Blockchain-Based Scalable Network for Bioinformatics and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)

Abstract

The major problem in today’s data creation and monetization is that the data creators (individual people trading, traveling, and interacting on social media) are not the data aggregators (the Googles, Facebooks, and Amazons of the world). As such, the full potential of the personal data value in the age of informatics has yet to fully materialize. This leads to constant conflict within the data ecosystem regarding who has the right to own and monetize data; the creators or aggregators. It has also led to a protracted debate on data sovereignty and expanded legislation for data privacy that we deal with every day when we navigate any website. The holy-grail solution for such a problem is vertical integration, i.e., integrating the data value chain by combining and ensuring that data creators and aggregators are the same in the data value stack. Until recently, this was deemed technologically impossible because individuals in society cannot be their own bank, e-commerce platform, their own search engine, and their own social media. However, the advent of miniaturized sensors driven by advancements in device engineering and miniaturization ushered in a new age of multifunctional sensors, often called the Internet of Things (IoT). In particular, the distributed miniaturized devices that measure the biological attributes of individuals are called the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). This chapter describes an end-to-end ecosystem that offers a solution to this problem and the commercial pilot model it has implemented utilizing the nascent but promising blockchain technology.