Establishing secure communication between an implantable medical device and an external device

• US 8,707,040 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2011
• Issued: 04/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Neuropace Inc.
• Original Assignee: Neuropace Inc.
• Inventors: Andersen, Dean P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pearson, David
• Application Number:
  US13/286,065
• Publication Number:
  US 20130108046A1
• Time in Patent Office: 904 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 713/169
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0006 ECG or EEG signals
• 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: A61B 5/24 Detecting, measuring or recording bioelectric or biomagnetic signals of the body or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/369 Electroencephalography [EEG] devices for psychotechnics A61B5/16
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6868 Brain
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36064 Epilepsy
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37254 Pacemaker or defibrillator security, e.g. to prevent or inhibit programming alterations by hackers or unauthorised individuals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/606 by securing the transmission between two devices or processes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/588 Random number generators, i.e. based on natural stochastic processes
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/24 Key scheduling, i.e. generating round keys or sub-keys for block encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0442 wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply asymmetric encryption, i.e. different keys for encryption and decryption cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for public-key encryption H04L9/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0861 using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using biological data H04L9/3231
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0816 Key establishment, i.e. cryptographic processes or cryptographic protocols whereby a shared secret becomes available to two or more parties, for subsequent use
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0869 involving random numbers or seeds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/04 Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 : Secure pairing of devices

Abstract

Establishing secure communication between an implantable medical device and an external device includes: accessing, at the implantable medical device, biological data; utilizing the biological data, at the implantable medical device, to generate a public cryptographic key; and utilizing the public cryptographic key, at the implantable medical device, to generate a private cryptographic key.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon, computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for establishing secure communication between an implantable medical device and an external device, the method comprising:

accessing, at an implantable medical device, biological data;

utilizing the biological data, at the implantable medical device, to generate a public cryptographic key, wherein the public cryptographic key corresponds to a portion of a random number culled directly from a representation of the biological data; and

utilizing the public cryptographic key, at the implantable medical device, to generate a private cryptographic key.

2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

sending, by the implantable medical device, the public cryptographic key to an external device.

3. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving an encrypted message from the external device.

4. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 3, wherein the method further comprises:

decrypting the encrypted message using the private cryptographic key.

5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the method further comprises:

based on the decrypting, determining an authentication status of the external device.

6. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

utilizing the public cryptographic key and a predetermined cryptographic key generation protocol, at the implantable medical device, to generate the private cryptographic key.

7. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon, computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method for establishing secure communication between an implantable medical device and an external device, the method comprising:

generating a random number by a first device without requiring computational input from the first device, the random number culled directly from a representation of biological signals sensed by the implantable medical device;

generating a public cryptographic key utilizing the random number;

sending the public cryptographic key to a second device;

receiving an encrypted message from the second device;

decrypting the encrypted message using a private cryptographic key, the private cryptographic key being generated using the public cryptographic key and a predetermined cryptographic key generation protocol; and

based on the decrypting, determining an authentication status of the second device.

8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

if a positive verification of the authentication status is indicated, allowing session access to the first device by the second device.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving instructions from the second device.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

sharing stored data with the second device.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

if a negative verification of the authentication status is indicated, disallowing session access to the first device by the second device.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the method further comprises:

in response to a session request from the second device, the generating the public cryptographic key by the first device.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the generating a random number by a first device without requiring computational input from the first device comprises:

generating the random number by the first device that is an implantable medical device without requiring the computational input from the first device.

14. A method for establishing secure communication between an implantable medical device and an external device, the method comprising:

accessing, at the implantable medical device, biological signals; and

generating, at the implantable medical device, a public cryptographic key wherein the public cryptographic key corresponds to a portion of a random number culled directly from a representation of the biological signals.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

generating a private cryptographic key using the public cryptographic key and a predetermined cryptographic key generation protocol.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

sending the public cryptographic key to at least one external device.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

receiving, from the at least one external device, an encrypted message, wherein the encrypted message was encrypted using the public cryptographic key and a predetermined cryptographic key generation protocol.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

decrypting the encrypted message with a private cryptographic key, thereby achieving a decrypted message, wherein the private cryptographic key is generated by the implantable medical device using the public cryptographic key and a predetermined cryptographic key generation protocol.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

determining an authentication status of the at least one external device, based on the decrypting.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the determining an authentication status of the device comprises:

comparing the decrypted message with a stored pass-code;

indicating a positive verification of the authentication status if the decrypted message matches the stored pass-code; and

indicating a negative verification of the authentication status if the decrypted message differs from the stored pass-code.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

in response to a session request from at least one external device, the generating the public cryptographic key.

22. A system for establishing secure communication between devices, the system comprising:

a set of sensors configured for sensing dynamic biometric activity;

a converting module coupled with the set of sensors, the converting module configured for converting a portion of sensed dynamic biometric activity to a digital representation; and

a cryptographic key generator coupled with the converting module, the cryptographic key generator configured for generating a cryptographic key utilizing the digital representation, wherein the cryptographic key corresponds to a portion of a random number culled directly from the digital representation.

23. The system of claim 22, further comprising:

a communication subsystem coupled with the cryptographic key generator, the communication subsystem configured for providing a communication interface between an implantable medical device and at least one external device.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one external device is a programmer.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the programmer comprises:

a receiver configured for receiving a public cryptographic key from an implantable medical device that comprises the cryptographic key generator; and

a message encryptor configured for encrypting a message utilizing a first private cryptographic key, wherein the first private cryptographic key is generated utilizing the public cryptographic key and a predetermined cryptographic key generation protocol, wherein the public cryptographic key is sent to the programmer via the communication subsystem.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one external device is a monitor.

27. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

a decrypting module configured for decrypting a message received from the at least one external device, thereby achieving a decrypted message.

28. The system of claim 27, further comprising:

an authentication module coupled with the decrypting module, the authentication module configured for determining an authentication status of the at least one external device, based on the decrypted message.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the authentication module comprises:

a comparer coupled with the authentication module, the comparer configured for comparing a stored pass-code with the decrypted message, indicating a positive verification of the authentication status if the decrypted message matches the stored pass-code, and indicating a negative verification of the authentication status if the decrypted message differs from the stored passcode.

30. The system of claim 22, further comprising:

a data storage unit coupled with the set of sensors, the data storage unit configured for storing the sensed dynamic biometric activity.

31. The system of claim 22, wherein the cryptographic key is a public cryptographic key, and wherein the cryptographic key generator comprises:

a public cryptographic key generator configured for generating the public cryptographic key utilizing the digital representation.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the cryptographic key is a private cryptographic key, and wherein the cryptographic key generator further comprises:

a private cryptographic key generator configured for generating the private cryptographic key utilizing the public cryptographic key and a predetermined cryptographic key generation protocol.