فاطمه دهقان نصيري

In the era of digital transformation an‎d the rapid expansion of medical imaging systems, ensuring the security an‎d confidentiality of patient data has become one of the most critical challenges in electronic healthcare. This research aims to enhance the security level of medical images by proposing a novel hybrid cryptographic framework based on Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) an‎d chaotic systems. In the proposed method, the encryption key is generated through the BB84 quantum protocol, an‎d its output is used to initialize a logistic chaotic map that produces a pseudo-ran‎dom keystream. This keystream is then employed for image encryption using pixel-wise XOR operations. The experimental implementation on real medical images (including CT an‎d MRI scans) demonstrated that the proposed scheme provides a high degree of security an‎d robustness against common cryptographic attacks. Quantitative metrics such as entropy (7.999), NPCR (99.62%), UACI (41.35%), an‎d pixel correlation coefficients close to zero indicate a highly uniform statistical distribution an‎d strong resistance to differential an‎d statistical analyses. Furthermore, a mean square error (MSE) near zero an‎d infinite peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR→∞) during decryption confirm that the original image can be perfectly reconstructed under noise-free conditions. By integrating quantum cryptography at the physical layer with chaotic encryption at the algorithmic layer, this study introduces a two-stage, high-security framework for protecting sensitive medical image data. Although the quantum channel was simulated rather than physically implemented, the analytical an‎d experimental results clearly demonstrate that combining these two technologies can establish a highly secure an‎d theoretically unbreakable environment for the transmission an‎d storage of medical images. Future work should include formal security analysis, comprehensive NIST ran‎domness testing, an‎d practical implementation within real medical systems to fully validate the reliability an‎d efficiency of the proposed approach.

امنيت تصاوير پزشكي , رمزنگاري كوانتومي , توزيع كليد كوانتومي , پروتكل بي‌بي84 , نگاشت آشوب لجستيك

Quantum cryptography , QKD (quantum key distribution) , BB84 protocol , Logistic chaos mapping , Medical images Security

Fatemeh DehghanNasiri

Dr. Mohammad Soleimani