Presentation architecture for network supporting implantable cardiac therapy devices

• US 20030093127A1
• Filed: 11/09/2001
• Published: 05/15/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pacesetter Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Pacesetter Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Inventors: Dalal, Nirav
• Granted Patent: US 6,842,645 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/32
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37282 characterised by communication with experts in remote locations using a network
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 80/00 ICT specially adapted for facilitating communication between medical practitioners or patients, e.g. for collaborative diagnosis, therapy or health monitoring

Abstract

A cardiac therapy network architecture collects data output by an implantable cardiac therapy device, processes that data, and distributes it to various knowledge workers. The cardiac therapy network implements a presentation architecture that formats and encodes the data using different formats and protocols to facilitate distribution to and presentation on various computing devices that might be utilized by the knowledge workers.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an implantable cardiac therapy device;

a computing network configured to communicate with and receive data output by the implantable cardiac therapy device and to distribute the data to computing devices associated with knowledge workers who are interested in the data; and

a presentation architecture implemented by the computing network to distribute the data to the computing devices according to different formats and protocols supported by the computing devices.

2. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the presentation architecture comprises:

a processing layer to process the data received from the implantable cardiac therapy device; and

a presentation layer, separate from the processing layer, to format and encode the data according to the formats and protocols supported by the computing devices.

3. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the presentation architecture comprises:

one or more records that specify the computing devices used by the knowledge workers; and

a specification store to maintain user interface definitions and style sheets specifying how the data should be presented on a particular computing device.

4. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the presentation architecture comprises:

a content formatter to format the data in different formats for presentation on the computing devices; and

a protocol encoder to encode the data according to different protocols supported by the computing devices.

5. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the implantable cardiac therapy device comprises a cardiac stimulation device.

6. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the computing network is configured to distribute the data to computing devices selected from a group of computing devices comprising a computer, a portable computer, a personal digital assistant, a wireless phone, a facsimile, and a database.

7. A presentation architecture for presenting data output by an implantable cardiac therapy device to various computing devices operated by knowledge workers who are interested in the data, the presentation architecture comprising:

an information source layer to collect the data from the implantable cardiac therapy device;

a processing layer to process the data collected by the information source layer; and

a presentation layer, separate from the processing layer, to format and encode the data according to the different formats and protocols supported by the computing devices.

8. A presentation architecture as recited in claim 7, wherein the presentation layer comprises:

one or more records that specify the computing devices operated by the knowledge workers; and

a specification store to maintain user interface definitions and style sheets specifying how the data should be presented on a particular computing device.

9. A system as recited in claim 7, wherein the presentation layer comprises:

a content formatter to format the data for presentation on the computing devices; and

a protocol encoder to encode the data according to different protocols supported by the computing devices.

10. In a network system for gathering data from an implantable cardiac therapy device and processing the data for distribution to various knowledge workers, a presentation system to present the data, comprising:

one or more records that specify computing devices used by the knowledge workers;

a specification store to maintain user interface definitions and style sheets specifying how the data should be presented on the computing devices;

a content formatter to format the data in different formats for presentation on the computing devices; and

a protocol encoder to encode the data according to different protocols supported by the computing devices.

11. A presentation system as recited in claim 10, further comprising a content selector to choose which portions of the data to format and encode for presentation on the computing devices, the content selector making the choice according to capabilities of the computing devices.

12. In a network system for gathering data from an implantable cardiac therapy device and processing the data for distribution to various knowledge workers, a presentation system to present the data, comprising:

ascertaining means for ascertaining capabilities of computing resources available to the knowledge workers, wherein different knowledge workers utilize different types of computing device with different capabilities;

formatting means for formatting the data from the implantable cardiac therapy device according to the capabilities of the computing resources; and

encoding means for encoding the data from the implantable cardiac therapy device according to different protocols supported by the computing resources.

13. A presentation system as recited in claim 12, further comprising content selector means for selecting which portions of the data to format and encode for presentation on the computing devices based on the capabilities of the computing devices.

14. A presentation system as recited in claim 12, further comprising specification means for specifying user interface and layout criteria for the computing resources.

15. A presentation system as recited in claim 12, further comprising distribution means for distributing the data to the computing devices.

16. In a network system for gathering data from an implantable cardiac therapy device and processing the data for distribution to various knowledge workers, a method comprising:

ascertaining capabilities of computing resources available to the knowledge workers, wherein different knowledge workers utilize different types of computing device with different capabilities;

formatting the data from the implantable cardiac therapy device according to the capabilities of the computing resources; and

encoding the data from the implantable cardiac therapy device according to protocols supported by the computing resources.

17. A method as recited in claim 16, further comprising choosing different portions of data to format and encode based on the capabilities of the computing devices.

18. A method as recited in claim 16, further comprising maintaining user interface and layout criteria for the computing resources.

19. A method as recited in claim 16, further comprising distributing the data to the computing devices.