Project C.A.R.E - X

Decentralized Healthcare Trust Layer

Project C.A.R.E - X is a blockchain-based healthcare system designed to facilitate secure, privacy-preserving sharing of medical data between hospitals, doctors, and patients. It integrates medical hardware, EMR systems, IPFS for distributed storage, and a public blockchain for trust and access control.

🏗 System Architecture

The system consists of several key components:

• Public Blockchain: Anchors trust, manages access control (ACL), and logs consent/audit trails.

• EMR Platform:

  • Backend: FastAPI-based server handling logic and blockchain interaction.
  • Frontend: Vite/React web interface for hospital staff.

• Doctor/Auditor Dashboard: Streamlit application for clinicians and auditors to view unified data.

  

• Patient Dashboard: Next.js application for patients to manage their records and consent.

• Hardware Gateway: Python service simulating medical hardware data ingestion.

• IPFS: Used for distributed storage of large medical files (simulated or actual integration).

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

Ensure you have the following installed:

• Node.js (v18+ recommended) & npm
• Python 3.8+ & pip
• Ganache: For running a local Ethereum blockchain.

1. Environment Configuration

The project uses a centralized .env file for configuration.

1. Copy the example environment file:

   cp .env.example .env

2. Open .env and verify the configurations.

   • Ganache: Ensure NEXT_PUBLIC_BLOCKCHAIN_URL matches your local Ganache RPC URL (usually http://127.0.0.1:7545).

   • Accounts: The .env.example comes pre-filled with deterministically generated Ganache accounts (from the mnemonic provided in project docs if applicable). If you use a fresh Ganache workspace, you may need to update these addresses and keys.

     

2. Install Dependencies

You need to install dependencies for the various sub-components.

Blockchain & Backend:

pip install -r blockchain/requirements.txt
pip install -r emr_platform/backend/requirements.txt
pip install streamlit # For the Dashboard

EMR Frontend:

cd emr_platform/frontend
npm install
cd ../..

Patient Dashboard:

cd patient-dashboard-app
npm install
cd ..

3. Blockchain Setup

1. Start your Ganache workspace.

   

2. Ensure it is running on the port specified in .env (default 7545).

3. Deploy the Smart Contracts:

   cd blockchain
   python3 deploy_contract.py
   cd ..

   Note: The .env file might already contain a pre-deployed contract address suitable for the provided Ganache accounts.

🏃 Connectivity & Usage

Option A: Quick Start (Hospital System)

Use the provided shell script to spin up the Hospital EMR, Backend, Gateway, and Doctor Dashboard.

./run.sh

This script will launch:

• EMR Backend: Types (http://localhost:8000)
• EMR Frontend: (http://localhost:5173)
• Doctor Dashboard: (http://localhost:8501)
• Hardware Gateway: (Background service)
• It will also seed the database with mock data.

Option B: Running Components Individually

1. EMR Backend:

cd emr_platform/backend
uvicorn main:app --reload --port 8000

Wait for the backend to start before running frontends.

2. EMR Frontend (Hospital Portal):

cd emr_platform/frontend
npm run dev

3. Doctor's Dashboard:

streamlit run dashboard/app.py

4. Hardware Gateway:

python3 gateway/service.py

Running the Patient Dashboard

The Patient Dashboard is a separate Next.js application.

cd patient-dashboard-app
npm run dev

Access it at user specific port (usually http://localhost:3000).

🔑 Key Features

• Decentralized Identity: Patients control their identity and record access.
• Consent Management: Grant/Revoke access to specific doctors or hospitals via Blockchain.
• Immutable Logs: All access and data sharing events are recorded on-chain.
• Interoperability: Designed to bridge gaps between different EMR systems (e.g., Epic, Cerner simulation).

📂 Directory Structure

• blockchain/: Smart contracts (Solidity) and deployment scripts.
• emr_platform/: The core Hospital Information System (Backend + Frontend).
• patient-dashboard-app/: API and UI for the Patient Portal.
• dashboard/: Analytics and unified view for Doctors.
• gateway/: IoT/Hardware simulation layer.
• hardware/: Hardware specific configurations/code.