OPERATING ENVIRONMENT MONITOR FOR MEDICAL DEVICE PROGRAMMING

• US 20080141217A1
• Filed: 12/03/2007
• Published: 06/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Goetz, Steven M., Drew, Touby A., Houchins, Andrew H.
• Granted Patent: US 9,471,752 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/111
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0271 using a remote monitoring unit
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37235 Aspects of the external programmer
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37282 characterised by communication with experts in remote locations using a network
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4843 by program, e.g. task dispatcher, supervisor, operating system
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/40 for the management of medical equipment or devices, e.g. scheduling maintenance or upgrades
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

A programming system for an electronic medical device (EMD) is described. The programming system, as described in this disclosure, comprises a host computer, such as a general purpose computer in an in-clinic computer network, executing a software platform that provides an operating environment with which a user can interact to program an EMD. The software platform invokes monitoring software that ensures that the host computer satisfies criteria for safe operation of the operating environment, e.g., ensures that the host computer meets the minimum operating conditions required for reliable operation of the operating environment. In particular, the monitoring software may monitor system faults that occur during operation, as well as ensure that criteria for safe operation are satisfied prior to initiating the operating environment.

Claims

1. A computer system comprising:

a host computer that is communicatively coupled to an electronic medical device (EMD); and

a software platform executing on the host computer that invokes programming software and monitoring software,

wherein a user interacts with the programming software to program the EMD, and

wherein the monitoring software ensures that the host computer satisfies criteria for safe operation of the programming software.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the host computer is a general purpose computer.

3. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising an operating system executing on the host computer, wherein the software platform executes on the host computer as a layer of functionality above the operating system.

4. The computer system of claim 3, further comprising one or more general purpose applications executing on the operating system, wherein the general purpose applications and software platform execute at the same time.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring software at least one of prevents, suspends, or limits operation of the software platform when the criteria are not satisfied.

6. The computer system of claim 5, wherein, in response to detecting that the criteria are not satisfied and prior to at least one of preventing, suspending, or limiting operation of the software platform, the monitoring software attempts to automatically resolve a detected condition that causes the criteria to not be satisfied.

7. The computer system of claim 5, wherein, in response to detecting that the criteria are not satisfied and prior to at least one of preventing, suspending, or limiting operation of the software platform, the monitoring software prompts a user to resolve a detected condition that causes the criteria to not be satisfied.

8. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the software platform invokes the monitoring software prior to invoking the programming software, and invokes the programming software after the monitoring software ensures that the host computer satisfies the criteria.

9. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring software monitors the host computer during execution of the software platform to ensure that the host computer satisfies the criteria during execution of the software platform.

10. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the criteria include at least one of a processing bandwidth, a data storage capacity, a minimum memory, a software compatibility, an operating system compatibility, a peripheral device availability, a communication quality, a security quality, a presence of one or more applications executing on the host computer, a user permission, or a hardware condition.

11. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the host computer communicates with the EMD via wireless telemetry.

12. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the host computer accesses an electronic medical records (EMR) system under the control of a user.

13. A method comprising:

launching a software platform that executes on a host computer, wherein the host computer is communicatively coupled to an electronic medical device (EMD);

invoking programming software that runs on the software platform, wherein a user interacts with the programming software to program operation of the EMD; and

invoking monitoring software that runs on the software platform, wherein the monitoring software ensures that the host computer satisfies criteria for safe operation of the programming software.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the host computer is a general purpose computer.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising executing an operating system on the host computer, wherein the software platform executes on the host computer as a layer of functionality on top of the operating system.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising executing one or more general purpose applications on the operating system at the same time as the software platform.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising, by the monitoring software, at least one of preventing, suspending, or limiting operation of the software platform when the criteria are not satisfied.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising, in response to detecting that the criteria are not satisfied and prior to at least one of preventing, suspending, or limiting operation of the software platform, attempting to automatically resolve a detected condition that causes the criteria to not be satisfied by the monitoring software.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising, in response to detecting that the criteria are not satisfied and prior to at least one of preventing, suspending, or limiting operation of the software platform, prompting a user to resolve a detected condition that causes the criteria to not be satisfied by the monitoring software.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein invoking monitoring software comprises:

invoking the monitoring software prior to invoking the programming software; and

determining whether the host computer satisfies the criteria prior to invoking the programming software.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein invoking monitoring software comprises monitoring the host computer with the monitoring software during execution of the software platform to ensure that the host computer satisfies the criteria during execution of the software platform.

22. The method of claim 13, wherein the criteria include at least one of a processing bandwidth, a data storage capacity, a minimum memory, a software compatibility, an operating system compatibility, a peripheral device availability, a communication quality, a security quality, a presence of one or more applications executing on the host computer system, a user permission, or a hardware condition.

23. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions, the instructions causing a programmable processor to:

launch a software platform that executes on a host computer that is communicatively coupled to an electronic medical device (EMD);

invoke programming software that runs on the software platform, wherein a user interacts with the programming software to program operation of the EMD; and

invoke monitoring software that runs on the software platform, wherein the monitoring software ensures that the host computer satisfies criteria for safe operation of the programming software.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the host computer is a general purpose computer.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising instructions that cause the monitoring software to at least one of prevent, suspend, or limit operation of the software platform when the criteria are not satisfied.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the criteria at least one of a processing bandwidth, a data storage capacity, a minimum memory, a software compatibility, an operating system compatibility, a peripheral device availability, a communication quality, a security quality, a presence of one or more applications executing on the host computer system, a user permission, or a hardware condition.