Medical devices and configuration update management

• US 10,025,909 B2
• Filed: 07/08/2015
• Issued: 07/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fresenius KABI USA LLC (Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA)
• Original Assignee: Ivenix, Inc. (Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA)
• Inventors: Gray, George W., McQuaid, William C.
• Primary Examiner(s): JOHNSON, TERRELL S
• Application Number:
  US14/794,231
• Publication Number:
  US 20160034655A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,105 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3553 remote, e.g. between patient's home and doctor's office
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3561 local, e.g. within room or hospital
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/142 Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/17 delivered via infusion or injection
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/40 for the management of medical equipment or devices, e.g. scheduling maintenance or upgrades
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/40 relating to drugs, e.g. their side effects or intended usage

Abstract

A configuration management resource keeps track of incremental updates to a locally stored copy of configuration information (such as drug library information) used by a medical device to administer treatment to patients. The medical device retrieves a copy of the configuration information from a configuration management resource. Unbeknownst to a user of the medical device, to ensure that the medical device has most up-to-date configuration information, the medical device communicates a request for updates to the configuration management resource. To service the received request for updated configuration information, the configuration management resource forwards incrementally available configuration update information to the requesting medical device. The medical device uses the received configuration update information from the configuration management resource to update its local version of configuration information stored in the medical device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

via a medical infusion pump;

communicating a request for configuration update information over a communication link to a configuration management resource;

receiving the configuration update information over the communication link from the configuration management resource, the received configuration update information indicating a modification to be applied to fluid delivery information for a first drug of multiple drugs in a drug library used by the medical infusion pump;

utilizing the received configuration update information to update a current version of configuration information stored in a repository of the medical infusion pump for the first drug, the current version of configuration information stored in the repository of the medical infusion pump to provide fluid delivery healthcare service to a patient;

utilizing the current version of configuration information to configure the medical infusion pump to administer the first drug to the patient; and

tracking individual versions of fluid delivery configuration information assigned to the multiple drugs updated in the drug library, the drug library incrementally updated with the individual versions of fluid delivery configuration information at different times.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein the current version of configuration information is a set amongst multiple sets of independent configuration information stored in the medical infusion pump, each of the sets of independent configuration information specifying how to administer a corresponding treatment to the patient using the medical infusion pump.

3. The method as in claim 2, wherein the first drug is a first drug fluid;

wherein the multiple sets of independent configuration information includes;

i) first configuration information specifying how to administer the first drug fluid using the medical infusion pump, ii) second configuration information specifying how to administer a second drug fluid using the medical infusion pump, and iii) third configuration information specifying how to administer a third drug fluid using the medical infusion pump;

wherein the configuration update information pertains to the first configuration information; and

wherein utilizing the configuration update information to update the current version of configuration information stored in the medical infusion pump further comprises;

mapping the received configuration update information to the second configuration information and applying the configuration update information to the second configuration information.

4. The method as in claim 3, wherein utilizing the received configuration update information to update the current version of configuration information further comprises:

utilizing the received configuration update information to modify a set of fluid pump control information for the first drug, the set of fluid pump control information indicating how to control delivery of the first drug to a recipient using the medical infusion pump;

utilizing a first time stamp to track a time of modifying the first set of fluid pump control information for the first drug; and

maintaining a second time stamp to indicate a time of modifying a second set of fluid pump patrol information indicating how to control delivery of the second drug to a recipient using the medical infusion pump, the second time stamp specifying an earlier date than the first time stamp.

5. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

mapping the configuration update information to the current version of configuration information; and

wherein utilizing the received configuration update information to update the current version of configuration information stored in the medical infusion pump further comprises;

applying the configuration update information to the current version of the configuration information.

6. The method as in claim 1, wherein the request triggers retrieval of the configuration update information for the first drug.

7. The method as in claim 6, wherein the medical infusion pump generates the request in response to detecting an event in which the medical infusion pump is operated to deliver the first drug to the patient.

8. The method as in claim 1, wherein the drug library stores fluid pump delivery information for each of the multiple drugs, fluid update information for each of the multiple drugs retrieved individually by the medical infusion pump to update the drug library.

9. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

using first time stamp information to track a time of updating the first drug with the received configuration update information; and

using second time stamp information to track a time of updating fluid delivery information for a second drug in the drug library, the second time stamp information indicating an earlier date than the first time stamp.

10. The method as in claim 9 further comprising:

tracking a time of updating each of the multiple drugs in the drug library.

11. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

communicating the request in response to detecting that a less-than-all portion of the drugs in the drug library have available updates to respective fluid pump delivery information to control delivery of fluid form the medical infusion pump;

receiving updated fluid pump delivery information for each of the less-than-all portion of drugs; and

individually applying the updated fluid pump delivery information to the less-than-all portion of drugs in the drug library.

12. The method as in claim 11, wherein the request specifies to retrieve the configuration update information for the first drug.

13. The method as in claim 1, wherein utilizing the received configuration update information to update the current version of configuration information further comprises:

utilizing the received configuration update information to modify a set of fluid pump control information for the first drug, the set of fluid pump control information indicating how to control delivery of the first drug to a recipient using the medical infusion pump;

utilizing a first time stamp information to track a time of modifying the first set of fluid pump control information for the first drug; and

maintaining a second time stamp to indicate a time of modifying a second set of fluid pump control information in the drug library, the second set of fluid pump control information indicating how to control delivery of a second drug to a recipient using the medical infusion pump, the second time stamp specifying an earlier date than the first time stamp.

14. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

using first time stamp information to track a time of updating the first drug with the received configuration update information; and

using second time stamp information to track a time of updating fluid delivery information for a second drug in the library, the second time stamp information indicating an earlier date than the first time stamp.

15. The method as in claim 1, wherein the drug library includes identities of the first drug and a second drug, the method further comprising:

at the medical infusion pump;

incrementally updating only the first drug in the drug library with the received configuration update information based on a first time of communicating with the configuration management resource; and

incrementally updating only the second drug in the drug library based on a second instant in time of communicating with configuration management resource, the second time occurring after the first instant in time.

16. The method as in claim 1, wherein the drug library stores fluid pump delivery setting information for each of the multiple drugs, pump setting update information for each of the multiple drugs retrieved individually by the medical infusion pump to update the drug library.

17. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

at the medical infusion pump;

tracking individual times of updating the fluid delivery configuration information associated with the multiple drugs in the drug library.

18. The method as in claim 1, wherein the drug library of the medical infusion pump is incrementally updated with the individual versions of fluid delivery configuration information at different times as the individual versions of the fluid delivery configuration information become available as indicated by the communication management resource.

22. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

in response to a trigger event, establishing the communication link between the medical infusion pump and the configuration management resource, the configuration management resource selecting the configuration update information for distribution to the medical infusion pump based on a comparison of a publication time of last configuration update resident on the medical infusion pump and a time value indicating when the configuration update information was published for distribution.

19. A method comprising:

from a medical infusion pump;

communicating a request for configuration update information over a communication link to a configuration management resource;

receiving the configuration update information over the communication link from the configuration management resource, the received configuration update information indicating a modification to be applied to fluid delivery information for a first drug of multiple drugs in a drug library used by the medical infusion pump;

utilizing the received configuration update information to update a current version of configuration information stored in a repository of the medical infusion pump for the first drug, the current version of configuration information stored in the repository of the medical infusion pump to provide fluid delivery healthcare service to a patient;

utilizing the current version of configuration information to configure the medical infusion pump to administer the first drug to the patient;

wherein communicating the request for configuration update information further comprises;

from the medical infusion pump, communicating a publication time value of the current version of configuration information stored in the medical infusion pump to the configuration management resource; and

wherein receiving the configuration update information over the communication link from the configuration management resource further comprises;

receiving incremental updates that were published after the time value; and

applying the incremental updates to specified portions of the current version of configuration information.

20. The method as in claim 19, wherein utilizing the configuration update information to update the current configuration information stored in the medical infusion pump further comprises:

replacing a specified portion of the current version of configuration information with the configuration update information.

21. The method as in claim 19, wherein utilizing the configuration update information to update the current configuration information stored in the medical infusion pump further comprises:

modifying a specified portion of the current version of configuration information in a manner as specified by the configuration update information.

23. A method comprising:

via computer processor hardware, executing operations of;

storing multiple sets of configuration information in a repository, the multiple sets of configuration information including a first set of configuration information for distribution to medical infusion pump devices;

receiving an update applicable to the first set of configuration information stored in the repository, the first set of configuration information pertaining to delivery of a first type of fluid;

applying the received update to the first set of configuration information to produce an updated first set of configuration information; and

managing individual distribution of the updated first set of configuration information stored in the repository to the medical infusion pump devices.

24. The method as in claim 23 further comprising:

receiving first timestamp information, the first timestamp information specifying a time associated with application of the update to the first set of configuration information; and

storing the first timestamp information associated with the first set of configuration information to indicate when the first set of configuration information was published for distribution to control the medical infusion pump devices.

25. The method as in claim 24 further comprising:

receiving second time stamp information, the second time stamp information specifying a time associated with application of an update to a second set of configuration information; and

storing the second time stamp information associated with the second set of configuration information to indicate when the second set of configuration information was published for distribution to control the medical infusion pump devices, the first timestamp information indicating a first date, the second timestamp information indicating a second date different than the first date.

26. The method as in claim 25 further comprising:

distributing the first timestamp information and the second timestamp information to the medical infusion pump devices to indicate respective dates in which the first set of configuration information and the second set of configuration information were updated.

27. The method as in claim 23, wherein receiving the update further comprises:

receiving notification from a publication management resource that the update is available for retrieval and distribution to the medical infusion pump devices.

28. The method as in claim 23, wherein managing individual distribution of the updated first set of configuration information stored in the repository further comprises:

receiving a request from a medical infusion pump device for retrieval of the updated first set of configuration information stored in the repository;

retrieving the updated first set of configuration information; and

forwarding the updated first set of configuration information to the medical infusion pump device.

29. The method as in claim 28, wherein the medical infusion pump utilizes the received update to update a specific drug in a drug library stored in the medical infusion pump device.

30. The method as in claim 23, wherein the multiple sets of configuration information stored in the repository is a drug library, each of the respective sets of configuration information including information facilitating treatment of a respective patient using a drug to which the respective set of configuration information pertains.

31. The method as in claim 23 further comprising:

receiving a time value specifying when configuration information stored in a medical infusion pump device was published;

identifying which of the multiple sets of configuration information in the repository were updated subsequent to the time specified by the time value; and

forwarding the identified set of configuration information to the medical infusion pump device.

32. The method as in claim 23, wherein the multiple sets of configuration information represents a drug library;

and

wherein managing individual distribution of the updated first set of configuration information to the first medical infusion pumps includes;

in response to receiving a request for the updated first set of configuration information from a first medical infusion pump, communicating the updated first set of configuration information to the first medical infusion pump.

33. The method as in claim 32, wherein the first medical infusion pump is operable to:

i) store the first set of configuration information, and ii) replace the first set of configuration information with the updated configuration information.

34. The method as in claim 33, wherein the first medical infusion pump is operable to generate the request in response to detecting that the first set of updated configuration information is available as a replacement to the first set of configuration information stored in the first medical infusion pump.

35. A computer system comprising:

computer processor hardware; and

a hardware storage resource coupled to the computer processor hardware, the hardware storage resource storing instructions that, when executed by the computer processor hardware, causes the computer processor hardware to perform operations of;

communicating a request for configuration update information over a communication link to a configuration management resource;

receiving the configuration update information over the communication link from the configuration management resource; and

utilizing the received configuration update information to update a current version of configuration information stored in a medical infusion pump device, the current version of configuration information present in the medical infusion pump device to provide healthcare service to a patient;

wherein communicating the request for configuration update information further comprises;

from the medical infusion pump device, communicating a publication time value of the current version of configuration information stored in the medical infusion pump device to the configuration management resource;

wherein receiving the configuration update information over the communication link from the configuration management resource further comprises;

receiving incremental updates that were published after the publication time value; and

applying the incremental updates to specified portions of the current version of configuration information.

36. The computer system as in claim 35, wherein the current version of configuration information is part of a drug library stored in the medical infusion pump device.

37. The computer system as in claim 36, wherein the drug library includes usage information with respect to multiple different drugs selectively administered to the patient using the medical infusion pump, the received configuration update information pertaining to one of multiple drugs in the drug library.

38. The computer system as in claim 35, wherein the current version of configuration information is a set amongst multiple sets of independent configuration information stored in the medical infusion pump device, each of the sets of independent configuration information specifying how to administer a corresponding treatment to the patient using the medical infusion pump device.

39. The computer system as in claim 38, wherein the multiple sets of independent configuration information includes:

i) first configuration information specifying how to administer a first drug treatment using the medical infusion pump device, ii) second configuration information specifying how to administer a second drug treatment using the medical infusion pump device, and iii) third configuration information specifying how to administer a third drug treatment using the medical infusion pump device;

wherein the configuration update information pertains to the second configuration information; and

wherein utilizing the configuration update information to update the current version of configuration information stored in the medical infusion pump device further comprises;

mapping the received configuration update information to the second configuration information and applying the configuration update information to the second configuration information.

40. The computer system as in claim 35, wherein the computer processor hardware further performs operations of:

mapping the configuration update information to the current version of configuration information; and

wherein utilizing the received configuration update information to update the current version of configuration information stored in the medical infusion pump device further comprises;

applying the configuration update information to the current version of the configuration information.

41. Computer-readable hardware storage having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when carried out by computer processor hardware, cause the computer processor hardware to:

communicate a request for configuration update information over a communication link to a configuration management resource;

receive the configuration update information over the communication link from the configuration management resource, the received configuration update information indicating a modification to be applied to fluid delivery information for a first drug of multiple drugs in a drug library used by the medical infusion pump;

utilize the received configuration update information to update a current version of configuration information stored in a repository of the medical infusion pump for the first drug, the current version of configuration information stored in the repository of the medical infusion pump to provide fluid delivery healthcare service to a patient;

utilize the current version of configuration information to configure the medical infusion pump to administer the first drug to the patient; and

track individual versions of fluid delivery configuration information assigned to the multiple drugs updated in the drug library, the drug library incrementally updated with each of the individual versions of fluid delivery configuration information at different times.

42. A method comprising:

via a medical infusion pump;

communicating a request for configuration update information over a communication link to a configuration management resource;

receiving the configuration update information over the communication link from the configuration management resource, the received configuration update information indicating a modification to be applied to fluid delivery information for a first drug of multiple drugs in a drug library used by the medical infusion pump;

utilizing the received configuration update information to update a current version of configuration information stored in a repository of the medical infusion pump for the first drug, the current version of configuration information stored in the repository of the medical infusion pump to provide fluid delivery healthcare service to a patient;

utilizing the current version of configuration information to configure the medical infusion pump to administer the first drug to the patient; and

wherein the request triggers retrieval of the configuration update information for the first drug in response to detecting availability of the configuration update information for the first drug.