Blockchain-Based Verifiable Tracking of Resellable Returned Drugs

An enormous amount of drug supply is regularly wasted due to several reasons related to incorrect prescription, purchase of unnecessary quantities, drug intolerance, allergy, or interactions. On the other hand, these medicines may be needed by patients who cannot afford to purchase them. To address...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mazin Debe, Khaled Salah, Raja Jayaraman, Junaid Arshad
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2020-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9256263/
_version_ 1818662327841456128
author Mazin Debe
Khaled Salah
Raja Jayaraman
Junaid Arshad
author_facet Mazin Debe
Khaled Salah
Raja Jayaraman
Junaid Arshad
author_sort Mazin Debe
collection DOAJ
description An enormous amount of drug supply is regularly wasted due to several reasons related to incorrect prescription, purchase of unnecessary quantities, drug intolerance, allergy, or interactions. On the other hand, these medicines may be needed by patients who cannot afford to purchase them. To address this challenge, we propose a fully decentralized solution that governs the return and redistribution of unused drugs that are fit for usage. Our approach exploits the decentralized blockchain technology, smart contracts, and decentralized storage systems such as the Interplanetary File Systems (IPFS). We develop a system that provides the ability for customers as well as pharmacies to return re-usable, resellable drugs for donation or resale at a lower price. The proposed scheme tracks the production of drugs from manufacturers to traders that subsequently sell them to customers. Unused drugs can be returned after approval by specialized entities and then redistributed. In particular, we present the decentralized system architecture and implement a prototype on a test Ethereum blockchain platform to present the suggested workflow. Further, we provide system evaluation focused on assessing system functionality, performance, execution cost, and security of smart contracts and their robustness. We have also made our smart contracts code publicly available on Github.
first_indexed 2024-12-17T04:59:12Z
format Article
id doaj.art-8c8424dce98a4bd38daa356a17a513ce
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2169-3536
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-17T04:59:12Z
publishDate 2020-01-01
publisher IEEE
record_format Article
series IEEE Access
spelling doaj.art-8c8424dce98a4bd38daa356a17a513ce2022-12-21T22:02:37ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362020-01-01820584820586210.1109/ACCESS.2020.30373639256263Blockchain-Based Verifiable Tracking of Resellable Returned DrugsMazin Debe0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6328-271XKhaled Salah1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2310-2558Raja Jayaraman2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2749-2688Junaid Arshad3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0424-9498Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesSchool of Computing and Digital Technology, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, U.K.An enormous amount of drug supply is regularly wasted due to several reasons related to incorrect prescription, purchase of unnecessary quantities, drug intolerance, allergy, or interactions. On the other hand, these medicines may be needed by patients who cannot afford to purchase them. To address this challenge, we propose a fully decentralized solution that governs the return and redistribution of unused drugs that are fit for usage. Our approach exploits the decentralized blockchain technology, smart contracts, and decentralized storage systems such as the Interplanetary File Systems (IPFS). We develop a system that provides the ability for customers as well as pharmacies to return re-usable, resellable drugs for donation or resale at a lower price. The proposed scheme tracks the production of drugs from manufacturers to traders that subsequently sell them to customers. Unused drugs can be returned after approval by specialized entities and then redistributed. In particular, we present the decentralized system architecture and implement a prototype on a test Ethereum blockchain platform to present the suggested workflow. Further, we provide system evaluation focused on assessing system functionality, performance, execution cost, and security of smart contracts and their robustness. We have also made our smart contracts code publicly available on Github.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9256263/Blockchainethereumhealthcarereturned drugstrustworthy tracking
spellingShingle Mazin Debe
Khaled Salah
Raja Jayaraman
Junaid Arshad
Blockchain-Based Verifiable Tracking of Resellable Returned Drugs
IEEE Access
Blockchain
ethereum
healthcare
returned drugs
trustworthy tracking
title Blockchain-Based Verifiable Tracking of Resellable Returned Drugs
title_full Blockchain-Based Verifiable Tracking of Resellable Returned Drugs
title_fullStr Blockchain-Based Verifiable Tracking of Resellable Returned Drugs
title_full_unstemmed Blockchain-Based Verifiable Tracking of Resellable Returned Drugs
title_short Blockchain-Based Verifiable Tracking of Resellable Returned Drugs
title_sort blockchain based verifiable tracking of resellable returned drugs
topic Blockchain
ethereum
healthcare
returned drugs
trustworthy tracking
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9256263/
work_keys_str_mv AT mazindebe blockchainbasedverifiabletrackingofresellablereturneddrugs
AT khaledsalah blockchainbasedverifiabletrackingofresellablereturneddrugs
AT rajajayaraman blockchainbasedverifiabletrackingofresellablereturneddrugs
AT junaidarshad blockchainbasedverifiabletrackingofresellablereturneddrugs