Systems and methods for maintaining a bi-directional communication between an implantable medical device and an external device

• US 9,463,325 B1
• Filed: 06/11/2015
• Issued: 10/11/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pacesetter Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Pacesetter Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ibarrola, Germinal, Young, Chao-Wen, Wu, Yongjian, Sadeghi, Mostafa, Shreve, Erik, Rissing, Andrew, Yang, Min, Yang, Jun, Tieu, Thanh
• Primary Examiner(s): Gedeon, Brian T
• Application Number:
  US14/737,361
• Time in Patent Office: 488 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37217 characterised by the communication link, e.g. acoustic or tactile
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37252 Details of algorithms or data aspects of communication system, e.g. handshaking, transmitting specific data or segmenting data
• 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: 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for maintaining a bi-directional communication link between an external device and an implantable medical device (IMD). The systems and methods receive a connection request from an external device at the IMD. The communication request includes one or more communication link parameters based on a wireless protocol, defining a first communication interval. The systems and methods establish a bi-directional communication link between the external device and the IMD based on the one or more communication link parameters, and receive, during the first communication interval, a data packet from the external device along a first data channel, the data packet including an adjusted communication link parameter. The adjusted communication link parameter include a second communication interval.

Claims

1. A method for maintaining a bi-directional communication link between an external device and an implantable medical device (IMD), the method comprising:

receiving a connection request from an external device at an IMD, wherein the communication request includes one or more communication link parameters based on a wireless protocol, the one or more communication link parameters defining a first communication interval;

establishing a bi-directional communication link between the external device and the IMD based on the one or more communication link parameters; and

receiving, during the first communication interval, a data packet from the external device along a first data channel, the data packet including an adjusted communication link parameter, wherein the adjusted communication link parameter includes a second communication interval having a length that is different from a length of the first communication interval.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second communication interval is bounded by two consecutive data packets, one of which is transmitted from the external device and the other is transmitted from the IMD.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising shifting to a second data channel during the second communication interval, wherein the second data channel is selected based on the one or more communication link parameters.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, during the first communication interval, a second data packet from the IMD along the first data channel, wherein the first communication interval is bounded by the data packet and the second data packet.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a first public key at the IMD to the external device; and

receiving a second data packet at the IMD from the external device, wherein the second data packet includes a second public key and a message authentication guard derived from the first public key and a pre-defined criteria.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

authenticating the message authentication guard at the IMD based on a private key.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the pre-defined criteria is based on at least one of a time stamp, a static value, or a payload of the second data packet.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

calculating a second message authentication guard based on the second public key and the pre-defined criteria; and

transmitting a third data packet from the IMD to the external device, wherein the third data packet includes the second message authentication guard, wherein the second message authentication guard is different from the first authentication guard.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

deleting the first public key and the second public key when the bi-directional communication link is closed.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second data packet at the external device from the IMD, wherein the second data packet includes a message authentication guard;

authenticating the second data packet based on a private key.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

transmitting the second data packet from the external device to a remote server, wherein the authenticating operation is performed at the remote server.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a security scheme request at the IMD from the external device;

transmitting from the IMD at least one of a public key or a static code to the external device, wherein the public key corresponds to a asymmetric security scheme and the static code corresponds to a symmetric security scheme.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more communication link parameters includes a frequency hopping increment, and the adjusted communication link parameter includes a second frequency hopping increment.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless protocol constitutes at least one of a Bluetooth protocol, a Bluetooth low energy protocol, or a ZigBee protocol.

15. A system for maintaining a bi-directional communication link comprising:

an external device and an implantable medical device (IMD) configured to establish a bi-directional communication link there between over a wireless protocol, wherein the bi-directional communication link is based on one or more communication link parameters defining at least a first communication interval and a data channel map;

the IMD includes one or more processors electrically coupled to a radio frequency (RF) circuit and a memory module, the one or more processors are configured to;

continuously shift the RF circuit to select data channels from the data channel map based on the first communication interval; and

receive, during the first communication interval, an adjusted communication link parameter from the external device, wherein the adjusted communication link parameter includes a second communication interval having a length that is different from a length of the first communication interval.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein second communication interval is bounded by two consecutive data packets, one of which is transmitted from the external device and the other is transmitted from the IMD.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to shift the RF circuit to a second data channel during the second communication interval, wherein the second data channel is selected based on the one or more communication link parameters.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

transmit a first public key to the external device; and

receive a second data packet from the external device, wherein the second data packet includes a second public key and a message authentication guard derived from the first public key and a pre-defined criteria.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to authenticate the message authentication guard based on a private key store on the memory module.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

calculate a second message authentication guard based on the second public key and the pre-defined criteria; and

transmit a third data packet to the external device, wherein the third data packet includes the second message authentication guard, wherein the second message authentication guard is different from the first authentication guard.