Q-TrustChainMed: A Blockchain-Assisted Quantum-Secure Zero-Trust Framework for Federated Edge Intelligence in Medical IoT

Abstract

The swift proliferation of Medical Internet of Things (MIoT) devices has made a remarkable difference to the remote monitoring of patients, intelligent diagnosis and delivery of healthcare services. But while more and more sensitive medical data is exchanged via personal devices, a number of challenges regarding privacy aspects and security attacks arise related to authentication and safe sharing of the data. Due to the size and distributed nature of healthcare environments, traditional centralised security mechanisms are often ineffective. To tackle these challenges, this paper presents Blockchain-Assisted Quantum-Secure Zero-Trust Framework (Q-TrustChainMed) for Federated Edge Intelligence in Medical IoT. Our framework proposes a secure and decentralised healthcare ecosystem based on blockchain technology, quantum-resistant security mechanisms, zero-trust access control and federated edge intelligence. The zero-trust model uses a device identity verification mechanism and access rights to guarantee that records cannot be tampered with, while blockchain provides templates for managing immutable records. Federated edge intelligence allows privacy-preserving joint learning without revealing sensitive patient data. Experimental results show that it increases the attack detection rate, authentication precision, communication security and energy efficiency over other state-of-the-art healthcare security frameworks. The offered solution provides a scalable, reliable and durable architecture for next-generation smart healthcare systems.