Portable handheld medical diagnostic device having a mezzanine circuit board with a universal connection interface

• US 9,486,138 B2
• Filed: 02/05/2009
• Issued: 11/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Roche Diabetes Care Inc. (Roche Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Roche Diabetes Care Inc. (Roche Holding AG)
• Inventors: Simpson, Joseph M., Tenbarge, James D., Collins, Ricky L., Ramey, Blaine Edward, Sauers, Matthew Carlyle
• Primary Examiner(s): THOMAS, DAVID C
• Application Number:
  US12/365,978
• Publication Number:
  US 20100198032A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,833 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/04 Constructional details of apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/01 Measuring temperature of body parts ; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/024 Detecting, measuring or recording pulse rate or heart rate A61B5/0205, A61B5/021 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/145 Measuring characteristics of blood in vivo, e.g. gas concentration, pH value; Measuring characteristics of body fluids or tissues, e.g. interstitial fluid, cerebral tissuemeasuring of blood pressure or blood flow A61B5/02; non-radiation detecting or locating of foreign bodies in blood A61B5/06
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14532 for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/48785 Electrical and electronic details of measuring devices for physical analysis of liquid biological material not specific to a particular test method, e.g. user interface or power supply

Abstract

A portable handheld medical diagnostic device capable of communicating with an external device and a method thereof are disclosed. The device has a protective enclosure, a main circuit board provided in the protective enclosure and having a wireless connectivity component and a controller facilitating a physiologic measurement and communications of results of the physiological measurement to the external device. Also provided in the protective enclosure is a mezzanine circuit board having at least one of a plurality of additional feature modules and a universal connection interface programmed to both facilitate operation of the additional feature module and operate under the control of the controller as a control interface between the controller and the additional feature module.

Claims

1. A portable handheld medical diagnostic device capable of communicating with an external device, said diagnostic device comprising:

a protective enclosure;

a power supply disposed within the protective enclosure;

a main circuit board provided in the protective enclosure and having a wireless connectivity component and a controller, wherein the wireless connectivity component establishes a communication link between the main circuit board and the external device, the controller facilitates a physiologic measurement and communications of results of the physiological measurement to the external device, and the controller is configured to disable the wireless connectivity component automatically during the physiological measurement;

a mezzanine circuit board provided in the protective enclosure and having at least one of a plurality of additional feature modules and a communications microcontroller, wherein the communications microcontroller is programmed to operate the at least one additional feature module and to operate under the control of the controller of the main circuit board, the controller controls operation of the at least one of additional feature modules via the communications microcontroller such that the communications microcontroller performs as a control interface between the controller and the at least one additional feature module;

a board-to-board connector electrically connecting the mezzanine circuit board to the main circuit board, the board-to-board connector comprising a power circuit line and one or more fail-safe circuit lines; and

a regulator disposed on the mezzanine circuit board and electrically connected to the power circuit line of the board-to-board connector and the power supply.

2. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the at least one additional feature module establishes communications and optionally an electrical connection with the external device such that the controller is enabled to transmit results of the physiological measurement to the external device by sending the results to the at least one additional feature module via the communications microcontroller.

3. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the at least one additional feature module establishes communications and an electrical connection with the external device such that the controller is enabled to recharge the power supply and transmit results of the physiological measurement to the external device by sending the results to the at least one additional feature module via the communications microcontroller.

4. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the board-to-board connector electrically connects the mezzanine circuit board to the main circuit board in a stacked fashion that situates major surfaces of both the main board and the mezzanine circuit board in close proximity within the protective enclosure.

5. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the at least one additional feature module comprises a wired connection controller, a wireless connection controller, a speech emulation/recognition module, a voice recorder module, a RF telemetry module, a GPS module, a memory device, a camera module, a battery-charging/power module, and combinations thereof.

6. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the wireless connectivity component is an IrDA device, and the at least one additional feature module is a wireless connection controller.

7. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the wireless connectivity component is an IrDA device, and the at least one additional feature module is a wireless connection controller, and wherein the wireless connection controller is selected from the group consisting of a Bluetooth system, a ZigBee system, a Certified Wireless USB system device, a Near Field Communication (NFC) system, an Active RFID system, a FitLinxx system, and a Wi-Fi system.

8. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the wireless connectivity component is selected from the group consisting of a Bluetooth system, a ZigBee system, a Certified Wireless USB system, a Near Field Communication (NFC) system, an Active RFID system, a FitLinxx system, a Wi-Fi system, and an IrDA device.

9. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the wireless connectivity component is selected from the group consisting of a Bluetooth system, a ZigBee system, a Certified Wireless USB system, a Near Field Communication (NFC) system, an Active RFID system, a Wi-Fi system, a FitLinxx system, and an IrDA device and wherein the at least one additional feature module comprises a wired connection controller, a wireless connection controller different from the wireless connectivity module, a speech emulation/recognition module, a voice recorder module, a RF telemetry module, GPS module, a memory device, a camera module, a battery-charging/power module, and combinations thereof.

10. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the wireless connectivity component is selected from the group consisting of a Bluetooth system, a ZigBee system, a Certified Wireless USB system, a Near Field Communication (NFC) system, an Active RFID system, a Wi-Fi system, a FitLinxx system, and a IrDA device, and the at least one additional feature module is a wireless connection controller selected from the group consisting of a Bluetooth system, a ZigBee system, a Certified Wireless USB system, a Near Field Communication (NFC) system, a FitLinxx system, an Active RFID system, a Wi-Fi system, and a IrDA device.

11. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 4 wherein the board-to-board connector provides a space between the major surface plans of the boards that is less than 0.8-inch.

12. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the physiologic measurement is a blood glucose measurement.

13. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the physiologic measurement is a recording of food intake, exercise, sleep patterns, drug(s) intake, therapy completion, and combinations thereof.

14. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the physiologic measurement is a recording of blood oxygen, body temperature, heart rate, caloric expenditure, and combinations thereof.

15. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the at least one additional feature module is a wired connection controller that enables a wired connection to the external device.

16. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 15 wherein the wired connection controller is based on a standard selected from universal serial bus (USB) and a Firewire.

17. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the at least one additional feature module is a wireless connection controller that enables a wireless connection to the external device.

18. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the external device comprises a computer, a PDA, a scanner, a digital camera, a webcam, a printer, a communications hub/adapter, additional memory, a smart card reader, a flash drive, a human-interface device, a sensor, a second power supply, and combinations thereof.

19. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the protective enclosure comprises a rear housing, and the main circuit board and the mezzanine circuit board are situated in a cavity provided by the rear housing.

20. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the major surfaces of the main circuit board and the mezzanine circuit board are in parallel planes.

21. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals.

22. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising a signal that permits the controller to power selectively the at least one additional feature module.

23. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising a signal that permits the controller to wake up the microcontroller and request status of the microcontroller.

24. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising three signals that the microcontroller uses in various high and low combinations to indicate current conditions of the microcontroller to the controller.

25. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising a signal that permits the controller to enable or disable communications between the controller and the microcontroller.

26. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising a signal that permits the controller to reset the microcontroller.

27. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising a signal that permits the controller to enable or disable a serial communications interface between the controller and the microcontroller during the physiologic measurement.

28. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising input and output signals that permits the controller to communicate with the external device via routing the input and output signals through the communications microcontroller.

29. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising a signal that when asserted by the controller lets the microcontroller know that the controller is ready to respond to requests from a microcontroller.

30. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising signals that permits the controller to ensure that the board-to-board connector between the main circuit board and the mezzanine circuit board is seated properly.

31. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising a signal that permits the microcontroller to identify to the controller that an event or state has changed.

32. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 31 wherein the set of commands and event/status signals further comprises a command that permits the controller to determine what events or status change the microcontroller has detected.

33. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein a register is used by the controller to determine status of the microcontroller and the additional feature module.

34. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein a result buffer on the mezzanine circuit board is used by the controller to store and provide the results of the physiological measurement.

35. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein a register is used by the controller to control the microcontroller and the additional feature module.

36. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising a command that permits the controller to read the current status of the power supply.

37. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising a command that permits the microcontroller to provide and the controller to read current status of connectivity with the external device via the additional features module.

38. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising a command which permits the controller to control features or settings on the mezzanine circuit board via the microcontroller.

39. The portable handheld medical diagnostic device according to claim 1 wherein the communications microcontroller operates under the control of the controller via a set of commands and event/status signals comprising a command that permits the microcontroller to request that the controller send results of the physiologic measurement for transmission to the external device via the additional feature module.

40. A portable handheld medical diagnostic device capable of communicating with an external device, said diagnostic device comprising:

a protective enclosure;

a power supply disposed within the protective enclosure;

a main circuit board provided in the protective enclosure and having a wireless connectivity component and a controller, wherein the wireless connectivity establishes a communication link between the main circuit board and the external device, the controller facilitates a physiologic measurement and communicates results of the physiological measurement to the external device, and the controller is configured to disable the wireless connectivity component automatically during the physiological measurement;

a mezzanine circuit board provided in the protective enclosure and having at least one additional feature module and communication means, wherein the communication means is programmed to facilitate operation of the at least one additional feature module and to operate under the control of the controller of the main circuit board via a set of commands and event/status signals, wherein the set of commands and event/status signals transmitted by the controller comprises a signal that permits the controller to power selectively the at least one additional feature module;

a board-to-board connector electrically connecting the mezzanine circuit board to the main circuit board, the board-to-board connector comprising a power circuit line and one or more fail-safe circuit lines; and

a regulator disposed on the mezzanine circuit board and electrically connected to the power circuit line of the board-to-board connector and the power supply, wherein when the one or more fail-safe circuit lines detect that the board-to-board connector is properly seated, system power is transmitted automatically to the controller of the main circuit board from the regulator of the mezzanine circuit board via the power circuit line of the board-to-board connector.