In an alarming development, a French surgeon has been accused of selling an X-ray taken from one of the victims of the Bataclan attack in Paris as an NFT digital collectible without obtaining consent from his patient.
X-rays
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X-rays are a commonly used diagnostic medical imaging method in healthcare. This non-invasive procedure offers a painless, inside look at your body that’s effective at detecting conditions like fractures or tumours in bones.
An X-ray is a type of imaging technique in which invisible radiation passes through your body and produces an image on a special camera nearby. Bones absorb this radiation, appearing bright white; soft tissues such as organs or muscles appear in shades of gray.
Radiologists view these images to detect any hidden issues behind the film, enabling your doctor or surgeon to find the most appropriate treatment option for you.
Radiologists take multiple X-rays as part of the procedure to identify any problematic areas. Your radiologist will explain the process and what steps you should take in preparation.
Once the X-rays have been taken, your radiologist will explain what they have discovered and how it will be addressed. They also provide any medications or other treatments that might be necessary.
For your X-ray exam, you will lie on a special plate while an arm-mounted camera takes images of your body. Your radiologist will instruct you how to position yourself for optimal results.
If you are concerned about the amount of radiation to which you will be exposed, ask your radiologist to administer a small dose of medicine that can reduce this exposure. It’s usually wise to request this, especially if you are pregnant or have any health concerns.
X-rays rarely pose a risk and their benefits far outweigh them. That is why the World Health Organization (WHO) considers them safe when used correctly.
X-rays have many applications in medicine, research and industry. One such use is X-ray crystallography which examines material properties and detects defects. They’re even employed as part of security checks at airports and ports to check baggage and containers for prohibited items.
NFTs
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are an increasingly popular type of crypto asset. They represent ownership in an unique asset coded on blockchain — the decentralized digital ledger technology behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum — which represents ownership in a unique asset coded on a decentralized digital ledger system.
But NFTs are also bad for the environment, as they require a great deal of energy to mine and trade. Hosted on blockchain platforms, NFTs use mining to generate unique digital assets that are added to the blockchain every time someone solves a complex puzzle using proof-of-work (PoW) method.
This process consumes an immense amount of power and electricity, as well as creating greenhouse gases. Due to these drawbacks, many artists opt for alternatives like NFTs.
Some NFT projects, such as Pudgy Penguin, have created communities where owners can communicate and help each other promote their products or services. These spaces serve to foster a sense of community for NFTs while providing invaluable advice about the project.
NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are a relatively recent way of selling art online, offering a more lucrative alternative than the traditional method of soliciting tips and selling physical prints. But these transactions come with risks for artists as well.
NFTs’ value is solely dependent on what others will pay for them, meaning their prices can fluctuate dramatically. Not only does this make reselling them difficult but may even prevent you from doing so altogether if no one else is interested.
Another drawback of NFTs is that they tend to be non-fungible, meaning that they cannot be swapped out for other tokens of the same type. This makes them more similar to artwork than coins or banknotes which are fungible and can be substituted one for another.
Particularly with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are items not already owned by someone. Examples include t-shirts featuring famous NBA player’s faces – these can often be unique and hard-to-find pieces which could be worth a substantial amount of money.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is a digital form of currency that utilizes the blockchain (a system which stores transaction information in blocks) instead of traditional banks or other institutions. Additionally, it has a decentralized structure, meaning there are no central authorities to enforce trust or police transactions between two parties. This has made cryptocurrency attractive to bad actors and governments seeking to circumvent sanctions or criminal charges.
Therefore, cryptocurrency may present several potential risks. These include regulatory, management and counterparty risks.
Furthermore, cryptocurrencies can be difficult to use and vulnerable to theft by third parties. This could result in substantial losses for investors if the stolen funds are not recovered.
Cryptocurrencies can be highly volatile in price, making them a risky investment. Fortunately, there are various ways to safeguard yourself against this problem.
One way to protect yourself is by buying only coins that you know are reliable. This helps reduce the risk of fraud and theft, and ensures you won’t lose all of your investment in case of a scam or hack.
Another way to protect yourself is by making sure you use a reliable exchange. Many people rely on exchanges for their cryptocurrency storage, which could become hazardous if the platform becomes compromised.
Finally, it’s wise to verify if your cryptocurrency is supported by a bank or another reliable institution. Some cryptocurrencies lack this backing, meaning they cannot be used for all online purchases.
Cryptocurrencies are generally seen as a positive development in the digital economy, yet some worry about their effects on environment and human health. Mining some cryptocurrencies requires large amounts of electricity which could have serious environmental repercussions, leading to debate over mining’s influence over climate change.
For instance, the energy required to mine Bitcoins is disproportionately high in many countries. This has raised concerns about its impact on climate change and led some nations to switch over to a different model for mining that requires less electricity consumption.
Privacy
As healthcare technology transitions into the digital age, there are a variety of challenges regarding patient data privacy. This could include issues related to fragmentation, which occurs when individuals share their data across multiple entities over their lifetime.
Patients increasingly own and control their health data, making informed decisions about its usage is key. This includes being able to decide who has access to their information, as well as what that data will be used for.
Informed consent is a cornerstone principle in bioethics, which requires providers and researchers to respect each patient’s autonomy. Furthermore, informed consent requires patients to give their full and unreserved approval for any data collection or sharing activities.
NFTs as a storage mechanism for health data could bring these fundamental principles into the 21st century, giving patients more control over their personal information and an awareness of how it will be used and why. Nonetheless, storing health data in NFTs poses significant ethical dilemmas which must be resolved before any real application of this technology occurs.
For instance, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) stipulates that any personal information should not be retained beyond what is necessary to identify the data subject for processing purposes. Therefore, any health data stored on blockchain would likely fall foul of both GDPR and other privacy regulations unless it could be uniquely identified.
However, there are still other obstacles that need to be overcome before NFTs can be widely adopted for storing health data. These include issues related to ownership, data anonymization or pseudonymization and the permanence of that data on the blockchain.
Current privacy laws and ethics guidelines were not created with blockchain technology in mind, leading to questions about their application to NFTs. Therefore, future legislation needs to take this into account and address specific areas such as data ownership, the definition of health data, and guidance regarding potential privacy implications associated with NFTs.