QSMIT: A Quantum Secure Medical Image Transmission Using Sphincs+ With DICOM

As quantum computing capabilities continue to evolve, the need for quantum-secure communication protocols is becoming increasingly essential, and ongoing research in this area is crucial to maintain the security and privacy of digital information in healthcare and beyond. Considering the integrity of such data, we proposed a secure medical image transmission using a post-quantum digital signature scheme known as Sphincs+, as suggested by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Sphincs+ offers strong security against quantum attacks, ensuring long-term data protection. It is stateless, avoids issues with key reuse, and provides efficient, scalable digital signatures. Its robustness and flexibility make it ideal for diverse applications, maintaining integrity even as quantum computing advances. We transmit a digitally signed image using DICOM encoding and Quantum Fourier Transform for transmission. DICOM ensures standardized, interoperable management of medical images, integrating devices and systems for accurate diagnosis for modern consumer healthcare workflows and record-keeping. The Quantum Fourier Transform offers exponential speedup and higher precision over the classical Fast Fourier Transform, particularly benefiting applications in signal processing, data encryption, and environmental sensing. Advanced mistake detection and repair techniques, as well as extraordinarily fast data transmission, are possible with quantum communication. Additionally, it preserves the confidentiality and integrity of data while lowering the possibility of data loss or corruption during transmission. Some popular performance measuring parameters, such as PNR, MSE, SSIM, etc., are used to validate the proposed framework and observe a convincing result.