An Investigative Study of Role of Blockchain in Restriction of Virus in Medical IoT: A Comprehensive Review
Abstract
The rapid adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare has transformed medical monitoring, diagnostics, and patient care. However, the interconnected nature of Medical IoT (MIoT) systems exposes them to significant risks, including malware infiltration, data breaches, and virus propagation across devices. Traditional centralized security models often fail to provide adequate resilience against these threats due to single points of failure, scalability challenges, and privacy concerns. Blockchain technology, with its decentralized architecture, immutability, and cryptographic trust mechanisms, has emerged as a promising solution to mitigate these vulnerabilities. This study investigates the role of blockchain in restricting virus transmission within MIoT environments by integrating smart contracts, decentralized consensus mechanisms, and secure data-sharing protocols. A blockchain-enabled framework is proposed to enhance device authentication, ensure tamper-proof health records, and automate quarantine protocols in case of infectious outbreaks. This study demonstrates that integrating blockchain with MIoT enhances virus control efficiency by approximately 35% in simulated outbreak scenarios through automated quarantine and consensus-based authentication. Comparative analysis reveals a 47% improvement in tamper detection and a 28% reduction in unauthorized data access compared to centralized IoT frameworks. The proposed blockchain-enabled MIoT architecture featuring smart contracts, zero-knowledge proofs, and decentralized identity management achieves a scalable, privacy-preserving healthcare model. Furthermore, case studies from Estonia and South Korea illustrate the practical feasibility of blockchain-supported epidemiological systems. The study concludes that blockchain’s decentralization and cryptographic trust mechanisms are key to building resilient, virus-resistant healthcare infrastructures.
