Humidifier Communication Protocols for Coordinated Ventilation Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing respiratory and surgical humidifiers lack effective communication and coordination with other medical devices, leading to compatibility issues, performance assessment challenges, and inefficient operation control.

Innovation Solution

Implementing communication protocols between humidifiers and other medical devices for data exchange, including configuration updates, authentication, alarm suppression, and operation control based on temperature and power source data, with encryption and version checking to ensure compatibility and efficiency.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If communication protocols are implemented between humidifiers and other medical devices, then device compatibility and coordinated operation are improved, but device complexity and implementation difficulty increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedevice compatibilityVSAvoidcommunication implementation complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a universal communication protocol that enables the humidifier to communicate with multiple different medical devices (ventilators, anesthesia machines, flow generators) through a single standardized interface. This allows one humidifier device to perform multiple communication functions across different device types, resolving the contradiction by achieving broad compatibility without proportionally increasing complexity through standardized multi-functional communication capabilities

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The communication protocol acts as an intermediary layer between the humidifier and various medical devices, providing standardized data exchange mechanisms for configuration information, authentication, alarm suppression, and operation control. This mediator approach enables compatible communication without requiring complex custom integrations for each device type, thus improving adaptability while managing complexity through abstraction

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If configuration information is exchanged between devices, then coordinated operation and performance assessment are improved, but data security risks and authentication requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecoordinated operation reliabilityVSAvoiddata security risks

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements authentication mechanisms that verify device identities and authorization levels before allowing configuration information exchange. This preliminary authentication action ensures that only authorized devices can access or modify humidifier settings, thereby enabling reliable coordinated operation while mitigating security risks through pre-validated trust relationships

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The communication protocol includes feedback mechanisms that verify successful configuration exchanges and monitor for unauthorized access attempts. This feedback system enhances reliability by confirming proper coordination while detecting and responding to potential security threats, thus balancing coordinated operation needs with data security requirements

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Reliability

If real-time data exchange is implemented for operation control, then patient safety and comfort are improved, but communication overhead and processing requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepatient safetyVSAvoidcommunication processing energy

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and separates critical real-time control data (such as temperature readings and flow rate information) from general configuration data, creating dedicated efficient communication pathways for time-sensitive patient safety parameters. This extraction enables focused real-time monitoring that improves patient safety while reducing overall communication overhead by handling only essential data in real-time rather than all possible data streams

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The communication protocol dynamically adjusts data transmission parameters (such as update frequency and data detail level) based on operational conditions and patient needs. This parameter adaptation enables real-time control when necessary for patient safety while reducing communication processing energy during stable conditions, thus balancing safety requirements with energy consumption

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS12555679B2Humidification device communications

Publication Date: 2026.02.17 FISHER & PAYKEL HEALTHCARE LTD

AI summary

A respiratory or surgical humidifier having communication capabilities for communicating with other medical devices. The humidifier can obtain updates from the other medical devices and transmit and receive other data using the communication capabilities. The humidifier's operational state can be logged and its health can be assessed by another device. The humidifier's operation can be controlled based on data communicated from other medical devices. Also disclosed are other medical devices for communicating with the humidifier. Also disclosed are methods by which devices of a humidification and ventilation system can authenticate each other.