Integrating Blockchain for Improving Data Sharing in Implant Surgery

Nowadays, Blockchain technology is widely used in different industries for supply chain management, data privacy and smart contracts. Blockchain is a new data infrastructure that supports seamless data interchange in a distributed ledger that allows a system with a data source to be decentralized, open, safe and trusted. Nevertheless, most of the existing healthcare applications either focus on data sharing or transactions between different parties. We propose to integrate the blockchain to improve data sharing among different parties in order to improve collaboration in implant surgery for facilitating the operations processes. In this article, we have reviewed the current difficulty and existing situation of implant orthopaedic surgery in Hong Kong. We describe the general implant operations process and how the integration of blockchain technology can facilitate the implant operations process. On the other hand, we have proposed an implementation framework including data collection, data integrity and collaboration among different stakeholders. Successful implementation of this project cannot only reduce medical mistakes, but can also facilitate collaboration among different parties in implant surgery.