet transform and Hessenberg matrix decomposition.
• Watermark scrambling using Affine transform before embedding into NIfTI image slices.
• Embedding watermarks in the LL subband of the Hessenberg decomposition for energy retention.

Main Results:

• The proposed hybrid method demonstrates superior performance over existing techniques.
• High performance metrics including PSNR (60-61 dB), SSIM, and NC (close to one) indicate excellent image quality and watermark detection.
• The method proved effective against various image processing threats, confirming its robustness.

Conclusions:

• The developed watermarking technique offers a reliable and secure solution for authenticating NIfTI medical images.
• This advancement has significant implications for enhancing security in digital healthcare and telemedicine.
• The method effectively safeguards the authenticity and ownership of critical medical imaging data.