Publications

Health professionals are increasingly concerned with the welfare of their patients and the security of their medical records. With the shift toward electronic methods for obtaining and recording patient information, these records have become more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Ensuring that unauthorized individuals do not gain access to sensitive medical information is paramount. This chapter aims to enhance the security of textual medical records using an improved least significant bit (LSB) steganography technique. The objective is to develop a robust medical information system that secures patient data against potential cyber threats by implementing a modified LSB procedure called circular shift LSB steganography. The proposed system was developed and programmed in the MATLAB 2018a environment. The enhancement involved rational bit shift operations to improve the traditional LSB steganography method. The performance of the modified LSB technique was assessed using key metrics such as peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), mean squared error (MSE), and the number of shifts. The modified LSB method demonstrated superior performance compared to traditional LSB methods. Quantitative analysis revealed PSNR values ranging from 74.3458 to 80.364, indicating higher image quality and reduced distortion. MSE values ranged from 0.002391 to 0.000598, showing minimal error and high fidelity of the stego images. Additionally, the number of shifts used in the embedding process ranged from 32,640 to 88,410, enhancing the security and robustness of the stego images. The enhanced LSB steganography technique, employing rational bit shift operations, outperformed traditional LSB methods regarding robustness, capacity, and imperceptibility. The introduction of the number of shifts as a new output measure further validated the improved security and effectiveness of the proposed method. The results confirm that the updated LSB technique provides a more secure solution for protecting textual medical records against unauthorized access and cyber threats. Future research should explore further optimization of the bit shift operations to enhance the security and efficiency of the LSB steganography technique. Additionally, expanding the application of this method to other types of sensitive data and evaluating its performance in different environments and scenarios will help establish its broader utility and effectiveness.