Secure Implantable Device Configuration via Virtual Image Mediation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Implantable biomedical devices face challenges in secure communication and configuration, as they may transmit sensitive patient data and require updates that must ensure patient safety, but existing solutions lack robust security measures to prevent unauthorized access and ensure safe operation.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses a virtual image of the implantable biomedical device hosted on an IP-addressable internet site, with a gatekeeping device for secure pairing and proximity-based communication, and virtual mirroring for safe updates, incorporating authentication and encryption to validate and transmit configuration data only when safety is improved.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the implantable biomedical device communicates sensed biometric data to the external world, then the device provides diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities, but the communication exposes sensitive patient data to security risks and unauthorized access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary between the implantable biomedical device and external devices. The server hosts a virtual image of the device and mediates all configuration and data access requests, preventing direct unauthorized access to the implanted device while enabling diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities through controlled communication channels
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual image (copy) of the implantable biomedical device that resides on a server. This virtual copy allows external devices to interact with and configure device parameters without directly accessing the actual implanted device, thereby enabling versatile control while maintaining security by keeping the real device isolated
2Adaptability or versatility
If configuration data is transmitted to reconfigure the implantable biomedical device, then the device behavior can be optimized for patient care, but unauthorized configuration changes could compromise patient safety
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary validation of configuration data before it is transmitted to the implantable device. The server validates safety parameters and checks authorization credentials in advance, ensuring that only safe and authorized configuration changes are applied to the device, thus preventing harmful modifications while allowing optimization
Solution Approach 2:
The server acts as a mediating authority that controls all configuration data transmission. It verifies authorization credentials of external devices and validates configuration parameters against safety criteria before allowing any reconfiguration, thereby enabling adaptable device behavior while maintaining reliable patient safety controls
3Ease of operation
If direct internet communication is enabled for the implantable biomedical device, then remote configuration and monitoring become possible, but the device becomes vulnerable to rogue communications and internet-based attacks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the communication interface from the implantable device itself and places it in a virtual image on a server. The actual implanted device remains isolated from direct internet communication, while the server handles all internet-based remote configuration and monitoring functions, thereby enabling ease of operation without exposing the device to internet attacks
Solution Approach 2:
The server serves as an intermediary that handles all remote communication requests. External devices communicate with the server over the internet for configuration and monitoring, and the server selectively relays authorized communications to the implantable device, thus enabling remote operation while filtering out rogue communications and attacks before they reach the device
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and associated methods relate to facilitating a remote internet-connected device to configure an implantable biomedical device. Such configuration of the implantable biomedical device involves hosting a virtual image of the implantable biomedical device at an IP-addressable internet site associated therewith. This virtual image is updated based on configuration data received from the remote internet-connected device via the internet. configuration data for the implantable biomedical device at the IP-addressable internet site. The safety of such an updated implantable medical device is validated based on the updated virtual image. The configuration data is then transmitted from the IP-addressable internet site via the internet to the implantable biomedical device, in response to the safety of the implantable biomedical device being validated.