SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTERSYSTEM DEVICE EXCHANGE

• US 20130086162A1
• Filed: 10/04/2011
• Published: 04/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Smith & Nephew Incorporated (Smith & Nephew PLC)
• Original Assignee: Smith & Nephew Incorporated (Smith & Nephew PLC)
• Inventors: Smith, Todd Edward
• Granted Patent: US 9,235,681 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/60 for the operation of medical equipment or devices
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6418 Hybrid transport

Abstract

A device exchange transports messages between autonomous devices in a medical environment. The autonomous devices perform various tasks in the medical environment, such as surgical device control, drug infusion, video recordation, and user interfaces, for example. Each autonomous device has a device specification, published and stored by the device exchange and available to other autonomous devices. The device specification indicates, for each autonomous device, an identifier, a set of outputs and a set of inputs, or commands. Devices interoperate by messages including the device identifier and an output or command without translation or transformation mechanisms such as scripts, protocol translations, drivers or interface modules because each message is based on the published device specification available to all the devices connected to the exchange. Interconnected medical devices therefore interoperate without the need for reconfiguration because each device has internal logic for understanding the messages it sends and receives via the exchange.

Claims

1. A method of control and data exchange between autonomous devices comprising:

receiving, from each of a plurality of autonomous devices, a device specification, the device specification defining a device identifier, receivable commands and device outputs;

storing, for each device of the plurality of autonomous devices, the device specification;

publishing at least a portion of the stored device specification for receipt by at least one other of the autonomous devices; and

transmitting, based on the published device specification, a message including a command or a device output from one of the autonomous devices to a destination device of the autonomous devices, the transmission being an unscripted exchange initiated by the transmitting autonomous device for receipt by the destination device based on the published device specification from the destination device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the transmitted message includes a command that directs the destination device to perform a responsive action, the transmitted command having a common format for each of the autonomous device sending the transmitted command.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the common format includes a device identifier, a list of outputs and the length of each output, and a list of commands and the length of each command, the common format being the same for each of the destination device to which a message is directed or received.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting further comprises:

sending the transmitted device output in response to a triggering event, the device output based on the device identifier of the destination device, the destination device responsive to the device output.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the triggering event is based on a timing interface from control logic or a command received from the destination device.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the device specification includes a plurality of output fields defining the device outputs and a plurality of control fields defining the receivable commands, the output fields and control fields having a common format independent of the destination device.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein transmitting the message further comprises transmitting a currently stored device specification in a single message that defines the entire communication.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the message is a layerless message such that in that the messages are defined based on the output fields and control fields in an unnested and non-hierarchical manner.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein each of the autonomous devices has control logic and an interface, the interface responsive to the control logic for:

receiving the published control fields; and

transmitting the output fields, the control logic directing the autonomous device based on the control fields and gathering the output fields for transmission to the exchange.

10. The method of claim 6 wherein the autonomous devices have control logic for identifying autonomous devices with which it connects to, transmitting further comprising:

receiving a device specification from the exchange interface corresponding to a conversant device;

computing, based on unscripted control logic and on the received device specification, a command for directing the conversant device; and

sending, via the exchange interface, the command to the conversant device.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the unscripted control logic employs the same device identifier, output fields and control fields for messages directed to each of the autonomous devices, the unscripted control logic avoiding a device specific script based on the autonomous device.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising specifying a constant length for the device identifier, output fields and control fields independent of conditional fields in the message, such that the message remains a constant length regardless of conditional commands and optional fields.

13. The method of claim 6 wherein the autonomous devices have a predetermined unscripted configuration, the configuration defining, for any of the other autonomous devices, the output sent from and the commands receivable by the device, the output sent and commands receivable being the same for each of the other autonomous devices.

15. A system for unscripted integration and control between interconnected devices, comprising:

a plurality of autonomous devices each having a device specification;

an exchange interface coupled to each of the plurality of autonomous devices, the exchange interface responsive to each of the autonomous devices for storing the device specifications and transmitting the device specification to others of the autonomous devices; and

each of the autonomous devices having control logic, the control logic for transmitting, based on the published device specification, a message including a command or a device output from one of the autonomous devices to a destination device of the autonomous devices, the transmission being an unscripted exchange initiated by the transmitting autonomous device for receipt by the destination device based on the published device specification from the destination device.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the transmitted message includes a command that directs the destination device to perform a responsive action, the transmitted message having a common format for each of the autonomous device sending the transmitted command, wherein the common format includes a device identifier, a list of outputs and the length of each output, and a list of commands and the length of each command, the common format being the same for each of the destination device to which a message is directed or received.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein transmitting the message further comprises transmitting a device specification from a first autonomous device to the exchange, and transmitting from the exchange to a second autonomous device.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the message maps fields from the device specification such that in that the messages are defined based on the output fields and control fields in an unnested and non-hierarchical manner.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the unscripted control logic employs the same device identifier, output fields and control fields for messages directed to each of the autonomous devices, the unscripted control logic avoiding a device specific script based on the autonomous device.

20. In a medical device environment, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having logic encoded as instructions that when executed by a processor responsive to the instructions, perform a method of control and data exchange between autonomous devices, the method comprising:

receiving, from each of a plurality of autonomous devices, a device specification, the device specification defining a device identifier, receivable commands and device outputs;

storing, for each device of the plurality of autonomous devices, the device specification in a repository;

publishing at least a portion of the stored device specification for receipt by at least one other of the autonomous devices; and

transmitting, based on the published device specification, a message including a command or a device output from one of the autonomous devices to a destination device of the autonomous devices, the transmission being an unscripted exchange initiated by the transmitting autonomous device for receipt by the destination device based on the published device specification from the destination device.