Remote Control Intermediary for Implantable Medical Device Communication
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Solution Overview
Problem
The reliance on mobile devices for communicating with implantable medical devices (IMDs) poses reliability and security concerns, as not all patients may own compatible devices, and compatibility issues can arise between mobile devices and IMDs, potentially leading to unreliable or unsafe communication.
Innovation Solution
Providing a dedicated external controller, such as a remote control (RC) that acts as an intermediary between the mobile device and the IMD, ensuring reliable communication by translating between different communication standards and formats, and offering a graphical user interface for control and monitoring, thereby alleviating compatibility issues and security concerns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a mobile device is used to communicate with the IMD, then the ease of operation is improved, but the reliability deteriorates due to compatibility issues and security concerns
Solution Approach 1:
A dedicated remote control device is introduced as an intermediary between the mobile device and the IMD. The RC receives commands from the mobile device, translates them into appropriate communication formats, and transmits them to the IMD via magnetic induction. This intermediary approach maintains ease of operation through mobile device interfaces while ensuring reliability through dedicated hardware designed specifically for IMD communication.
2Reliability
If a dedicated remote control is used as an intermediary, then the reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The remote control combines multiple functions into a single device: it serves as a mobile device interface, a translation/protocol conversion unit, and a magnetic induction transmitter. By merging these functions into one dedicated device rather than requiring separate components, the system achieves reliable communication without proportionally increasing overall complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If mobile devices are used for communication, then the adaptability is improved, but the security deteriorates due to potential compatibility and safety issues
Solution Approach 1:
The remote control acts as a security intermediary that validates and translates all communications between mobile devices and the IMD. It ensures that only properly formatted and authorized commands reach the IMD, blocking potentially harmful interactions while maintaining adaptability to support various mobile device platforms and communication protocols.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed in which an external device such as a consumer mobile device (e.g., smart phone) is used as an external controller to bi-directionally communicate with an Implantable Medical Device (IMD) using a dedicated patient remote control (RC) as an intermediary device to translate communications between the two. The dedicated RC contains a graphical user interface allowing for control and monitoring of the IMD even if the mobile device is not present in the system, which is useful as a back-up should the mobile device experience problems. Use of the dedicated RC as an intermediary device broadens the utility of other computing devices to operate as an external controller for an IMD even if the computing device and IMD do not have compliant communication means.