Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Secure transmission and integrity verification for color medical images in telemedicine applications

  • Published:
Multimedia Tools and Applications Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Medical images became a very important information tool for health professionals. Currently, the medical image acquired in a hospital or an imaging center can be shared among several health professionals to facilitate patient management and improve medical information management. In this work, we proposed a robust and blind watermarking approach to adequately secure medical images exchanged in telemedicine. This approach ensures the traceability and integrity of the medical and essential image for data security in the field of telemedicine. In this approach, the watermark consists of the patient's photography as well as the patient's data and the data related to the medical image acquisition. These combined data will thus guarantee the successful authentication of the image as well as the patient. A hash of this necessary information will be appropriately included in the watermark to ensure the integrity of the hidden data. The proposed watermarking in this approach remains a substitutive process. The frequency content of the image is acquired using transforms. Schur decomposition is then applied to the obtained mid-frequency subbands. Finally, the watermark bits will be substituted to the upper triangular matrix values obtained. Imperceptibility and robustness experimental results show that the proposed methods adequately maintain a significant quality of watermarked images and are remarkably robust against several conventional attacks. Since those schemes offer a reasonable imperceptibility and robustness, they could be useful for copyrights protection of medical images.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. A. A. Abdulla, “Exploiting similarities between secret and cover images for improved embedding efficiency and security in digital steganography,” doctoral, University of Buckingham, 2015. Accessed: Jun. 26, 2021. [Online]. Available: http://bear.buckingham.ac.uk/149/

  2. A. A. Abdulla, “Efficient computer-aided diagnosis technique for leukaemia cancer detection,” IET Image Processing, vol. 14, no. 17, pp. 4435–4440, Dec. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-ipr.2020.0978.

  3. A. A. Abdulla, H. Sellahewa, and S. A. Jassim, “Steganography based on pixel intensity value decomposition.” Mobile Multimedia/Image Processing, Security, and Applications 2014, vol. 9120, p. 912005, May 2014, 10.1117/12.2050518.

  4. Abdulla AA, Sellahewa H, Jassim SA (2019) Improving embedding efficiency for digital steganography by exploiting similarities between secret and cover images. Multimed Tools Appl 78(13):17799–17823. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-019-7166-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. S. B. B. Ahmadi, G. Zhang and H. Jelodar, "A robust hybrid SVD-based image watermarking scheme for color images," 2019 IEEE 10th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON), Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2019, pp. 0682-0688, https://doi.org/10.1109/IEMCON.2019.8936229

  6. S. B. B. Ahmadi, G. Zhang, M. Rabbani, L. Boukela, and H. Jelodar, “An intelligent and blind dual color image watermarking for authentication and copyright protection,” Appl Intell, Oct. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10489-020-01903-0.

  7. S. B. B. Ahmadi, G. Zhang, S. Wei, and L. Boukela, “An intelligent and blind image watermarking scheme based on hybrid SVD transforms using human visual system characteristics,” Vis Comput, Feb. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00371-020-01808-6.

  8. S. B. B. Ahmadi, G. Zhang, and S. Wei, “Robust and hybrid SVD-based image watermarking schemes:,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 79, no. 1, pp. 1075–1117, Jan. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-019-08197-6.

  9. A. Anand and A. K. Singh, “An improved DWT-SVD domain watermarking for medical information security,” Computer Communications, vol. 152, pp. 72–80, Feb. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comcom.2020.01.038.

  10. Ayubi P, Setayeshi S, Rahmani AM (2020) Deterministic chaos game: A new fractal based pseudo-random number generator and its cryptographic application. J Inf Sec Appl 52:102472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jisa.2020.102472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. M. Jafari Barani, P. Ayubi, M. Yousefi Valandar, and B. Yosefnezhad Irani, “A blind video watermarking algorithm robust to lossy video compression attacks based on generalized Newton complex map and contourlet transform,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 79, no. 3, pp. 2127–2159, Jan. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-019-08225-5.

  12. Borra S, Thanki R (2019) A FRT - SVD Based Blind Medical Watermarking Technique for Telemedicine Applications. International Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics (IJDCF) 11(2):13–33. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJDCF.2019040102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. S. Borra and R. Thanki, “Crypto-watermarking scheme for tamper detection of medical images,” Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging & Visualization, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 345–355, Jul. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1080/21681163.2019.1595730.

  14. S. Borra, R. Thanki, N. Dey, and K. Borisagar, “Secure transmission and integrity verification of color radiological images using fast discrete curvelet transform and compressive sensing,” Smart Health, vol. 12, pp. 35–48, Apr. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smhl.2018.02.001.

  15. D. S. Chauhan, A. K. Singh, A. Adarsh, B. Kumar, and J. P. Saini, “Combining Mexican hat wavelet and spread spectrum for adaptive watermarking and its statistical detection using medical images,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 78, no. 10, pp. 12647–12661, May 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-017-5348-8.

  16. Changbing Chen, Ju Liu, Jiande Sun, Zhenfeng Ren, and Huibo Hu, “A robust watermarking scheme based on Non-Subsampled Contourlet Transform,” in 2010 8th World Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation, Jinan, China, Jul. 2010, pp. 1022–1026, https://doi.org/10.1109/WCICA.2010.5554703.

  17. Euschi S, Khaldi A, Kafi R, Kahlessenane F (2021) A Fourier transform based audio watermarking algorithm. Applied Acoustics 172:107652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2020.107652

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. K. Fares, A. Khaldi, K. Redouane, and E. Salah, “DCT & DWT based watermarking scheme for medical information security,” Biomedical Signal Processing and Control, vol. 66, p. 102403, Apr. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bspc.2020.102403.

  19. E. Farri and P. Ayubi, “A blind and robust video watermarking based on IWT and new 3D generalized chaotic sine map,” Nonlinear Dyn, vol. 93, no. 4, pp. 1875–1897, Sep. 2018, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11071-018-4295-x.

  20. M. Favorskaya, E. Savchina, and K. Gusev, “Feature-based synchronization correction for multilevel watermarking of medical images,” Procedia Computer Sci, vol. 159, pp. 1267–1276, Jan. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2019.09.296.

  21. Gong L-H, Tian C, Zou W-P, Zhou N-R (2021) Robust and imperceptible watermarking scheme based on Canny edge detection and SVD in the contourlet domain. Multimed Tools Appl 80(1):439–461. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-020-09677-w

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. E. E.-D. Hemdan, “An efficient and robust watermarking approach based on single value decompression, multi-level DWT, and wavelet fusion with scrambled medical images,” Multimed Tools Appl, Sep. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-020-09769-7.

  23. Jie Z (2013) Digital Watermarking Method Based on Nonsubsampled Contourlet Transform. Information Technology Journal 12(24):8153–8158. https://doi.org/10.3923/itj.2013.8153.8158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. F. Kahlessenane, A. Khaldi, and S. Euschi, “A robust blind color image watermarking based on Fourier transform domain,” Optik, vol. 208, p. 164562, Apr. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2020.164562.

  25. F. Kahlessenane, A. Khaldi, R. Kafi, and S. Euschi, “A DWT based watermarking approach for medical image protection,” J Ambient Intell Human Comput, Aug. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-020-02450-9.

  26. F. Kahlessenane, A. Khaldi, R. Kafi, and S. Euschi, “A robust blind medical image watermarking approach for telemedicine applications,” Cluster Comput, Feb. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10586-020-03215-x.

  27. F. Kahlessenane, A. Khaldi, M. R. Kafi, and S. Euschi, “A color value differentiation scheme for blind digital image watermarking,” Multimed Tools Appl, Mar. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-021-10713-6.

  28. F. Kahlessenane, A. Khaldi, M. R. Kafi, N. Zermi, and S. Euschi, “A value parity combination based scheme for retinal images watermarking,” Opt Quant Electron, vol. 53, no. 3, p. 161, Mar. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-021-02793-3.

  29. P. Khare and V. K. Srivastava, “A reliable and secure image watermarking algorithm using homomorphic transform in DWT domain,” Multidim Syst Sign Process, Jun. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11045-020-00732-1.

  30. C. Kumar, A. K. Singh, and P. Kumar, “Dual watermarking: An approach for securing digital documents,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 79, no. 11, pp. 7339–7354, Mar. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-019-08314-5.

  31. C. Kumar, A. K. Singh, and P. Kumar, “Improved wavelet-based image watermarking through SPIHT,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 79, no. 15, pp. 11069–11082, Apr. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-018-6177-0.

  32. J.-Y. Li and C.-Z. Zhang, “Blind watermarking scheme based on Schur decomposition and non-subsampled contourlet transform,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 79, no. 39, pp. 30007–30021, Oct. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-020-09389-1.

  33. X. Liao, K. Li, and J. Yin, “Separable data hiding in encrypted image based on compressive sensing and discrete fourier transform,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 76, no. 20, pp. 20739–20753, Oct. 2017, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-016-3971-4.

  34. X. Liao, J. Yin, S. Guo, X. Li, and A. K. Sangaiah, “Medical JPEG image steganography based on preserving inter-block dependencies,” Comput Electr Eng, vol. 67, pp. 320–329, Apr. 2018, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compeleceng.2017.08.020.

  35. X. Liao, S. Guo, J. Yin, H. Wang, X. Li, and A. K. Sangaiah, “New cubic reference table based image steganography,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 77, no. 8, pp. 10033–10050, Apr. 2018, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-017-4946-9.

  36. X. Liao, J. Yin, M. Chen, and Z. Qin, “Adaptive Payload Distribution in Multiple Images Steganography Based on Image Texture Features,” IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, pp. 1–1, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1109/TDSC.2020.3004708.

  37. A.-W. Luo, L.-H. Gong, N.-R. Zhou, and W.-P. Zou, “Adaptive and blind watermarking scheme based on optimal SVD blocks selection,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 79, no. 1, pp. 243–261, Jan. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-019-08074-2.

  38. Mardanpour M, Chahooki MZ (2016) Robust Hybrid Image Watermarking based on Discrete Wavelet and Shearlet Transforms. ArXiv

  39. Z. F. Mohammed and A. A. Abdulla, “An efficient CAD system for ALL cell identification from microscopic blood images,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 80, no. 4, pp. 6355–6368, Feb. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-020-10066-6.

  40. A. A. Mohammed, D. A. Salih, A. M. Saeed, and M. Q. Kheder, “An imperceptible semi-blind image watermarking scheme in DWT-SVD domain using a zigzag embedding technique,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 79, no. 43, pp. 32095–32118, Nov. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-020-09694-9.

  41. Z. Narima, A. Khaldi, K. Redouane, K. Fares, and E. Salah, “A DWT-SVD based robust digital watermarking for medical image security,” Forensic Science International, p. 110691, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2021.110691.

  42. V. Ramakrishnan and D. J. Pete, “Non Subsampled Shearlet Transform Based Fusion of Multiple Exposure Images,” SN COMPUT. SCI., vol. 1, no. 6, p. 326, Oct. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42979-020-00343-4.

  43. E. Salah, K. Amine, K. M. Redouane, and K. Fares, “Spatial and Frequency Approaches for Audio File Protection,” J CIRCUIT SYST COMP, p. 2150210, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218126621502108.

  44. Singh AK (2019) Robust and distortion control dual watermarking in LWT domain using DCT and error correction code for color medical image. Multimed Tools Appl 78(21):30523–30533. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-018-7115-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Thakur S, Singh AK, Ghrera SP, Elhoseny M (2019) Multi-layer security of medical data through watermarking and chaotic encryption for tele-health applications. Multimed Tools Appl 78(3):3457–3470. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-018-6263-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. S. Thakur, A. K. Singh, and S. P. Ghrera, “NSCT domain–based secure multiple-watermarking technique through lightweight encryption for medical images,” Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience, vol. n/a, no. n/a, p. e5108, https://doi.org/10.1002/cpe.5108.

  47. Thanki R, Kothari A (2020) Multi-level security of medical images based on encryption and watermarking for telemedicine applications. Multimed Tools Appl. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-020-09941-z

  48. R. M. Thanki and A. M. Kothari, “Hybrid domain watermarking technique for copyright protection of images using speech watermarks,” J Ambient Intell Human Comput, vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 1835–1857, May 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-019-01295-1.

  49. R. Thanki, S. Borra, V. Dwivedi, and K. Borisagar, “An efficient medical image watermarking scheme based on FDCuT–DCT,” Engineering Science and Technology, an International Journal, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 1366–1379, Aug. 2017, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jestch.2017.06.001.

  50. R. Thanki, S. Borra, V. Dwivedi, and K. Borisagar, “A RONI Based Visible Watermarking Approach for Medical Image Authentication,” J Med Syst, vol. 41, no. 9, p. 143, Aug. 2017, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10916-017-0795-3.

  51. R. Thanki, A. Kothari, and D. Trivedi, “Hybrid and blind watermarking scheme in DCuT – RDWT domain,” J Inf Sec Appl, vol. 46, pp. 231–249, Jun. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jisa.2019.03.017.

  52. M. Y. Valandar, P. Ayubi, and M. J. Barani, “A new transform domain steganography based on modified logistic chaotic map for color images,” Journal of Information Security and Applications, vol. 34, pp. 142–151, Jun. 2017, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jisa.2017.04.004.

  53. M. Y. Valandar, M. J. Barani, P. Ayubi, and M. Aghazadeh, “An integer wavelet transform image steganography method based on 3D sine chaotic map,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 78, no. 8, pp. 9971–9989, Apr. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-018-6584-2.

  54. M. Y. Valandar, M. J. Barani, and P. Ayubi, “A fast color image encryption technique based on three dimensional chaotic map,” Optik, vol. 193, p. 162921, Sep. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijleo.2019.06.021.

  55. M. Yousefi Valandar, M. Jafari Barani, and P. Ayubi, “A blind and robust color images watermarking method based on block transform and secured by modified 3-dimensional Hénon map,” Soft Comput, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 771–794, Jan. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-019-04524-z.

  56. Wang X, Xu H, Zhang S, Liang L, Niu P, Yang H-Y (2018) A Color Image Watermarking Approach Based on Synchronization Correction, Fundam. Informaticae. https://doi.org/10.3233/FI-2018-1654

  57. X. Wang, S. Zhang, T. Wen, H. Yang, and P. Niu, “Coefficient difference based watermark detector in nonsubsampled contourlet transform domain,” Inform Sci, vol. 503, pp. 274–290, Nov. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ins.2019.06.059.

  58. Yuan S, Sheng D, Magayane X, Liu X, Zhou G, Lu Z, Wang HZ, Li Z (2021) A Blind Watermarking Scheme Based on Computational Ghost Imaging in Wavelet Domain. Optics Communications 482(March):126568. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optcom.2020.126568

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. N. Zermi, A. Khaldi, M. R. Kafi, F. Kahlessenane, and S. Euschi, “Robust SVD-based schemes for medical image watermarking,” Microprocessors and Microsystems, vol. 84, p. 104134, Jul. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micpro.2021.104134.

  60. Q. Zheng, N. Liu, and F. Wang, “An Adaptive Embedding Strength Watermarking Algorithm Based on Shearlets’ Capture Directional Features,” Mathematics, vol. 8, no. 8, Art. no. 8, 2020, https://doi.org/10.3390/math8081377.

  61. N. R. Zhou, W. M. X. Hou, R. H. Wen, and W. P. Zou, “Imperceptible digital watermarking scheme in multiple transform domains,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 77, no. 23, pp. 30251–30267, Dec. 2018, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-018-6128-9.

  62. N. R. Zhou, A. W. Luo, and W. P. Zou, “Secure and robust watermark scheme based on multiple transforms and particle swarm optimization algorithm,” Multimed Tools Appl, vol. 78, no. 2, pp. 2507–2523, Jan. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-018-6322-9.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronics, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Electrical Engineering Laboratory, University of Kasdi Merbah, 30000, Ouargla, Algeria

    Moad Med Sayah & Kafi Med Redouane

  2. Computer Science Department, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology Laboratory (LINATI), University of Kasdi Merbah, 30000, Ouargla, Algeria

    Khaldi Amine

Authors
  1. Moad Med Sayah
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kafi Med Redouane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Khaldi Amine
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Khaldi Amine.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sayah, M.M., Redouane, K.M. & Amine, K. Secure transmission and integrity verification for color medical images in telemedicine applications. Multimed Tools Appl 81, 43613–43638 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-021-11791-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-021-11791-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation