Blockchain tech company Bitfury is partnering with radiology blockchain marketplace Medical Diagnostic Web (MDW) to create a blockchain-based medical imaging ecosystem. The partnership was announced by the Bitfury Group in a blog post on Feb. 11.
Established in 2011, the Bitfury Group operates as a software manufacturer and provider of security and infrastructure for the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain. The company raised $500 million in revenue in 2018. MDW is a radiology blockchain platform that allows radiologists to contact with imaging facilities and share patient data and medical images.
Within the new collaboration, Bitfury, MDW and blockchain-powered life data marketplace Longenesis will develop a platform for maintaining, sharing and securing medical imaging and diagnostics information such as X-rays and CT scans. The platform will purportedly be built on Bitfury’s private blockchain framework Exonum, which will enable transactions to be validated using “anchoring” technology.
Longenesis will purportedly ensure that only authorized parties have access to the medical data recorded on the blockchain, also guaranteeing compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Bitfury’s CEO Valery Vavilov expressed optimism on blockchain deployment in the medical sector:
“Blockchain technology can strengthen patient data security by providing a tamper-proof record of patient history while simultaneously providing an avenue for doctors to more easily share information. The digitization of trust that blockchain offers, paired with the medical potential of AI algorithms, has the ability to revitalize medical systems all over the world.”
Earlier in February, Pistoia Alliance — a medical research and development union — expanded its blockchain project to include data sharing, data identity, and data integrity, and using blockchain to validate sources in identifying data, to ensure data integrity, and to improve sharing between organizations. Prior to its foray into blockchain-based data management, Pistoia concentrated on educating the medical industry on the emerging technology.
In January, United States-based health insurance giant Aetna partnered with IBM to create a blockchain network tailored to the healthcare industry. Estimated to serve over 39 million clients globally, the blockchain system will purportedly be designed to streamline insurance claims processing and payments, as well as manage directories.