Medical Device Electromagnetic Emission Analysis for Cyberattack Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current solutions for protecting medical electronic devices from cyber and cyber-physical attacks are inadequate, failing to ensure diagnostic integrity, patient privacy, and medical treatment success by verifying the trustworthiness of embedded software and hardware, and detecting cyber intrusion events.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilizes electromagnetic energy analysis to detect anomalies in medical devices by capturing unintended electromagnetic emissions, applying cross-modulation and phase noise analysis to identify altered functionality, and triggering alarms or disabling operations when anomalies are detected.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If software solutions are used to analyze incoming threats, then cyber threat analysis capability is improved, but reliability of medical device operation is worsened due to potential software vulnerabilities and cyber intrusions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces software-based cyber threat analysis with a hardware-based electromagnetic signature detection system. The system uses electromagnetic sensors and signal processing circuitry to detect and analyze electromagnetic emissions from the medical device, identifying anomalies through physical measurement rather than software analysis. This hardware-based approach eliminates software vulnerabilities while maintaining detection capability.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If hardware solutions are used to isolate data storage, then security against cyber attacks is improved, but loss of information access is worsened due to physical barriers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary electromagnetic detection system that monitors the medical device without physically isolating it. The system detects electromagnetic emissions from the device's data processing and storage operations, allowing indirect observation and verification of data integrity while maintaining normal data access. This intermediary approach provides security verification without creating physical barriers to information flow.
3Reliability
If electromagnetic emissions are captured and analyzed, then detection of cyber attacks is improved, but use of energy is worsened due to continuous monitoring requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic sampling of electromagnetic emissions rather than continuous monitoring. The system captures electromagnetic signatures at regular intervals and analyzes changes over time, maintaining detection capability while reducing energy consumption. The periodic action allows the system to detect cyber attacks through temporal patterns in electromagnetic emissions without requiring constant power-intensive monitoring.
4Measurement precision
If cross-modulation and phase noise analysis are applied, then precision of anomaly identification is improved, but device complexity is worsened due to advanced signal processing requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and analyzes specific electromagnetic signature characteristics (cross-modulation products and phase noise) from the overall electromagnetic emissions. By focusing on these particular features rather than analyzing the complete electromagnetic spectrum, the system achieves high precision anomaly identification while reducing processing complexity. The extraction of key signature elements simplifies the analysis burden while maintaining detection accuracy.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables real-time detection of cyber attacks and anomalies in medical devices, ensuring diagnostic integrity and patient safety by identifying altered or additional functionality, and providing immediate protection against cyber threats.
Implementation Method 1
capable of acquiring conducted emissions and processing the emissions to determine a presence or an absence of a threat
Implementation Method 2
The device can be configured to receive and process electromagnetic emissions conducted through the data bus
Data Source
AI summary
A method for detecting, in a real-time manner, a presence or an absence of a an anomaly in or a cyber attack onto a medical apparatus comprises the steps of capturing, with an antenna, one or more emissions of electromagnetic energy from the processing devices within medical apparatus; converting, with a receiver coupled to the antenna, the one or more emissions from an analog to a digital form; generating, with a controller, a digital signal in a time domain; converting, the digital signal from the time domain to a frequency domain, the digital signal containing a signature of cross modulation products from the non-linear attachments; processing, in the frequency domain, the signature of cross modulation products to determine mixing characteristics of the cross modulation products; and detecting, based on the mixing characteristics, the absence or the presence of the anomaly or the cyber attack.