Secure Medical Device Pairing via Mobile Intermediary
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical devices with limited user interfaces, such as insulin pumps, face challenges in establishing secure connections with computing devices without the ability to output or input codes, hindering secure communication and authentication.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a mobile computing device obtaining a unique identifier for the medical device through scanning or RFID, using this information to authenticate and establish a secure connection with a server system, which then provides necessary keys and certificates for secure communication, allowing secure pairing without the need for a robust user interface on the medical device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If medical devices use limited user interfaces without display or input capabilities, then device complexity and cost are reduced, but secure authentication and connection establishment become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
A computing device acts as an intermediary between the user and the medical device with limited UI. The computing device displays authentication codes and receives user input, which are then transmitted to the medical device to establish secure connections. This mediator approach allows secure authentication without requiring the medical device itself to have complex display or input capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication interface is moved from the medical device to the computing device, effectively shifting the authentication capability to a different dimension (the computing device's interface). This allows the medical device to remain simple while the computing device handles the complex authentication tasks through its superior interface capabilities.
2Ease of manufacture
If medical devices lack display and input interfaces for code output and input, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but secure connection establishment with computing devices is hindered
Solution Approach 1:
The computing device serves as a mediator that handles the code display and input operations. The medical device only needs to communicate these codes with the computing device, which then presents them to the user through its interface and collects the user's response. This eliminates the need for expensive display and input hardware in the medical device while maintaining secure connection capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication interface functionality is extracted from the medical device and placed on the computing device. By removing the need for display and input interfaces from the medical device, manufacturing costs are reduced, while the computing device assumes the responsibility for handling user interaction during authentication.
3Reliability
If public key encryption is used for secure communication between medical devices and computing devices, then communication security is improved, but computational requirements and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
Public key encryption is used during the initial connection establishment phase to securely exchange symmetric keys and authenticate devices. Once the secure channel is established, the computationally intensive public key operations are no longer needed, and the system switches to more efficient symmetric encryption for ongoing communication. This preliminary use of public key encryption secures the foundation without requiring continuous high computational energy.
Solution Approach 2:
The encryption method dynamically changes from public key encryption (high computational cost) to symmetric encryption (lower computational cost) after initial authentication. This parameter change in encryption algorithm based on the communication phase optimizes energy consumption while maintaining security - using strong encryption when needed for security-critical operations and efficient encryption for routine communication.
Data Source
AI summary
In one implementation, a computer-implemented method of establishing a secure wireless communication connection between an insulin pump device and a mobile computing device includes receiving, at a mobile computing device, a device identifier for the insulin pump device; obtaining, by the mobile computing device, device information for the insulin pump device from a remote server system using the device identifier; establishing, by the mobile computing device, a secure wireless connection with the insulin pump device using, at least in part, the device information; authenticating, by the mobile computing device, the insulin pump device based on asymmetric key verification using the public key for the insulin pump; and securely communicating, by the mobile computing device and in response to authenticating the insulin pump device, information with the insulin pump device.