IIT-M researchers develop blockchain-based healthcare info system for mobile apps

The BlockTrack innovation is now protected through a provisional IP filed with the Indian Patent Office, said a release by IIT-M.

With an aim to digitise healthcare information systems, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-M) Madras have developed a blockchain-based data exchange system for a mobile phone-based application.

The system, ‘BlockTrack’, is currently being field-tested at IIT Madras Institute Hospital. The project has been undertaken with support from Infosys as part of its CSR prgramme which began during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic last year.

BlockTrack aims to digitise healthcare information systems while ensuring the protection of sensitive personal information and medical records by decentralising the control and ownership of patient data, through a blockchain-based innovation.

The BlockTrack innovation is now protected through a provisional IP filed with the Indian Patent Office, said a release by IIT-M.

The android version of the application has been developed separately for both patients as well as doctors. BlockTrack’s algorithm generates identification codes for users and ensures uniqueness across boundaries with very little chance for duplication. It opens up the promise of universal and transferable healthcare information management with a strong emphasis on data privacy and tracking the spread of infectious diseases across geographies.

Prabhu Rajagopal, department of mechanical engineering, IIT Madras, said, “BlockTrack is an exciting project that depicts engineering innovations that have disruptive potential to transform multiple domains. This is one of the first implementations of blockchain technology for securing healthcare data management systems and we see immense impact this approach can make in securely digitising and maintaining unique patient records across the country and indeed across the world eventually.”