Diabetes care kit that is preconfigured to establish a secure bidirectional communication link between a blood glucose meter and insulin pump

• US 8,687,811 B2
• Filed: 01/15/2013
• Issued: 04/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Roche Diabetes Care Inc. (Roche Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Roche Diagnostics Operations Incorporated (Roche Holding AG)
• Inventors: Nierzwick, Mark, Pash, Phillip E., Tenbarge, James Duane
• Primary Examiner(s): Armouche, Hadi
• Assistant Examiner(s): HO, DAO Q
• Application Number:
  US13/741,587
• Publication Number:
  US 20130131631A1
• Time in Patent Office: 441 Days
• Field of Search: 380/255, 380/270, 380/278, 604/66, 604/151, 604/264
• US Class Current: 380/270
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/1723 using feedback of body parameters, e.g. blood-sugar, pressure measurement of body parameters A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/17 delivered via infusion or injection
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/061 for key exchange, e.g. in peer-to-peer networks cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key agreement H04L9/0838
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0869 for achieving mutual authentication cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for mutual authentication H04L9/3273
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices

Abstract

A diabetes care kit for providing diagnostics and therapy that is preconfigured to reduce initial setup by a user. The kit can include a handheld diabetes managing device and insulin pump. The handheld diabetes managing device and insulin pump can each be preloaded with an encryption key such that the handheld diabetes managing device and the insulin pump are paired and a secure bidirectional communication link exists between the handheld diabetes managing device and the insulin pump.

Claims

1. A method for pairing a diabetes managing device with an insulin pump for secure wireless communication, comprising:

preloading an encryption key into a first memory of the diabetes managing device during manufacture of the diabetes managing device;

preloading the encryption key into a second memory of the insulin pump during manufacture of the insulin pump;

at the diabetes managing device, generating a first verification string from the encryption key;

at the insulin pump, generating a second verification string from the encryption key;

at the diabetes managing device, displaying the first verification string on a display of the diabetes managing device;

at the insulin pump, displaying the second verification string on a display of the insulin pump;

at the diabetes managing device, receiving a first confirmation input in response to the first verification string being displayed, the first confirmation input indicating that first verification string matches the second verification string;

at the insulin pump, receiving a second confirmation input in response to the second verification string being displayed, the second confirmation input indicating that the first verification string matches the second verification string; and

establishing a secure bidirectional communication link between the diabetes managing device and the insulin pump based on the receipt of either the first confirmation input by the diabetes managing device or the receipt of the second confirmation input by the insulin pump.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

at the insulin pump, outputting a pump identification signal that contains a pump identification code that uniquely identifies the insulin pump prior to generating the second verification string;

at the diabetes managing device, receiving the pump identification signal;

at the diabetes managing device, obtaining the pump identification code from the pump identification signal;

at the diabetes managing device, displaying the pump identification code on the display of the diabetes managing device;

at the insulin pump, displaying the pump identification code on the display of the insulin pump; and

at the diabetes managing device, receiving an insulin pump selection input that selects the pump identification code corresponding to the insulin pump.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprises receiving the first confirmation input from a user of the diabetes managing device.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprises receiving the second confirmation input from a user of the insulin pump.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the encryption key is further defined as an RSA key.

6. A system for providing diagnostics and therapy that is preconfigured to reduce initial setup by a user, comprising:

a handheld diabetes managing device including;

a blood glucose meter configured to determine a blood glucose level of a user,

a first processor coupled to the blood glucose meter and configured to generate an insulin pump command based on the blood glucose level,

a first memory coupled to the processor and preloaded with an encryption key,

a first pairing application implemented as computer executable instructions in the first memory, the first pairing application being configured to execute a pairing procedure at the handheld diabetes managing device,

a first communication processor coupled to the first processor and first memory and configured to generate an encrypted communication message based on the insulin pump command and the encryption key, and

a first antenna coupled to the first communication module and configured to transmit the encrypted communication message; and

an insulin pump including;

an infusion set configured to dispense insulin based on an insulin dose command,

a second processor coupled to the insulin dosing module and configured to generate the insulin dose command based on the insulin pump command,

a second memory coupled to the second processor and preloaded with the encryption key,

a second pairing application implemented as computer executable instructions in the second memory, the second pairing application being configured to execute the pairing procedure at the insulin pump,

a second communication processor coupled to the second processor and the second memory and configured to decrypt the encrypted communication message based on the encryption key to obtain the insulin pump command, and

a second antenna coupled to the second communication module and configured to receive the encrypted communication message,

wherein the handheld diabetes managing device and the insulin pump are paired using the pairing procedure such that a secure bidirectional communication link exists between the handheld diabetes managing device and the insulin pump, the pairing procedure including;

at the handheld diabetes managing device, generating a first verification string from the encryption key;

at the insulin pump, generating a second verification string from the encryption key;

at the handheld diabetes managing device, displaying the first verification string on a display of the diabetes managing device;

at the insulin pump, displaying the second verification string on a display of the insulin pump;

at the handheld diabetes managing device, receiving a first confirmation input in response to the first verification string being displayed in the handheld diabetes managing device;

at the insulin pump, receiving a second confirmation input in response to the second verification string being displayed on the insulin pump; and

establishing a secure bidirectional communication link between the handheld diabetes managing device and the insulin pump based on the receipt of either the first confirmation input at the handheld diabetes managing device or the second confirmation input at the insulin pump.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the handheld diabetes managing device and the insulin pump are configured to communicate by transmitting messages that are encrypted based on the encryption key.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein the encryption key is an RSA public key.

9. The system of claim of claim 6 wherein the pairing procedure further comprises:

at the handheld diabetes managing device, generating a test communication message;

at the handheld diabetes managing device, generating an encrypted test communication message by encrypting the test communication message with the encryption key;

at the handheld diabetes managing device, outputting the encrypted test communication message;

at the insulin pump, receiving the encrypted test communication message;

at the insulin pump, decrypting the encrypted test communication message with the encryption key to obtain the test communication message; and

at the insulin pump, confirming receipt of the test communication message by the insulin pump.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the handheld diabetes managing device further comprises a first message confirmation application implemented as computer executable instructions in the first memory and the insulin pump further comprises a second confirmation message application implemented as computer executable instructions in the second memory, wherein:

the second message confirmation application is configured to execute a third procedure at the insulin pump for confirming receipt of the test communication message at the insulin pump, the third procedure including;

generating a test communication received message,

generating an encrypted test communication received message by encrypting the test communication received message with the encryption key, and

outputting the encrypted test communication received message; and

the first message confirmation application is configured to execute a fourth procedure at the handheld diabetes managing device for confirming receipt of the test communication message at the insulin pump, the fourth procedure including;

receiving the encrypted test communication received message, and

decoding the encrypted test communication received message with the encryption key.