System and Method of Securing Private Health Information

Abstract

A system and method for the secure processing of private health information. Fully homomorphically encrypted private health information, along with a request to process that information, is transmitted to a third party who performs operations on the encrypted private health information in accordance with the request, yielding an encrypted result. The encrypted result may be decrypted only by the party in possession of the corresponding private key. The invention enables encrypted private health information to be processed by third parties while preventing them from decrypting it.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of securing private health information, said method comprising the steps of:
 receiving fully homomorphically encrypted private health information;   receiving a request to process said fully homomorphically encrypted private health information; and   processing said fully homomorphically encrypted private health information in accordance with said request, yielding a fully homomorphically encrypted result.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said private health information is collected from a patient. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said private health information is collected using a modality. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said private health information is collected from a source authorized by a patient. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the receiving steps is performed according to a predetermined schedule. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the processing step is performed according to a predetermined schedule. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said request is received using an application programming interface. 
     
     
         8 . A method of securing private health information, said method comprising the steps of:
 collecting said private health information;   transmitting said private health information to a third party;   transmitting a request to process said private health information to said third party; and   receiving a result from said third party after at least said private health information has been encrypted using a fully homomorphic encryption scheme and processed according to said request.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said private health information is collected from a patient. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein said private health information is collected using a modality. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said private health information is collected from a source authorized by a patient. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the first transmitting step is performed according to a predetermined schedule. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the second transmitting step is performed according to a predetermined schedule. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the first transmitting step and the second transmitting step are performed according to a predetermined schedule. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said request is transmitted using an application programming interface. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said private health information is in DICOM format. 
     
     
         17 . A system for securing private health information, comprising:
 a computer configured to receive fully homomorphically encrypted private health information, and to receive a request to process said fully homomorphically encrypted private health information; and   a processing module for processing said fully homomorphically encrypted private health information in accordance with said request, yielding a fully homomorphically encrypted result.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , further comprising a modality configured to collect said private health information. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17 , further comprising a computer configured to collect said private health information from a source authorized by a patient. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein said processing module is further configured to process said fully homomorphically encrypted private health information according to a predetermined schedule. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein said computer is further configured to receive said request using an application programming interface. 
     
     
         22 . A system for securing private health information, said system comprising:
 a computer configured to collect said private health information;   a computer configured to transmit said private health information to a third party, and to transmit a request to process said private health information to said third party; and   a computer configured to receive a result from said third party after at least said private health information has been encrypted using a fully homomorphic encryption scheme and processed according to said request.   
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 , further comprising a modality configured to collect said private health information. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 22 , further comprising a computer configured to collect said private health information from a source authorized by a patient. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein said computer configured to transmit said private health information to said third party is further configured to transmit said private health information to said third party according to a predetermined schedule. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein said computer configured to transmit said request is further configured to transmit said request according to a predetermined schedule. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein said computer configured to transmit said private health information to said third party is further configured to transmit said private health information to said third party according to a predetermined schedule, and wherein said computer configured to transmit said request is further configured to transmit said request according to a predetermined schedule. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein said computer configured to transmit said request is further configured to transmit said request using an application programming interface. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein said private health information is in DICOM format.