Empowering Patient-Centric Research: Secure NFT Token Scaffolds for Ethical Biospecimen and Health Data Management
This invention is a healthcare computing ecosystem that uses a distributed ledger to manage patient data through a "token scaffold" of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It enables the secure, ethical tracking and exchange of biospecimens and health information, ensuring patients maintain provenance and receive fair benefits from the secondary use of their data.
Description
The technology functions by establishing a distributed ledger where each patient is represented by an initial NFT, acting as a digital "token scaffold" or "digital twin". This scaffold is initialized with encrypted personal profile data. As healthcare interactions occur, various nodes in the network, such as physicians or researchers, generate and append "sub-tokens" to this scaffold. These sub-tokens represent specific data sets, including physical biospecimens (e.g., tissue, saliva), genomic data, and derived products like cell lines or organoids. The system uses advanced encryption and obfuscation to ensure that while stakeholders can access necessary research or treatment data, they cannot access the patient’s personally identifiable information (PII) without proper authorization. This creates an immutable, system-agnostic electronic health record (EHR) that tracks the entire lifecycle of a biospecimen, from collection and custody updates to the recording of research results, while maintaining a direct but private link back to the patient-donor.Applications
- Biobank and Broker Services: Streamlining the tracking and ethical distribution of specimens to researchers.- Clinical Research Organizations (CROs): Managing patient cohorts and research results while adhering to strict privacy and institutional protocols.
- Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems: Integrating token scaffolds to provide a more comprehensive, patient-controlled medical history.
- Pharmaceutical Development: Tracking the use and outcomes of specific specimens in the creation of new cellular or tissue-based products.
- Precision Medicine Platforms: Utilizing "digital twins" to model and predict patient-specific treatment responses based on historical data.
Advantages
- Enhanced Ethical Standards: Maintains patient privacy through encryption while ensuring they remain connected to the "secondary use" of their specimens.- Improved Data Interoperability: Breaks down information silos between different healthcare providers and researchers by using a unified, distributed ledger.
- Immutable Provenance: Provides a permanent, unalterable record of biospecimen custody and health transactions, evolving into a robust "digital twin" of the patient.
- Stakeholder Alignment: Facilitates fair distribution of benefits and compensation to patient-donors for the use of their biological materials.
- Reduced Medical Waste: Increases the visibility and accessibility of untapped biospecimens, making them viable resources for ongoing research.