Internal medical device communication bus

Abstract

In general, the invention facilitates improved inter-module communication within a medical device system, such as an automated external defibrillator (AED), by using a serial data interface based on the USB specification to transfer data between modules. As a result, data transmission rates may be improved significantly, thereby providing ample communication bandwidth for a variety of medical device applications. Further, the serial interconnect nature of the USB interface reduces the number of physical interconnects that are needed to support the interface, thereby reducing the design constraints on the medical device system.

1 - 8 . (canceled)  
   
   
       9 . A method for programming a module of a medical device, the method comprising: 
 transferring program data to the module using a USB protocol; and    storing the program data in a memory associated with the module.    
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising encoding the program data using an NRZI encoding scheme.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising transferring the program data in one of a bulk data transfer mode, an interrupt mode, and an isochronous mode.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the medical device comprises at least one of a system controller, a therapy control module, a user interface module, and a patient parameters module.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein at least one of the system controller, the therapy control module, the user interface module, and the patient parameters module comprises a serial data interface to transfer data using the USB communication protocol.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the medical device comprises a defibrillator.  
   
   
       15 - 22 . (canceled)  
   
   
       23 . A processor-readable medium containing instructions for causing a processor in a medical device to: 
 transfer program data to a module of the medical device system using a USB protocol; and    store the program data in a memory associated with the module.    
   
   
       24 . The processor-readable medium of  claim 23 , further containing processor-executable instructions for encoding the program data using an NRZI encoding scheme.  
   
   
       25 . The processor-readable medium of  claim 23 , further containing processor-executable instructions for transferring the program data in a bulk data transfer mode.  
   
   
       26 . The processor-readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the medical device comprises at least one of a system controller, a therapy control module, a user interface module, and a patient parameters module.  
   
   
       27 . The processor-readable medium of  claim 26 , wherein at least one of the system controller, the therapy control module, the user interface module, and the patient parameters module comprises a serial data interface to transfer data using the USB communication protocol.  
   
   
       28 . The processor-readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the medical device comprises a defibrillator.  
   
   
       29 - 42 . (canceled)