Authentication Protocols for Implantable Medical Devices: Taxonomy, Analysis and Future Directions

Implantable medical devices (IMDs) are surgically embedded into a human body. These devices are increasingly being used for improving the quality of life of patients by treating various chronic ailments such as cardiac arrhythmia, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease. The received patient vitals are stored in a medical server through a controller node (CN). Due to the wireless communication of sensitive patient data over public channels, the information can be eavesdropped, modified, or deleted. Hence, security is a major concern while designing an authentication protocol in IMDs.