Advantages and opportunities of the IOTA Tangle for Health Data Management: A Systematic Mapping Study

Abstract

The merging of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and the Internet of Things (IoT) has opened new opportunities for innovation in health data management. Issues such as security breaches, privacy violations and fragmented data are just some of the problems that DLT might solve. This research investigates how the IOTA Tangle can provide reliable and secure health data management. A systematic mapping study on 10 primary papers from year 2018 to 2021 was conducted with a comparison with findings from previous studies. We discovered that the existing research has been conducted within the knowledge areas of health data management and its relation to the IOTA Tangle, blockchain, and IoT. The results show that the IOTA Tangle is a good candidate for health data management and that it has been successfully done as proof of concepts. The Tangle is also highlighted in the literature as being well suited for the IoT. This thesis forms the basis for further research into the suitability of the IOTA Tangle in health data management.