Multi-Channel Multi-Protocol Quantum Key Distribution System for Secure Image Transmission in Healthcare

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a viable technique for safeguarding image transmission against numerous attacks. To address the limitations of existing methods in securing electronic medical records, we have explored an encryption technique using a set of real-time medical images along with existing standard images using QKD protocols including BB84 (Bennett-Brassard 1984), CASCADE (Cascading Error Correction Algorithm for Data Exchange), and differential-phase-shift (DPS) under the fiber-based (OFC) and free-space (FSO) channels. It utilizes the quantum bit-plane representation of the Real Ket (QBRK) model and a logistic chaotic system with XOR operation. The performance of the developed framework is tested via visual illustration and 11 different quantitative assessments. The average entropy of the scrambled image for the medical source image is 7.9896, which is quite near to the optimum value of 8. The <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">UACI</i> (Unified Averaged Changed Intensity) and the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">NPCR</i> (Number of Pixels Change Rate) metrics values lie between 33.7879 to 33.9711 and 99.6014 to 99.8000 for the FSO channel. The BB84 QKD protocol achieves a QBER (Quantum Bit Error Rate) of 0.0028 for an FSO channel with DCR (Dark Count Rate), which improves to 0.0012 when DCR is ignored for a 10 km link range. In addition, we analyzed and compared the effect of OFC on system output as the quantum channel. From several experiments, it is observed that the BB84 provides better results against CASCADE and DPS. The proposed work is validated using the Optisystem 15.1 software under FSO and for OFC.