Applications of Blockchain Technology in Clinical Trials: Review and Open Challenges
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REVIEW-COMPUTER ENGINEERING AND COMPUTER SCIENCE
Applications of Blockchain Technology in Clinical Trials: Review and Open Challenges Ilhaam A. Omar1 · Raja Jayaraman1 · Khaled Salah2
· Ibrar Yaqoob2 · Samer Ellahham3
Received: 10 June 2020 / Accepted: 28 September 2020 © King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals 2020
Abstract Blockchain technology has disclosed unprecedented opportunities in the healthcare sector by unlocking the true value of interoperability. Specifically, the striking features of blockchain technology, such as data provenance, transparency, decentralized transaction validation, and immutability, can help to compensate for stringent data management issues (e.g., patient recruitment, persistent monitoring, data management, and data analytics and accurate reporting) in clinical trials (CTs). Although several research studies show that blockchain solutions help to improve patient retention, data integrity, privacy and ensure CTs compliance with regulatory policies, a comprehensive survey on this topic is lacking. In this survey, we provide insights into the adoption of blockchain technology in CTs. We categorize and classify the literature by devising a meticulous taxonomy of the decentralized tasks of CT and practices based on indispensable parameters. Furthermore, we provide insights on works in progress toward deploying blockchain solutions in CTs. Finally, we identify and discuss several challenges that hinder the successful implementation of blockchain technologies in CTs. Keywords Blockchain · Smart contracts · Ethereum · Data management · Clinical trials · Healthcare
1 Introduction The extraordinary proliferation of cryptocurrencies has added notable contributions in the financial sector because they do not require any third party, thereby holding an intrinsic value. Nevertheless, the success of cryptocurrency depends on the implementation of blockchain technol-
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Khaled Salah [email protected] Ilhaam A. Omar [email protected] Raja Jayaraman [email protected] Ibrar Yaqoob [email protected] Samer Ellahham [email protected]
1
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
3
Heart and Vascular Institute, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
ogy, which provides several advantages, such as auditability, decentralization, anonymity, and persistency. Evidently, blockchain technology has a wide range of applications, e.g., financial, supply chain, engineering maintenance, healthcare management, the Internet of things (IoT) [1], and the Internet of Drones (IoD) [2]. Specifically, the convergence of blockchain with IoT can significantly improve transaction processing in the telecommunication industries, as it serves as a distributed ledger that keeps track of all transactions through a consensus algorithm across a computer network. The consensus algorithm validates all the peer-topeer transactions without any inte
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