MITS-GAN: Safeguarding Medical Imaging from Tampering with Generative Adversarial Networks

Submitted to the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine

Giovanni Pasqualinoa, Luca Guarneraa, Alessandro Ortisa,*, Sebastiano Battiatoa

aUniversity of Catania, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science - Italy
*Corresponding author, Alessandro Ortis alessandro.ortis@unict.it

Abstract

The progress in generative models, particularly Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), opened new possibilities for image generation but raised concerns about potential malicious uses, especially in sensitive areas like medical imaging. This study introduces MITS-GAN, a novel approach to prevent tampering in medical images, with a specific focus on CT scans. The approach disrupts the output of the attacker's CT-GAN architecture by introducing imperceptible but yet precise perturbations. Specifically, the proposed approach involves the introduction of appropriate Gaussian noise to the input as a protective measure against various attacks. Our method aims to enhance tamper resistance, comparing favorably to existing techniques. Experimental results on a CT scan dataset demonstrate MITS-GAN's superior performance, emphasizing its ability to generate tamper-resistant images with negligible artifacts. As image tampering in medical domains poses life-threatening risks, our proactive approach contributes to the responsible and ethical use of generative models. This work provides a foundation for future research in countering cyber threats in medical imaging.

Models and code

The paper is submitted to the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine journal and is currently under review. Models and code will be publicly available after the paper publication.