Reversible Watermarking Method with Low Distortion for the Secure Transmission of Medical Images

Abstract

In telemedicine, the realization of reversible watermarking through information security is an emerging research field. However, adding watermarks hinders the distribution of pixels in the cover image because it creates distortions (which lead to an increase in the detection probability). In this article, we introduce a reversible watermarking method that can transmit medical images with minimal distortion and high security. The proposed method selects two adjacent gray pixels whose least significant bit (LSB) is different from the relevant message bit and then calculates the distortion degree. We use the LSB pairing method to embed the secret matrix of patient record into the cover image and exchange pixel values. Experimental results show that the designed method is robust to different attacks and has a high PSNR (peak signal-to-noise ratio) value. The MRI image quality and imperceptibility are verified by embedding a secret matrix of up to 262,688 bits to achieve an average PSNR of 51.657 dB. In addition, the proposed algorithm is tested against the latest technology on standard images, and it is found that the average PSNR of our proposed reversible watermarking technology is higher (i.e., 51.71 dB). Numerical results show that the algorithm can be extended to normal images and medical images.

A Robust Data Hiding Reversible Technique for Improving the Security in e-Health Care System

“…Over the decades, the exponential growth of the internet, digital communication expanded the capacity of internet multimedia networks with the processing of a massive volume of videos and images [1]. Many developments in the computing environment have threatened copyright security and material integrity, including hardware, software, and communication systems.…”