MEDICAL DEVICES AND CONFIGURATION UPDATE MANAGEMENT

• US 20160034655A1
• Filed: 07/08/2015
• Published: 02/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fresenius KABI USA LLC (Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA)
• Original Assignee: Ivenix, Inc. (Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA)
• Inventors: Gray, George W., McQuaid, William C.
• Granted Patent: US 10,025,909 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3553 remote, e.g. between patient's home and doctor's office
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3561 local, e.g. within room or hospital
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/142 Pressure infusion, e.g. using pumps
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/17 delivered via infusion or injection
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/40 for the management of medical equipment or devices, e.g. scheduling maintenance or upgrades
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/40 relating to drugs, e.g. their side effects or intended usage

Abstract

A configuration management resource keeps track of incremental updates to a locally stored copy of configuration information (such as drug library information) used by a medical device to administer treatment to patients. The medical device retrieves a copy of the configuration information from a configuration management resource. Unbeknownst to a user of the medical device, to ensure that the medical device has most up-to-date configuration information, the medical device communicates a request for updates to the configuration management resource. To service the received request for updated configuration information, the configuration management resource forwards incrementally available configuration update information to the requesting medical device. The medical device uses the received configuration update information from the configuration management resource to update its local version of configuration information stored in the medical device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

from a medical device;

communicating a request for configuration update information over a communication link to a configuration management resource;

receiving the configuration update information over the communication link from the configuration management resource; and

utilizing the received configuration update information to update a current version of configuration information stored in the medical device, the current version of configuration information present in the medical device to provide healthcare service to a patient.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein the wireless medical device is a medical infusion pump, wherein the current version of configuration information is part of a drug library stored in the medical infusion pump.

3. The method as in claim 2, wherein the drug library includes usage information with respect to multiple different drugs selectively administered to the patient using the medical infusion pump, the received configuration update information pertaining to one of multiple drugs in the drug library.

4. The method as in claim 1, wherein the current version of configuration information is a set amongst multiple sets of independent configuration information stored in the medical device, each of the sets of independent configuration information specifying how to administer a corresponding treatment to the patient using the medical device.

5. The method as in claim 4, wherein the multiple sets of independent configuration information includes:

i) first configuration information specifying how to administer a first drug treatment using the medical device, ii) second configuration information specifying how to administer a second drug treatment using the medical device, and iii) third configuration information specifying how to administer a third drug treatment using the medical device;

wherein the configuration update information pertains to the second configuration information; and

wherein utilizing the configuration update information to update the current version of configuration information stored in the medical device further comprises;

mapping the received configuration update information to the second configuration information and applying the configuration update information to the second configuration information.

6. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

mapping the configuration update information to the current version of configuration information; and

wherein utilizing the received configuration update information to update the current version of configuration information stored in the medical device further comprises;

applying the configuration update information to the current version of the configuration information.

7. The method as in claim 1, wherein communicating the request for configuration update information further comprises:

from the medical device, communicating a publication time value of the current version of configuration information stored in the medical device to the configuration management resource; and

wherein receiving the configuration update information over the communication link from the configuration management resource further comprises;

receiving incremental updates that were published after the time value; and

applying the incremental updates to specified portions of the current version of configuration information.

8. The method as in claim 7, wherein utilizing the configuration update information to update the current configuration information stored in the medical device further comprises:

replacing a specified portion of the current version of configuration information with the configuration update information.

9. The method as in claim 7, wherein utilizing the configuration update information to update the current configuration information stored in the medical device further comprises:

modifying a specified portion of the current version of configuration information in a manner as specified by the configuration update information.

10. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

in response to a trigger event, establishing the communication link between the medical device and the configuration management resource, the configuration management resource selecting the configuration update information for distribution to the medical device based on a comparison of a publication time of last configuration update resident on the medical device and a time value indicating when the configuration update information was published for distribution.

11. A method comprising:

receiving an update to a particular set of configuration information stored in a repository;

applying the received update to the particular set of configuration information; and

managing distribution of the configuration information stored in the repository, the configuration information including multiple sets of configuration information including the particular set of configuration information for distribution to medical devices.

12. The method as in claim 11 further comprising:

receiving timestamp information specifying a time associated with application of the update to the particular set of configuration information; and

storing the time information associated with the particular set of configuration information to indicate when the particular set of configuration information was published.

13. The method as in claim 11, wherein receiving the update further comprises:

receiving notification from a publication management resource that the update is available for retrieval and distribution to the medical devices.

14. The method as in claim 11, wherein managing access to configuration information stored in the repository further comprises:

receiving a request from a medical device for retrieval of updated configuration information stored in the repository;

retrieving the updated configuration information; and

forwarding the updated configuration information to the medical device.

15. The method as in claim 11, wherein the configuration information stored in the repository is a drug library, each of the respective sets of configuration information including information facilitating treatment of a respective patient using a drug to which the respective set of configuration information pertains.

16. The method as in claim 14 wherein the medical device is a medical infusion pump, the medical infusion pump utilizing the updated configuration information to update a specific drug in a drug library stored in the medical infusion pump.

17. The method as in claim 11, wherein managing distribution of the configuration information stored in the repository further comprises:

receiving a time value specifying when configuration information stored in a medical device was published;

identifying which of the multiple sets of configuration information in the repository were updated subsequent to the time specified by the time value; and

forwarding the identified set of configuration information to the medical device.

18. A computer system comprising:

computer processor hardware; and

a hardware storage resource coupled to the computer processor hardware, the hardware storage resource storing instructions that, when executed by the computer processor hardware, causes the computer processor hardware to perform operations of;

communicating a request for configuration update information over a communication link to a configuration management resource;

receiving the configuration update information over the communication link from the configuration management resource; and

utilizing the received configuration update information to update a current version of configuration information stored in a medical device, the current version of configuration information present in the medical device to provide healthcare service to a patient.

19. The computer system as in claim 18, wherein the wireless medical device is a medical infusion pump, wherein the current version of configuration information is part of a drug library stored in the medical infusion pump.

20. The computer system as in claim 19, wherein the drug library includes usage information with respect to multiple different drugs selectively administered to the patient using the medical infusion pump, the received configuration update information pertaining to one of multiple drugs in the drug library.

21. The computer system as in claim 18, wherein the current version of configuration information is a set amongst multiple sets of independent configuration information stored in the medical device, each of the sets of independent configuration information specifying how to administer a corresponding treatment to the patient using the medical device.

22. The computer system as in claim 21, wherein the multiple sets of independent configuration information includes:

i) first configuration information specifying how to administer a first drug treatment using the medical device, ii) second configuration information specifying how to administer a second drug treatment using the medical device, and iii) third configuration information specifying how to administer a third drug treatment using the medical device;

wherein the configuration update information pertains to the second configuration information; and

wherein utilizing the configuration update information to update the current version of configuration information stored in the medical device further comprises;

mapping the received configuration update information to the second configuration information and applying the configuration update information to the second configuration information.

23. The computer system as in claim 18, wherein the computer processor hardware further performs operations of:

mapping the configuration update information to the current version of configuration information; and

wherein utilizing the received configuration update information to update the current version of configuration information stored in the medical device further comprises;

applying the configuration update information to the current version of the configuration information.

24. The computer system as in claim 18, wherein communicating the request for configuration update information further comprises:

from the medical device, communicating a publication time value of the current version of configuration information stored in the medical device to the configuration management resource; and

wherein receiving the configuration update information over the communication link from the configuration management resource further comprises;

receiving incremental updates that were published after the publication time value; and

applying the incremental updates to specified portions of the current version of configuration information.

25. Computer-readable hardware storage having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when carried out by computer processor hardware, causes the computer processor hardware to perform operations of:

communicating a request for configuration update information over a communication link to a configuration management resource;

receiving the configuration update information over the communication link from the configuration management resource; and

utilizing the received configuration update information to update a current version of configuration information stored in a medical device, the current version of configuration information present in the medical device to provide healthcare service to a patient.