Method for controlling a functional component of a transportation vehicle by a medical implant of a user of the transportation vehicle, computer program, control device for a transportation vehicle, and medical implant

• US 10,322,632 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2016
• Issued: 06/18/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Volkswagen AG
• Original Assignee: Volkswagen AG
• Inventors: Bartels, Bastian
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Toan N
• Application Number:
  US16/060,313
• Publication Number:
  US 20180361852A1
• Time in Patent Office: 932 Days
• Field of Search: 340576, 607 32, 607 60, 128903, 128272, 701 36, 701 70
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/22 Motor vehicles operators, e.g. drivers, pilots, captains
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/076 Permanent implantations telemetry using implanted circuitry A61B5/0031; implanted stimulators for therapy A61N1/3605, A61N1/362, A61N1/372
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3576 with non implanted data transmission devices, e.g. using external transmitter or receiver
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/50 with microprocessors or computers
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/502 User interfaces, e.g. screens or keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/14276 specially adapted for implantation
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37252 Details of algorithms or data aspects of communication system, e.g. handshaking, transmitting specific data or segmenting data
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/06 responsive to incapacity of driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/0818 Inactivity or incapacity of driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/043 Identity of occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/221 Physiology, e.g. weight, heartbeat, health or special needs
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 40/08 related to drivers or passengers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/60 for the operation of medical equipment or devices
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

A method for controlling a functional component of a transportation vehicle by a medical implant of a user of the transportation vehicle including transmitting a signal, which comprises authentication information and status information, from the medical implant to a control device of the transportation vehicle; receiving the signal; establishing validity or invalidity of the received signal; and providing a control command to the functional component of the transportation vehicle, in the case of established validity, in response to status information that indicates a critical health status of the user.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a functional component of a transportation vehicle by a medical implant of a user of the transportation vehicle, the method comprising:

sending a signal from the medical implant to a control apparatus of the transportation vehicle comprising authentication information and state information;

receiving the signal;

establishing a validity or invalidity of the received signal including ascertaining a time window for the validity of the signal based on the authentication information and ascertaining;

a time of production of the signal from the authentication information;

or

an explicit sequence of characters from the authentication information;

and providing a control command to the functional component of the transportation vehicle as a reaction to state information indicating a critical state of health of the user in response to validity of the critical state of the health of the user being established.

2. The method of claim 1,

wherein the ascertaining of the time window comprises stipulating an end of the time window for a time no later than one minute after the time of production of the signal.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the ascertaining of the time window comprises stipulating an end of the time window directly after a time at which the explicit sequence of characters was received by the control apparatus for the first time.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising ascertaining a passenger position or a driver position at which the user is located inside the transportation vehicle based on the signal.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending an information signal with information about a transportation vehicle state to the medical implant.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising storing the information signal.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising producing the signal based on a critical state of health of the user carrying the medical implant, wherein the signal comprises the authentication information and the state information.

8. The method of claim 3, further comprising at least one of producing the explicit sequence of characters by the control apparatus, sending the explicit sequence of characters from the control apparatus to the medical implant, and/orand receiving the explicit sequence of characters.

9. A control apparatus for a transportation vehicle, the control apparatus comprising:

a receiver to receive a signal from a medical implant of a user of the transportation vehicle, wherein the signal comprises authentication information and state information;

a checking module to take the authentication information as a basis for establishing a validity or invalidity of the received signal; and

a control device that reacts to state information indicating a critical state of health of the user by providing a control command to a functional component of the transportation vehicle in response to the validity of the critical state of health of the user being established,

wherein the checking module takes the authentication information as a basis for ascertaining a time window, and establishes the validity of the received signal if a time of reception of the signal is inside the time window, or establishes the invalidity of the received signal if the time of reception of the signal is outside the time window.

10. A medical implant, comprising:

a signal generator to take a critical state of health of a user carrying the medical implant as a basis for producing a signal, wherein the signal comprises authentication information and state information; and

a transmitter to send the signal to a control apparatus of a transportation vehicle,

wherein the signal generator produces the signal with the authentication information, and the authentication information comprises at least one of a time of production of the signal and an explicit sequence of characters.