Trust of medical devices, applications, and users in pervasive healthcare

In the future, patients may be able to receive health care through the use of pervasive medical devices, sensors, and applications, even outside of hospitals. These data sources monitor and assist patients, aid in treatment, and notify doctors of problems as they develop, allowing them to send help and prepare for emergency treatment faster than otherwise possible. But such data sources are subject to attack or failure. Current trust models guarantee control over access to patient data, but not to determine the trustworthiness of the sources of that data, or of the data itself. This paper shows how the Solar Trust Model can be used to evaluate the trustworthiness of data and data sources in networks of pervasive healthcare devices, sensors, and applications.