Privacy-preserving federated neural network learning for disease-associated cell classification

High-quality medical machine learning models will benefit greatly from collaboration between health care institutions. Yet, it is usually difficult to transfer data between these institutions due to strict privacy regulations. In this study, we propose a solution, PriCell, that relies on multiparty homomorphic encryption to enable privacy-preserving collaborative machine learning while protecting via encryption the institutions’ input data, the model, and any value exchanged between the institutions. We show the maturity of our solution by training a published state-of-the-art convolutional neural network in a decentralized and privacy-preserving manner. We compare the accuracy achieved by PriCell with the centralized and non-secure solutions and show that PriCell guarantees privacy without reducing the utility of the data. The benefits of PriCell constitute an important landmark for real-world applications of collaborative training while preserving privacy.

Patterns, Volume 3, Issue 5, 13 May 2022