Yu Hongru, Sun Haiyang, Wu Danyi, Kuo Tsung-Ting
University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Contributed Equally.
AMIA Annu Symp Proc. 2020 Mar 4;2019:1266-1275. eCollection 2019.
Blockchain and smart contracts (i.e., computer code that can be run on blockchain) are increasingly popular for healthcare applications. However, only very few implementations exist because of the complexity of the technologies. Although there are tutorials and reviews to introduce blockchain and smart contracts, a pragmatic comparison of such platforms is needed. In this study, we addressed practical considerations while building a healthcare blockchain and smart contract system, by (1) comparing technical features of platforms, (2) selecting three platforms, (3) constructing blockchain networks, (4) testing the blockchains, and (5) summarizing the experience and time used for implementation by students. We evaluated Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, and MultiChain, and confirmed that the selection of a proper platform depends on the requirements of the application. The findings of our study can accelerate the process and reduce the risk of adopting blockchain technology in biomedical and healthcare domain.
区块链和智能合约（即可以在区块链上运行的计算机代码）在医疗保健应用中越来越受欢迎。然而，由于技术的复杂性，只有极少数的应用实例。尽管有教程和综述来介绍区块链和智能合约，但仍需要对这些平台进行务实的比较。在本研究中，我们通过以下方式在构建医疗区块链和智能合约系统时考虑实际因素：（1）比较平台的技术特性；（2）选择三个平台；（3）构建区块链网络；（4）测试区块链；（5）总结学生实施过程中的经验和所用时间。我们评估了以太坊、超级账本织物和多链，并确认选择合适的平台取决于应用的需求。我们的研究结果可以加快在生物医学和医疗领域采用区块链技术的进程并降低风险。
