ABSTRACT
We propose a novel framework, Vacledger, for supply chain traceability and counterfeit detection of COVID-19 vaccines using a blockchain network. It includes four smart contracts on a private-permissioned blockchain network for supply chain traceability and counterfeit detection of COVID-19 vaccine, more specifically to (i) handle the rules and regulations of vaccine importing countries and provide authorization for cross the borders (regulatory compliance and border authorization smart contract), (ii) register new and imported vaccines in the Vacledger system (vaccine registration smart contract), (iii) find the number of stocks that have arrived in the Vacledger system (stock accumulation smart contract), and (iv) identify the exact location of the stock (location tracing update smart contract). Our results show that the proposed system keeps track of all activities, events, transactions, and all other past transactions, permanently stored in an immutable Vacledger connected to decentralized peer-to-peer file systems. We observe no algorithm complexity differences between the proposed Vacledger system and existing supply chain frameworks based on different blockchain types. In addition, based on four use cases, we estimate our model's overall gasoline cost (transaction or gas price). The Vacledger system empowers distribution companies to manage their supply chain operations effectively and securely using an in-network, permissioned distributed network. This study employs the COVID-19 vaccine supply chain (the healthcare industry) to demonstrate how the proposed Vacledger system operates. Despite this, our proposed approach might be implemented in other supply chain industries, such as the food industry, energy trading, and commodity transactions.
ABSTRACT
Medical waste management is a challenging problem that not only directly affects the environment but also people's health. This urgent issue is getting more and more attention in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. New infections are increasing exponentially in all countries globally, especially developing countries with large populations (e.g., India, Brazil, Bangladesh). Studies on the spread of the disease have listed one of the causes of this crisis as the Covid-19 waste treatment process not being followed correctly and the difficulty of data retrieval. Vietnam was also severely damaged by the Covid-19 epidemic, although the government initially controlled the disease very well. The Covid-19 waste treatment process in Vietnam is still being processed manually and with a combination of many departments. Data sharing and tracking are also tricky because they are centrally stored in different facilities/departments. In addition, there is a lack of synchronization and transparency of shared data. This paper is one of the first attempts to fill that gaps by applying Blockchain technology and decentralized storage. Relevant parties will retrieve all data, and the source of waste can be easily traced. We also implemented a proof-of-concept based on the Hyperledger Fabric platform to demonstrate the idea's feasibility. In the evaluation, we observe the process of initializing and querying data. These initial efforts will lay the groundwork for more in-depth studies to create an initiative for Vietnam's medical waste treatment process when faced with a new wave of infections or another epidemic. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
ABSTRACT
As the COVID-19 continues to spread globally, more and more companies are transforming into remote online offices, leading to the expansion of electronic signatures. However, the existing electronic signatures platform has the problem of data-centered management. The system is subject to data loss, tampering, and leakage when an attack from outside or inside occurs. In response to the above problems, this paper designs an electronic signature solution and implements a prototype system based on the consortium blockchain. The solution divides the contract signing process into four states: contract upload, initiation signing, verification signing, and confirm signing. The signing process is mapped with the blockchain-linked data. Users initiate the signature transaction by signing the uploaded contract's hash. The sign state transition is triggered when the transaction is uploaded to the blockchain under the consensus mechanism and the smart contract control, which effectively ensures the integrity of the electronic contract and the non-repudiation of the electronic signature. Finally, the blockchain performance test shows that the system can be applied to the business scenario of contract signing. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Regulating and monitoring a traditionally fragmented pharma supply chain has been a global challenge for decades. Without a trusted system and strong collaboration between stakeholders, threats such as counterfeits can easily intercept the supply chain and cause monumental disruptions. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for greater data transparency, better deployment of technology, and improved ways of connecting stakeholder information along the supply chain. There is a need for improved ways of working to help build up supply chain resilience, and one way is by implementing better end-to-end traceability using blockchain technology such as Hyperledger Fabric. This paper will explore the business value that blockchain brings to the pharma supply chain with better end-to-end traceability, using the example of an industry-grade blockchain solution called eZTracker. Through six key features, pharmaceutical manufacturers, patients, and Healthcare Practitioners (HCPs) can now participate in data sharing, with extended use cases of integrating blockchain with warehouse platforms, a patient-facing mobile application, and an interactive dashboard for real-time verification and data transparency. Beyond anti-counterfeit verification, other potential use cases include effective product recall management, cold chain monitoring, e-product information, and more. The effectiveness of a traceability solution is heavily dependent on the amount of data collected and is affected by poor adoption and scalability. Existing limitations that need to be addressed include the lack of mandated serialization in Asia and blockchain interoperability. To maximize the value of blockchain, collaboration is the key. Pharmaceutical manufacturers need to invest in new technologies, such as blockchain, to help them break out of data silos and operationalize data to build supply chain resilience. Pharmaceutical supply chain is the backbone of a US$1.27 trillion industry,1 but because of its highly complex and fragmented nature, it is hard to regulate and protect, and this makes it a valuable target for opportunistic parties such as counterfeiters looking to profit.2 As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been greater emphasis on transparency of data and connecting stakeholders along the pharma supply chain in real-time in the last few years. With the introduction of blockchain technology, companies are now able to implement solutions with more effective track and trace results, providing quality assurance to pharmaceutical manufacturers, patients, and Healthcare Practitioners (HCPs), and even improving operational efficiencies. This paper seeks to explore the positive business impact of end-to-end traceability using blockchain technology, and the effects it brings about, such as improving supply chain resilience and combating counterfeits, as seen in successful live use cases in Asia.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 virus has been spreading worldwide on a large scale since 2019, and the most effective way to prevent COVID-19 is to vaccinate. In order to prove that vaccination has been administered to allow access to different areas, paper vaccine passports are produced. However, paper vaccine passport records are vulnerable to counterfeiting or abuse. Previous research has suggested that issuing certificates digitally is an easier way to verify them. This study used the consortium blockchain based on Hyperledger Fabric to upload the digital vaccine passport (DVP) to the blockchain network. In order to enable collaboration across multiple systems, networks, and organizations in different trust realms. Federated Identity Management is considered a promising approach to facilitate secure resource sharing between collaborating partners. Therefore, the international federal identity management architecture proposed in this study enables inspectors in any country to verify the authenticity of the DVP of incoming passengers using the consortium blockchain. Through practical construction, the international federal Hyperledger verification framework for the DVP proposed in this study has shown the feasibility of issuing a global DVP in safety analysis and efficacy testing.
ABSTRACT
Several authorities require individuals to be vaccinated with WHO-approved vaccines to allow cross-border travel or access to public areas. Recently vaccination certificates have become crucial in curbing the spread of the corona virus. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure the integrity and authenticity of vaccination records. A secure mechanism is required to maintain the immunization records and issue an immutable vaccination certificate to individuals that may be used as a passport for uninhibited movement. We propose a blockchain-based solution that issues verifiable and trustworthy vaccination certificates for not just COVID-19 vaccines but also other diseases. Our proposed model reduces the time required to retrieve vaccination status. The solution is scalable due to its simplicity as it does not require multiple participants on the network for its operation. Moreover, the system can be easily integrated with existing enterprise applications for its functionality. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Objective: Despite the implementation of quality assurance procedures, current clinical trial management processes are time-consuming, costly, and often susceptible to error. This can result in limited trust, transparency, and process inefficiencies, without true patient empowerment. The objective of this study was to determine whether blockchain technology could enforce trust, transparency, and patient empowerment in the clinical trial data management process, while reducing trial cost. Design: In this proof of concept pilot, we deployed a Hyperledger Fabric-based blockchain system in an active clinical trial setting to assess the impact of blockchain technology on mean monitoring visit time and cost, non-compliances, and user experience. Using a parallel study design, we compared differences between blockchain technology and standard methodology. Results: A total of 12 trial participants, seven study coordinators and three clinical research associates across five sites participated in the pilot. Blockchain technology significantly reduces total mean monitoring visit time and cost versus standard trial management (475 to 7 min; P = 0.001; 722 to 10; P = 0.001 per participant/visit, respectively), while enhancing patient trust, transparency, and empowerment in 91, 82 and 63% of the patients, respectively. No difference in non-compliances as a marker of trial quality was detected. Conclusion: Blockchain technology holds promise to improve patient-centricity and to reduce trial cost compared to conventional clinical trial management. The ability of this technology to improve trial quality warrants further investigation.
ABSTRACT
The global public health crisis caused by the emergence and spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been devastating, prompting the need for immediate countermeasures to curb its spread, especially in the absence of any approved treatment shortly after its onset This crisis has highlighted the gap in current contact tracing systems, which require massive public participation to be effective but lack a high degree of public acceptance. This low acceptance is mainly due to concerns regarding personal data privacy and guaranteed data protection, hindering the success of existing systems. We evaluate the use of blockchain to improve contact tracing and provide a solution to effectively track the spread of an epidemic, using COVID-19 as a relevant use case. The key requirements of the proposed system include protecting user data, maintaining full transparency using a decentralised system, and eliminating the need for global positioning system or personal data for contact tracing A proof-of-concept system uses a private blockchain to secure and manage data collected at various locations using a mobile application or stored-value contactless smart cards. Contact tracing is performed via smart contracts over the blockchain using the collected data. We confirm the improvements provided by the proposed system for contact tracing.
ABSTRACT
To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2019 has seen unprecedented demand for medical equipment and supplies. However, the problem of waste treatment has not yet been given due attention, i.e., the traditional waste treatment process is done independently, and it is not easy to share the necessary information. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the interaction between parties is minimized to limit infections. To evaluate the current system at medical centers, we also refer to the traditional waste treatment processes of four hospitals in Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh cities (Vietnam). Almost all hospitals are handled independently, lacking any interaction between the stakeholders. In this article, we propose a decentralized blockchain-based system for automating waste treatment processes for medical equipment and supplies after usage among the relevant parties, named Medical-Waste Chain. It consists of four components: medical equipment and supplies, waste centers, recycling plants, and sorting factories. Medical-Waste Chain integrates blockchain-based Hyperledger Fabric technology with decentralized storage of medical equipment and supply information, and securely shares related data with stakeholders. We present the system design, along with the interactions among the stakeholders, to ensure the minimization of medical waste generation. We evaluate the performance of the proposed solution using system-wide timing and latency analysis based on the Hyperledger Caliper engine. Our system is developed based on the hybrid-blockchain system, so it is fully scalable for both on-chain and off-chain-based extensions. Moreover, the participants do not need to pay any fees to use and upgrade the system. To encourage future use of Medical-Waste Chain, we also share a proof-of-concept on our Github repository.
ABSTRACT
Blockchains emerged in the past decade with applications across a myriad of domains, however this nascent field has so far been commonly associated with cryptocurrencies. The secure and decentralized nature of blockchains offers benefits across a wide range of industries, including healthcare which remains the largest focus of cyber crimes today. In this work, we demonstrate a Blockchain implementation as a proof of concept for the storage of electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We use two Amazon Managed Blockchain services, Hyperledger Fabric and Ethereum, to store medical data in Amazon Web Services (AWS). While the two frameworks provide a secure resource for medical data, depending on the chosen implementation, the cost can grow quickly based on the number of requests, which may make them prohibitive for applications such as COVID-19 vaccine passports. copy;2022 IEEE. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Due to its significant global impact, both domestic and international efforts are underway to cure the infection and stop the COVID-19 virus from spreading further. In resource-limited environments, overwhelmed healthcare institutions and surveillance systems are struggling to cope with this epidemic, necessitating a specific strategic response. In this study, we looked into the COVID-19 situation and to establish trust, accountability, and transparency, we employed blockchain's immutable and tamper-proof properties. We offered a smart contract (SC)-based solution (Block-HPCT) that has been successfully tested to preserve a digital health passport (DHP) for vaccine recipients; also, for contact tracing (CT) we employed proof of location concept, which aids in a swift and credible response directly from the appropriate healthcare authorities. To connect on-chain and off-chain data, trusted and registered oracles were integrated and to provide a double layer of security along with symmetric key encryption; both Interplanetary File System (IPFS) and Hyperledger Fabric were merged as storage center. We also provided a full description of the suggested solution's system design, implementation, experiment results, and evaluation (privacy and cost analysis). As per the findings, the suggested approach performed satisfactorily across all significant assessment criteria, implying that it can lead the way for practical implementations and also can be used for similar types of situations where contact tracing of infectious can be crucial.
Subject(s)
Blockchain , COVID-19 , Communicable Diseases , COVID-19/prevention & control , Contact Tracing/methods , Humans , PrivacyABSTRACT
The global outbreak of Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) which in 2020 reached pandemic scale, has been a central topic of debate in our society. Concerns over the ease of transmission of the infection led to the imposition of measures restricting freedom such as curfews, lockdown, general confinement, and closure of trade. Technology was one of the tools used to resist to the spread of the disease using applications that, on one hand, track contacts to warn users that were close to someone infected and, on the other hand, provide immunity digital certification. Despite the relevance of these options, end users have no confidence, transparency, and responsibility that the registration and use of their health data are ethical, secure, anonymous, and available through verifiable credentials and, most importantly, is being used for its main purpose. Consequently, a solution based on a distributed ledger technology, such as blockchain, is introduced to assure the trustworthiness and integrity of user’s data. Since the proposed application embraced user privacy, we conducted a comparative study between permissioned blockchains, that includes an authorization ion layer and ensures that certain actions can only be performed by identifiable participants. We concluded that Hyperledger Fabric was an option that fulfilled all the requirements to develop a platform for the immunity passport ledger. Its modularity and versatility accommodates the needs that were initially proposed for the development of a proof of concept. The work leads us to propose that further research be conducted regarding scalability and performance evaluation. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
The declaration of COVID-19 as pandemic affected almost all public and private functionaries by enforcing them to operate remotely, and the judiciary is no exception. The trend seems to continue for the foreseeable future. The judicial proceedings where a piece of evidence, particularly the digital one, holds undisputed importance. Its preservation and intact transmission to the jury have gained an enhanced significance in this era which is highly susceptible to manipulation. This research proposes joint encryption and blockchain-based solution for immutable decentralised evidence management for CCTV footage. The permissioned chain of evidence system is implemented using Hyperledger Fabric to ensure the validity of the video metadata. The hash values are calculated on videos (recorded per session) and stored in the blockchain, while Region of Interest (ROI) based selective encryption of videos adds optimized security to individuals' privacy and protects from illegal access of stored videos. The experimental results provide a proof of concept that the proposed scheme facilitates the remote court services by maintaining a legal chain of evidence for CCTV videos. © 2021 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Immunity credentials for individuals are essential to ensure safety and security of communities in the current pandemic-stricken world. Immunity credentials can be employed to permit movement of only a certain class of individuals that are least prone to spreading infections, thus reducing the risk for the society as a whole. While the authenticity of the immunity credentials is extremely critical, it is also important to guarantee privacy and confidentiality of the individuals' personal health information. In this paper, we present a blockchain based immunity credential system that allows users to authenticate immunity credentials in a verifiable manner. We leverage BLS aggregate signature that facilitates credential holders to selectively disclose credentials in a privacy preserving manner. Blockchain acts as single source of trust and ensures authenticity of claims. Our system enables users to reuse the tamper-evident verification status recorded on blockchain to authenticate to same verifiers without need for repeated cryptographic proof verification process. The protocol restricts any intermediaries/third-parties to use the identity or proof without authorization of the user. The protocol is fully automated through smart contracts and makes sure that credential verification is settled in near real time. We chose permissioned blockchain, Hyperledger Fabric (HLF) to implement our protocol as it befits the requirements of this problem and ensures smart contract development that supports user privacy, confidentiality, automated proof generation and verification of immunity credentials. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The healthcare industry is one of the top priorities for every country, as the government wants to improve the process and provide better services to the public in the health sector. In COVID19, there is a need to immediate response and secured way of storing data due to overwhelming patients admitting to the hospitals. Many stakeholders are involved in the health sector, such as patients, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, laboratories, and hospitals which makes the complete system complex. Security and privacy are the major concern of comprehensive patient-related information accessed by the involved participants. Blockchain technology is capable of ensuring data integrity and privacy with immutable features. The blockchain technology can be implemented in public and private means, but the medical data is sensitive information which cannot be shared to the public. In this paper, the permissioned blockchain is implemented for healthcare sector using Hyperledger Fabric. The Fabric is an open-source platform through which a Smart Contract is developed on the blockchain network. With the help of a smart contract, the secure transaction is performed on the ledger to store the confidential data related to a patient. The data stored in the form of an immutable block ensures the security of health records stored on distributed ledger through a smart contract. With this implementation, the efficient healthcare process is simplified and the transactions with multiple end-users are done securely, leading to transparency and traceability. © 2021 ACM.
ABSTRACT
The world is facing an unprecedented socio-economic crisis caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The virus is also spreading through the import and export food supply chains. The Chinese authorities have discovered the COVID-19 virus in various imported frozen meat packages. Traceability plays a vital role in food quality and food safety. The Internet of Things (IoT) provides solutions to overseeing environmental conditions, product quality, and product traceability. These solutions are traditionally based on a centralized architecture, which does not guarantee tamper-proof data sharing. The blockchain is an emerging technology that provides tamper-proof data sharing in real-time. This article presents a blockchain-enabled supply chain architecture to ensure the availability of a tamper-proof audit trail. This tamper-proof audit trail helps to make sure that all safety measures are undertaken to minimize the risk of COVID-19 and other bacteria, fungi, and parasites being present in the frozen meat supply chain.
ABSTRACT
Recently, an infectious disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has been reported in Wuhan, China, and spread worldwide within a couple of months. There have been seen an outbreak of COVID-19 in many countries, where the infected patients' rate overwhelmed the inadequate medical services. The push of patient-centered interoperability (PCI) from medical institution-centered interoperability may defeat the current and post resultant disease of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper proposes a state-of-the-art privacy-preserving medical data sharing system based on Hyperledger Fabric (MedHypChain), where each transaction is secured via an Identity-based broadcast group signcryption scheme. We proved that MedHypChain achieves confidentiality, anonymity, traceability, and unforgeability. Besides, we regularize the MedHypChain to implement the PCI healthcare system, where the patient manages its health-related information in the blockchain that can be accessible to the authorized entity. We also use the Hyperledger caliber as a benchmark tool to analyze the performance of MedHypChain in three metrics (latency time, execution time, and throughput) for up to 20 permissioned nodes. Finally, we compare MedHypChain with related blockchain-based healthcare systems and found that the proposed scheme needs the least computation cost and communication cost and achieves all security features, such as authenticity, scalability, and access control.