Personal area network pairing

• US 9,504,388 B2
• Filed: 02/26/2015
• Issued: 11/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Welch Allyn Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Welch Allyn Incorporated
• Inventors: Baker, Steven D., Kahlke, Robert J.
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAM, QUANG
• Application Number:
  US14/633,032
• Publication Number:
  US 20150164326A1
• Time in Patent Office: 642 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 5/0015 characterised by features of the telemetry system
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/002 Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building A61B5/0017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0024 for multiple sensor units attached to the patient, e.g. using a body or personal area network
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0028 Body tissue as transmission medium, i.e. transmission systems where the medium is the human body
• 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 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/021 Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02405 Determining heart rate variability
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0836 Measuring rate of CO2 production
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14542 for measuring blood gases A61B5/14551 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/411 Detecting or monitoring allergy or intolerance reactions to an allergenic agent or substance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6824 Arm or wrist
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6831 Straps, bands or harnesses
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7203 for noise prevention, reduction or removal
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7246 using correlation, e.g. template matching or determination of similarity
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/98 using electromagnetic means, e.g. transponders
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 : for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/43 : using wireless personal area networks [WPAN], e.g. 802.15, 802.15.1, 802.15.4, Bluetooth or ZigBee
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 : Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
• 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 4/70 : Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 : Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A method for automatically adding a first sensor device to a first personal area network in a healthcare application includes receiving a signal with out-of-band pairing data at the first sensor device. The first sensor device is disposed on a patient'"'"'s body. The out-of-band pairing data is injected into the patient'"'"'s body by a second sensor device disposed on the patient'"'"'s body. Pairing data is extracted from the received signal at the first sensor device. Using the pairing data, the first sensor device is added to the first personal area.

Claims

1. A method for automatically re-identifying a first sensor device in a first personal area network of a patient after the first sensor has been temporarily removed from the patient in a healthcare application, the method comprising:

upon placement of the first sensor device on the patient'"'"'s body, including the first sensor device being included in the first personal area network using an out-of-band pairing data wherein the out-of-band pairing data received at the first sensor device is included in an out-of-band signal injected into the patient'"'"'s body by a second sensor device disposed on the patient'"'"'s body;

upon temporarily removal of the first sensor device from the patient'"'"'s body, disconnecting the first sensor device from the first personal area network, wherein, when the first sensor device is removed from the patient'"'"'s body, a periodic confirmation, injected into the patient'"'"'s body by the second sensor device, that the first sensor device is attached to the patient'"'"'s body fails;

upon re-attachment of the first sensor device to the patient'"'"'s body;

using a correlation factor between physiological data obtained by the first sensor device and physiological data obtained by the second sensor device to verify re-attachment of the first sensor device to the patient'"'"'s body;

wherein the correlation factor is calculated by the first sensor device using one of the following physiological parameters, detected by the first sensor device and the second sensor device, including blood pressure, saturated oxygen content, heart rate, respiration rate or end-tidal carbon dioxide to determine if the first sensor device and the second sensor device are on the same patient; and

automatically reconnecting the first sensor device to the first personal area network if the first sensor device and the second sensor device are on the same patient; and

upon attachment of the first sensor device to a second patient'"'"'s body, the second patient'"'"'s body being different from the patient'"'"'s body, transmitting, by the first sensor device, an alert to a computing device to indicate the first sensor device being attached to a wrong patient.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the periodic confirmation is the detection of a low-current modulated AC signal at the first sensor device or the periodic confirmation is a correlation of physiological data at the first sensor device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein when the first sensor device is reattached to patient'"'"'s body, the periodic confirmation that the first sensor device is attached to the patient'"'"'s body succeeds.