Berman Jules J
Pathology Informatics, Cancer Diagnosis Program NCI/NIH, Rockville, Md 20892, USA.
Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2004 Mar;128(3):344-6. doi: 10.5858/2004-128-344-ZAZPFR.
Large, multi-institutional studies often involve merging data records that have been de-identified to protect patient privacy. Unless patient identities can be reconciled across institutions, individuals with records held in different institutions will be falsely "counted" as multiple persons when databases are merged.
The purpose of this article is to describe a protocol that can reconcile individuals with records in multiple institutions.
Institution A and Institution B each create a random character string and send it to the other institution. Each institution receives the random string from the other institution and sums it with their own random string, producing a random string common to both institutions (RandA+B). Each institution takes a unique patient identifier and sums it with RandA+B. The product is a random character string that is identical across institutions when the patient is identical in both institutions. A comparison protocol can be implemented as a zero-knowledge transaction, ensuring that neither institution obtains any knowledge of its own patient or of the patient compared at another institution.
The protocol can be executed at high computational speed. No encryption algorithm or 1-way hash algorithm is employed, and there is no need to protect the protocol from discovery.
A zero-knowledge protocol for reconciling patients across institutions is described. This protocol is one of many computational tools that permit pathologists to safely share clinical and research data.
大型多机构研究通常涉及合并已去识别化以保护患者隐私的数据记录。除非能够在各机构之间核对患者身份，否则在合并数据库时，持有不同机构记录的个体将被错误地“算作”多个人。
本文旨在描述一种能够核对多个机构中个体记录的方案。
机构A和机构B各自创建一个随机字符串并发送给对方机构。每个机构从对方机构收到随机字符串后，将其与自身的随机字符串相加，生成一个两个机构共有的随机字符串（RandA+B）。每个机构取一个唯一的患者标识符并与RandA+B相加。结果是当两个机构中的患者相同时，跨机构生成的随机字符串相同。可以将比较方案实现为零知识交易，确保任何一个机构都无法获取自身患者或在另一机构进行比较的患者的任何信息。
该方案能够以高计算速度执行。无需使用加密算法或单向哈希算法，也无需防止该方案被发现。
描述了一种用于跨机构核对患者的零知识方案。该方案是众多允许病理学家安全共享临床和研究数据的计算工具之一。
