Systems and methods for wireless pairing and communication for electro-stimulation

• US 10,300,288 B2
• Filed: 01/08/2018
• Issued: 05/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DJO LLC (Enovis Corp.)
• Original Assignee: EMPI Incorporated (Enovis Corp.)
• Inventors: Baumgartner, Flavien, Perroud, Stephane, Vuadens, Philippe, Fontaine, Nicolas
• Primary Examiner(s): Lavert, Nicole F
• Assistant Examiner(s): Johnson, Nicole F.
• Application Number:
  US15/864,973
• Publication Number:
  US 20180193654A1
• Time in Patent Office: 505 Days
• Field of Search: 607 30, 607 60, 607115
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3603 Control systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37217 characterised by the communication link, e.g. acoustic or tactile
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37247 User interfaces, e.g. input or presentation means
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37288 Communication to several implantable medical devices within one patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3787 from an external energy source
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/445 by mutual authentication, e.g. between devices or programs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2115 Third party
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/622 Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/04 Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/71 Hardware identity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/20 Master-slave selection or change arrangements

Abstract

The disclosure herein is directed toward systems and methods for pairing two or more devices into a wireless network and transferring data between two or more electro-stimulation devices. Specifically, the systems and methods disclosed herein may include pairing two or more devices into a network configuration using, in part, a pairing device to distinctly identify the devices to be paired and to pair the identified devices into a network. Moreover, the systems and methods disclosed herein may include transferring data between two or more devices using, in part, one or more electro-stimulation contacts for electro-stimulation therapy and using, in part, the same one or more electro-stimulation contacts for transferring data between two or more devices.

Claims

1. A system for delivering electro-stimulation, comprising:

a first electro-stimulation device comprising a first output system, the first output system comprising a first set of electro-stimulation contacts, the first output system configured to;

deliver an electro-stimulation therapy, through a first set of electro-stimulation contacts and a first set of electrodes connected to the first set of electro-stimulation contacts, to a person in contact with the first set of electrodes; and

communicate with a second device through the first set of electro-stimulation contacts and the first set of electrodes,

wherein the communication between the first device and the second device is through the skin of the person in contact with the first set of electrodes.

2. A system for delivering electro-stimulation, comprising:

a first electro-stimulation device comprising a first output system, the first output system comprising a first set of electro-stimulation contacts, the first output system configured to;

deliver an electro-stimulation therapy, through a first set of electro-stimulation contacts and a first set of electrodes connected to the first set of electro-stimulation contacts, to a person in contact with the first set of electrodes, and

communicate with a second device through the first set of electro-stimulation contacts and the first set of electrodes; and

the second device, wherein the second device comprises a second electro-stimulation device having a second output system, the second output system comprising a second set of electro-stimulation contacts, the second output system configured to deliver an electro-stimulation therapy, through the second set of electro-stimulation contacts and a second set of electrodes connected to the second set of electro-stimulation contacts, to the person in contact with the first set of electrodes and the second set of electrodes and to communicate with the first electro-stimulation device through the second set of electro-stimulation contacts and the second set of electrodes.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the first electro-stimulation device further comprises conductive wires connecting the first set of electro-stimulation contacts and the first set of electrodes.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the second electro-stimulation device further comprises conductive wires connecting the second set of electro-stimulation contacts and the second set of electrodes.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the first device is further configured to communicate with the second device and deliver the electro-stimulation therapy simultaneously.

5. A system for delivering electro-stimulation, comprising:

a first electro-stimulation device comprising a first output system, the first output system comprising a first set of electro-stimulation contacts, the first output system configured to;

deliver an electro-stimulation therapy, through a first set of electro-stimulation contacts and a first set of electrodes connected to the first set of electro-stimulation contacts, to a person in contact with the first set of electrodes; and

communicate with a second device through the first set of electro-stimulation contacts and the first set of electrodes, wherein the first device is further configured to communicate with the second device and deliver the electro-stimulation therapy simultaneously.

7. A method for applying an electro-stimulation therapy, comprising:

applying at least two electro-stimulation devices to a user, the two electro-stimulation devices comprising

a first electro-stimulation device comprising a first output system having a first set of electro-stimulation contacts and a first set of electrodes, and

a second electro-stimulation device;

applying an electro-stimulation therapy to the user through the first set of electrodes using the at least two electro-stimulation devices; and

establishing communication between the at least two electro-stimulation devices through the skin of the user in contact with the first set of electrodes and through the first set of electro-stimulation contacts.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the applying the at least two electro-stimulation devices to the user comprises applying electrodes coupled to each of the at least two electro-stimulation devices to skin of the user, and wherein establishing communication between the at least two electro-stimulation devices comprises communicating between the at least two electro-stimulation devices through the skin of the user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the establishing communication between the at least two electro-stimulation devices further comprises establishing a communicative connection between the at least two electro-stimulation devices that comprises the first set of electrodes and the skin of the user.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising communicating data between the at least two electro-stimulation devices by communicating through the skin of the user.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein applying an electro-stimulation therapy and communicating between the at least two electro-stimulation devices is performed concurrently.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the communication between the at least two electro-stimulation devices is bi-directional.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the communication between the at least two electro-stimulation devices is uni-directional.