The use of blockchain technology in the healthcare sector is one of the most discussed subjects. Various healthcare providers, pharma industry, and even healthcare technology solutions providers are involved in the research and development of distributed ledger applications to make it a reality. The University of Surrey has joined the list of academic institutions and commercial businesses that are active in the sector by announcing its planned blockchain project for personalized healthcare treatments.
The University of Surrey project, set to begin next month is being funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as a part of its Distributed Ledger Technology initiative. The project titled Co-operative Models for Evidence-based Healthcare Redistribution is one of the three winning bids from the university, and it has received over $540000 (GBP 420000) towards the development and implementation of the model.
The groundbreaking project is said to combine data collected from wearables using blockchain and machine learning algorithms for secure storage and dissemination to public and private healthcare providers, helping them design “targeted patterns” of treatments.
It is vital to ensure the integrity and security of patient medical records and treatment history, by law with various regulations governing it. The security, transparency, and immutability of blockchain make it ideal for secure data storage, selective access and activity logging in comparison to conventional systems.
The University of Surrey blockchain project is being headed by Professor Alan Brown — Head of Digital Economy at Surrey Business School. The Centre for Vision Speech and Signal Processing will be working in collaboration to make blockchain-based healthcare data collection and distribution a reality.
These distributed ledger technology-based projects are part of the EPSRC’s initiative to promote the use of blockchain technology across various industries. The Director of Strategic Partnerships at the University of Surrey, Atti Emecz believes that the three winning bids on the university’s part will help Surrey position itself as the blockchain leader in the United Kingdom, irrespective of whether the United Kingdom emerges as the blockchain leader among nations or not.
At the same time, these projects will open new avenues for cryptocurrency technology to make inroads into the healthcare sector. In the end, patients stand to benefit from faster medical services, unified records management and confidentiality of their medical records.
Ref: Healthcare IT Central | Image: NewsBTC
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