Blockchain Verification for Implantable Medical Device Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Implantable medical devices face risks due to unauthorized or unintended software and parameter updates, which can compromise patient safety and privacy, as demonstrated by potential hacking threats and security vulnerabilities in existing communication systems.
Innovation Solution
A medical device system utilizing a blockchain network to verify and validate software and parameter updates by storing them in a public ledger, ensuring that only authenticated and audited updates are applied, thereby preventing unauthorized changes to the device's operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If cloud-based or far field communications are used for remote updates, then ease of operation and accessibility are improved, but vulnerability to unauthorized access and data integrity risks worsen
Solution Approach 1:
A blockchain network serves as an intermediary between external update sources and the implantable medical device. The blockchain public ledger acts as a trusted mediator that verifies and validates update data before it reaches the device, blocking unauthorized modifications while allowing legitimate remote updates to proceed.
Solution Approach 2:
Update data is hashed and stored in the blockchain public ledger before being transmitted to the implantable device. This preliminary action creates a verified reference state that the device can later compare against received updates, ensuring integrity before application.
2Reliability
If comprehensive verification and blockchain validation are implemented, then data integrity and security are improved, but device complexity and processing requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The complex blockchain verification and validation logic is extracted from the implantable medical device and implemented in external systems (programmers, cloud servers, and blockchain network nodes). The device itself only performs simple hash comparison operations, significantly reducing its complexity while maintaining high data integrity through the external verification infrastructure.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus are provided for enhancing data integrity for implantable medical devices. A medical device is provided that is at least partially implantable. The medical device includes an application component configured to apply a therapeutic treatment and/or stimulation signals to a patient. The medical device includes a wireless communication transceiver and a computer memory storing a parameters library and computer readable instructions. A processor is configured to execute the computer readable instructions so as to perform the following steps: control application of therapeutic treatment and/or stimulation signals, via the application component, based on parameters stored in the parameters library; receive, via the wireless communications transceiver, update data representing an update to the parameters library from an external device or system; transmit at least the update data for verification by a blockchain network and addition of the update data to a verified blockchain public ledger including the update data; receive, via the wireless transceiver, blockchain public ledger data based on the verified blockchain public ledger; validate the update to the parameters library based at least on a first condition that the received blockchain public ledger data includes the update data; when the update to the parameters library is validated, control application of therapeutic treatment and/or stimulation signals, via the application component, based on parameters stored in the parameters library including the update data; and when the update to the parameters library is not validated, control the therapy application component so that the update data is not used.