Cloud Medical Analytics for Individualized Instrument Function

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Solution Overview

Problem

Medical facilities face challenges in efficiently sharing knowledge and implementing new technologies due to patient safety concerns and traditional practices, leading to a lack of interconnectedness among medical systems and facilities.

Innovation Solution

A cloud-based analytics medical system that aggregates usage data from multiple medical hubs to generate common medical usage patterns, identify patient outcome differences, and provide customized recommendations for improving medical procedures by analyzing biographical and physiologic characterizations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If medical facilities maintain traditional practices and avoid sharing data, then patient safety is preserved through established protocols, but knowledge sharing and implementation of new technologies are slowed

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepatient safetyVSAvoidimplementation speed of new technologies
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a cloud-based analytics system as an intermediary that aggregates and analyzes data from multiple medical facilities without requiring direct data sharing between them. This mediator processes usage data, generates insights, and provides recommendations while maintaining data security and patient safety protocols, thus enabling knowledge sharing without compromising reliability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system creates copies of usage patterns and performance data from successful medical facilities and uses analytics to generate standardized recommendations that can be replicated across other facilities. This allows proven practices to be copied and implemented widely while maintaining the security of original data sources

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

2Productivity

If medical facilities share and aggregate usage data, then knowledge sharing and improvement of medical procedures are enhanced, but data security and patient privacy concerns increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveknowledge sharing efficiencyVSAvoiddata security risks
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The cloud-based analytics system serves as a secure intermediary that receives, processes, and analyzes data from multiple facilities without requiring direct peer-to-peer data sharing. This centralized mediator implements security protocols and controls while generating actionable insights, thus enabling knowledge sharing while managing data security risks

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system extracts only the necessary usage pattern data and performance metrics needed for analysis, leaving sensitive patient information and proprietary data behind. This selective extraction enables knowledge sharing while minimizing exposure of sensitive information and reducing security risks

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Adaptability or versatility

If customized recommendations are generated for each medical facility, then individualized procedure improvement is achieved, but system complexity and data processing requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveindividualization of medical proceduresVSAvoidanalytics system complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the analytics system into distinct functional modules: data collection from multiple facilities, aggregation and cleaning, pattern recognition and analysis, recommendation generation, and delivery to individual facilities. This segmentation manages complexity by organizing the system into manageable, independent components that can be developed and maintained separately

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses parameter changes in the data (usage patterns, procedure outcomes, facility characteristics) to automatically adjust and customize recommendations for each facility. By analyzing variations in these parameters, the system generates individualized recommendations without requiring complex manual configuration, thus achieving adaptability while managing system complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP3506272B1Cloud-based medical analytics for medical facility segmented individualization of instrument function
Publication Date: 2024.11.06 ETHICON INC
  • EP3506272B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3506272B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3506272B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A cloud based analytics medical system comprises a processor, a memory, an input/output interface to access data from medical hub communication devices, each coupled to a surgical instrument, and a database. The processor generates medical usage patterns of medical devices based on aggregation usage data of medical devices from medical hubs and aggregates patient outcome data from medical hubs. Patient outcome data comprises data pertaining to steps performed and corresponding timings for each step in patient procedures and allocation of resources used in procedures. For data indicative of positive outcomes, the processor determines biographical characterization or physiologic difference about the patient compared to biographical or physiologic characterization data in common medical usage patterns, determine customized change in medical usage patterns of medical devices associated with the biographical characterization or physiologic difference and output recommendations of customized change to the medical facility associated with the biographical characterization or physiologic difference.