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Review
. 2022 Apr;127(4):391-397.
doi: 10.1007/s11547-022-01460-1. Epub 2022 Feb 23.

Blockchain in radiology research and clinical practice: current trends and future directions

Alberto Stefano Tagliafico  1   2 , Cristina Campi  3 , Bignotti Bianca  4 , Chandra Bortolotto  5 , Duccio Buccicardi  6 , Coppola Francesca  7 , Roberto Prost  8 , Marco Rengo  9 , Lorenzo Faggioni  10
Affiliations
Review

Blockchain in radiology research and clinical practice: current trends and future directions

Alberto Stefano Tagliafico et al. Radiol Med. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Blockchain usage in healthcare, in radiology, in particular, is at its very early infancy. Only a few research applications have been tested, however, blockchain technology is widely known outside healthcare and widely adopted, especially in Finance, since 2009 at least. Learning by history, radiology is a potential ideal scenario to apply this technology. Blockchain could have the potential to increase radiological data value in both clinical and research settings for the patient digital record, radiological reports, privacy control, quantitative image analysis, cybersecurity, radiomics and artificial intelligence.Up-to-date experiences using blockchain in radiology are still limited, but radiologists should be aware of the emergence of this technology and follow its next developments. We present here the potentials of some applications of blockchain in radiology.

Keywords: Blockchain; Imaging; Informatics; Radiology; Technology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have not disclosed any competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic drawing showing blockchian principle
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Peer-to-peer blockchain system versus centralized client server system
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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