System, method, and apparatus for communicating data

• US 10,044,791 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2013
• Issued: 08/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Deka Products Limited Partnership
• Original Assignee: Deka Products Limited Partnership
• Inventors: Kamen, Dean, Kerwin, John M., Ballantyne, Todd A., Morgan, Frederick, Demers, Jason A., Biasi, John J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lubin, Valerie
• Application Number:
  US14/135,809
• Publication Number:
  US 20140195639A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,691 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/17 delivered via infusion or injection
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/40 relating to drugs, e.g. their side effects or intended usage
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

A system includes first and second hubs. The first hub is configured to communicate data with a medical device through a Local Area Network and package the data into at least one application-layer packet. The second hub is configured to receive the at least one application-layer packet from the first hub operatively through at least one cellular network.

Claims

1. A hub, comprising:

a local area network interface component configured to communicate data with a medical device;

a first system-on-module configured to interface with a first communications channel;

a second system-on-module configured to interface with a second communications channel;

a processor configured to package the data from the medical device into at least one packet, wherein a packet of the at least one packet includes a header, the processor further configured to operatively communicate with one of the first and second system-on-modules to communicate the at least one packet over one of the first and second communications channels;

a failsafe bus configured to signal from the hub to the medical device when a fatal-error fault condition of the hub has occurred; and

an alarm wire bus configured to signal from the hub to the medical device when an alarm condition of the hub has occurred to cause the medical device to execute at least one mitigation.

2. The hub according to claim 1, wherein the first communications channel is a first cellular network, and the second communications channel is a second cellular network.

3. The hub according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to associate the hub with one of an identification value, a patient, the medical device, and a treatment.

4. The hub according to claim 1, further comprising a plain-old-telephone-service component, wherein the processor is configured to route the packet through the plain-old-telephone-service component when the first and second communications channels are unavailable.

5. The hub according to claim 1, wherein:

the first communications channel is through a LAN, and

the at least one mitigation includes lowering a LAN-connection bandwidth of the LAN.

6. The hub according to claim 1, wherein the at least one mitigation includes using an internal cellular connection to communicate with a network.

7. The hub according to claim 1, wherein the at least one mitigation includes using an internal cellular connection to communicate with a network defined by the first communications channel.

8. The hub according to claim 1, wherein the medical device communicates to the hub a list of conditions of the hub that trigger the alarm condition.

9. The hub according to claim 1, wherein the alarm condition is a function of a capability of a network.

10. The hub according to claim 1, wherein the alarm condition is a function of a performance of a network.

11. The hub according to claim 1, wherein the alarm condition is a function of a capability of the hub.

12. The hub according to claim 1, wherein the alarm condition is a function of a performance of the hub.

13. The hub according to claim 1, wherein the medical device is configured to operate independently of the hub when the fatal-error fault condition of the hub occurs.

14. The hub according to claim 1, wherein the medical device communicates to the hub a list of conditions of the hub that trigger the fatal-error fault condition.