Medical device wireless adapter

Abstract

The invention relates generally to a medical device wireless adapter, and more particularly, to a module that adapts an existing legacy or newly designed medical device to a healthcare provider's wireless infrastructure.

1 . A medical device wireless adapter comprising: 
 a radio section;    one or more means for connecting to and exchanging data between said adapter and a host device;    one or more means for exchanging data between said adapter and a network;    a CPU block including integrated support for hosting one or more applications; and    one or more memory means;    wherein said adapter is configured with one or more host interface modes.    
     
     
         2 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter is a PCMCIA card.  
     
     
         3 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said means for connecting to and exchanging data with a host device is a PCMCIA bus.  
     
     
         4 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter is a module.  
     
     
         5 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter is a card.  
     
     
         6 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter is a plug-in device.  
     
     
         7 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said means for connecting to and exchanging data with a host device is one or more serial ports.  
     
     
         8 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said means for connecting to and exchanging data with a host device is one or more Ethernet ports.  
     
     
         9 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said means for connecting to and exchanging data with a host device is one or more USB ports.  
     
     
         10 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter further comprises a manufacturing interface.  
     
     
         11 . The adapter of  claim 10 , wherein said manufacturing interface is adapted to program said CPU and said at least one memory with firmware.  
     
     
         12 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter further comprises a de-bugging block.  
     
     
         13 . The adapter of  claim 12 , wherein said de-bugging block is adapted to perform self test routines.  
     
     
         14 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said radio section includes a MAC-baseband processor and a radio frequency transceiver.  
     
     
         15 . The adapter of  claim 14 , wherein said radio section further includes a WiFi RF chip set.  
     
     
         16 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said radio section is connectable to said CPU block by a CPU compact flash bus.  
     
     
         17 . The adapter of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more antennas.  
     
     
         18 . The adapter of  claim 17 , wherein said one or more antennas is a WiFi antenna.  
     
     
         19 . The adapter of  claim 18 , wherein said WiFi antenna is connectable to said radio section by a pigtail and connector.  
     
     
         20 . The adapter of  claim 17 , wherein said one or more antennas are arranged in a dual diversity antenna configuration.  
     
     
         21 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter is a 802.11 a/b/g network interface card.  
     
     
         22 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter further comprises at least one user interface.  
     
     
         23 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter includes one or more configuring means, wherein said configuring means is chosen from the group consisting of: setting TCP/IP parameters; adding applications; removing applications; for installing security certificates; removing security certificates; setting one or more passwords; setting a default operation mode; setting a serial number; setting a MAC address; upgrading firmware; setting a rate of transmission for one or more location beacons; setting host configuration parameters; configuring a discovery protocol; configuring authentication; and configuring encryption.  
     
     
         24 . The adapter of  claim 23 , wherein said host configuration parameters are chosen from the group consisting of bit rate and flow control.  
     
     
         25 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter includes a means for connecting to an authenticated, encrypted network.  
     
     
         26 . The adapter of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more interfaces, wherein at least one of said one or more interfaces is a host interface.  
     
     
         27 . The adapter of  claim 26 , wherein said adapter includes a means for automatically determining one or more active host interfaces.  
     
     
         28 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter includes one or more location tracking modes and one or more beacons.  
     
     
         29 . The adapter of  claim 28 , wherein said one or more location tracking modes is operational as a function of a host device's power state.  
     
     
         30 . The adapter of  claim 29 , wherein said power state is chosen from the group consisting of power off, low battery, battery removed, and low-power mode.  
     
     
         31 . The adapter of  claim 28 , wherein said one or more beacons is an integrated multiple physical layer location beacon.  
     
     
         32 . The adapter of  claim 31 , wherein said integrated multiple physical layer location beacon includes a variable rate.  
     
     
         33 . The adapter of  claim 31 , wherein said adapter is configured to utilize a subset of said integrated multiple physical layers of said location beacon.  
     
     
         34 . The adapter of  claim 29 , wherein said beacons are configured to transmit data at a regular rate.  
     
     
         35 . The adapter of  claim 29 , wherein said beacons are configured to transmit data at a variable rate.  
     
     
         36 . The adapter of  claim 49 , wherein said variable rate is a function of a power state of said adapter.  
     
     
         37 . The adapter of  claim 28  wherein said adapter further comprises a dedicated power supply means connected to said one or more location tracking modes and one or more beacons.  
     
     
         38 . The adapter of  claim 1 , further comprising a power management block.  
     
     
         39 . The adapter of  claim 1  wherein said adapter is configured with one or more power modes.  
     
     
         40 . The adapter of  claim 39  wherein said adapter includes PSP and CAM modes, and is configured to dynamically switch between said PSP and CAM modes without losing network connection.  
     
     
         41 . The adapter of  claim 39  wherein said one or more power modes are chosen from the group consisting of: an idle mode wherein said radio block is turned off and said CPU block remains active; a standby mode wherein said radio block is turned off and a CPU block clock is stopped; and a hibernate mode wherein both said radio block and CPU are turned off.  
     
     
         42 . The adapter of  claim 41  wherein said adapter is configured to store a network state to allow for rapid re-association.  
     
     
         43 . The adapter of  claim 42  wherein said network state is chosen from the group consisting of AP, Channel, and IP Address.  
     
     
         44 . The adapter of  claim 41  wherein said CPU block is configured to automatically exit standby mode to a fully functional state upon detection of activity on a host interface.  
     
     
         45 . The adapter of  claim 41  wherein said CPU block is configured to automatically exit hibernate mode to a fully functional state upon detection of activity on a host interface.  
     
     
         46 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter further comprises a primary and secondary power supply.  
     
     
         47 . The adapter of  claim 28 , wherein said one or more beacons operate independent of a power state of the adapter.  
     
     
         48 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter is configured to perform a power-on self test.  
     
     
         49 . The adapter of  claim 48 , wherein said adapter performs said power-on self test only when power to said adapter is cycled.  
     
     
         50 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said one or more applications is chosen from the group consisting of bi-directional authentication; 802.11i encryption; one or more web servers; a plurality of password/user name combinations; a TCP/IP sockets API proxy; a conversion means from a native device communication protocol to one or more TCP/IP network interfaces; a SNMP server; a FTP server; and a TFTP server.  
     
     
         51 . The adapter of  claim 50 , wherein said bi-directional authentication follows the Extensible Authentication Protocol.  
     
     
         52 . The adapter of  claim 51 , wherein said Extensible Authentication Protocol follows the 802.1x standards.  
     
     
         53 . The adapter of  claim 50 , wherein said bi-directional authentication application is configured to provide certificate management and processing.  
     
     
         54 . The adapter of  claim 50 , wherein said bi-directional authentication application is configured to provide password management and processing.  
     
     
         55 . The adapter of  claim 50 , wherein said bi-directional authentication application is configured to work with multiple certificates.  
     
     
         56 . The adapter of  claim 55 , wherein said bi-directional authentication application is configured to intelligently choose which of said multiple certificates to offer a RADIUS server.  
     
     
         57 . The adapter of  claim 50 , wherein said web server is a secure server.  
     
     
         58 . The adapter of  claim 50 , wherein at least one of said plurality of password/user name combinations is a function of unique identifiers specific to said adapter.  
     
     
         59 . The adapter of  claim 50 , wherein said TCP/IP sockets API proxy is configured to support multiple endpoints.  
     
     
         60 . The adapter of  claim 50 , wherein said TCP/IP sockets API proxy is configured to simultaneously accept commands and data.  
     
     
         61 . The adapter of  claim 50 , wherein said TCP/IP sockets API proxy is configured to provide deterministic behavior with respect to command and data traffic.  
     
     
         62 . The adapter of  claim 50 , wherein said conversion means from a native device communication protocol to one or more TCP/IP network interfaces provides a means for a non-networked host device to communicate on a network without modifying existing hardware or software.  
     
     
         63 . The adapter of  claim 50 , wherein said conversion means from a native device communication protocol to one or more TCP/IP network interfaces is configured to fulfill communications requirements needed to establish a communication link between a non-networked host device and a network device.  
     
     
         64 . The adapter of  claim 63 , wherein said requirements are chosen from the group consisting of FTP, TFTP, electronic mail, and a server.  
     
     
         65 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said one or more applications is chosen from the group consisting of: ECG processing; arrhythmia processing; SPO2 processing; temperature processing; blood pressure processing; CO2 processing; cardiac output processing; and EEG processing.  
     
     
         66 . The adapter of  claim 65 , wherein said blood pressure processing is for non-invasive blood pressure measurement.  
     
     
         67 . The adapter of  claim 65 , wherein said blood pressure processing is for invasive blood pressure measurement.  
     
     
         68 . The adapter of  claim 65 , wherein said CO2 processing is for End-Tidal CO2.  
     
     
         69 . The device of  claim 65 , wherein said CO2 processing is for sidestream COc 29.3.  
     
     
         70 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said one or more applications includes an integrated bar-code scanner.  
     
     
         71 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said radio block contains an NTP client.  
     
     
         72 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said radio block contains at least one watchdog circuit to recover from latch up.  
     
     
         73 . The adapter of  claim 72 , wherein said at least one watchdog circuit is disposed externally to a microprocessor.  
     
     
         74 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter is embedded with bandwidth allocation and control.  
     
     
         75 . The adapter of  claim 74 , wherein said bandwidth allocation and control meets 802.11e standards.  
     
     
         76 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter further includes a self test capable of determining full functionality of integrated circuits.  
     
     
         77 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter includes a rate-versus-range algorithm, wherein said algorithm has been optimized for a high packet success rate.  
     
     
         78 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter is configured to provide firmware upgrades to a host device.  
     
     
         79 . The adapter of  claim 78 , wherein firmware upgrades are conditioned upon the state of said host device not actively monitoring a patient.  
     
     
         80 . The adapter of  claim 78 , wherein said adapter further comprises means to determine whether said host device requires a firmware upgrade.  
     
     
         81 . The adapter of  claim 80 , wherein said adapter is configured to provide a firmware upgrade status to a network device.  
     
     
         82 . The adapter of  claim 78 , wherein said adapter further comprises means to download a firmware upgrade for a host device.  
     
     
         83 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter is configurable to aggregate data from said one or more applications.  
     
     
         84 . The adapter of  claim 1 , wherein said adapter is configured to act simultaneously as a network master and a network slave.  
     
     
         85 . The adapter of  claim 84 , wherein said adapter is configured to act as a slave on a first network and a master on at least one other network.  
     
     
         86 . The device of  claim 85 , wherein said adapter is configured to route packets from said first network to said at least one other network.  
     
     
         87 . The adapter of  claim 85 , wherein said at least one other network uses a different protocol than the said first network.  
     
     
         88 . The adapter of  claim 83 , wherein said adapter aggregates data from multiple sensors disposed across at least one network.  
     
     
         89 . The adapter of  claim 88 , wherein said adapter processes data from said multiple sensors.  
     
     
         90 . The adapter of  claim 1 , further comprising a cabled, modular antenna.  
     
     
         91 . The adapter of  claim 90 , wherein said antenna is chosen from the group consisting of a diversity antenna and a dual-band antenna.  
     
     
         92 . The adapter of  claim 91 , wherein said diversity antenna can be disabled or enabled.  
     
     
         93 . A medical device wireless adapter comprising: 
 a radio section;    a means for connecting to and exchanging data with at least one host device;    at least one means for exchanging data between said adaptor and a network;    a CPU block including integrated support for hosting at least one application; and    at least one memory means;    wherein said radio section, said connection means, said CPU block, and said memory means are disposed on a unitary structure; and    wherein said adapter is configured with at least one interface mode.    
     
     
         94 . The adapter of  claim 93 , wherein said adapter is a PCMCIA card.  
     
     
         95 . The adapter of  claim 93 , wherein said means for connecting to and exchanging data with a host device is a PCMCIA bus.  
     
     
         96 . The adapter of  claim 93 , wherein said adapter is a module.  
     
     
         97 . The adapter of  claim 93 , wherein said adapter is a card.  
     
     
         98 . The adapter of  claim 93 , wherein said adapter is a plug-in device.  
     
     
         99 . A wireless adapter comprising: 
 a radio section;    one or more means for exchanging data between said adapter and a host device;    one or more means for exchanging data between said adapter and a network;    a processing circuit including one or more microprocessors, wherein said one or more microprocessors are configured to host one or more applications and one or more radio transceivers; and    one or more memory means;    wherein said adapter is configured with one or more host interface modes.    
     
     
         100 . A medical device wireless adapter comprising: 
 a radio section;    one or more means for exchanging data between said adapter and at least one host device;    one or more means for exchanging data between said adapter and a network;    a CPU block including integrated support for hosting one or more applications;    a de-bugging block;    a power management block;    a manufacturing interface;    a user interface; and    one or more memory means;    wherein said adapter is configured with one or more host interface modes.    
     
     
         101 . A method for adapting a legacy medical device to a wireless infrastructure, comprising the steps of: 
 providing a legacy medical device;    providing a medical device wireless adapter, wherein said adapter comprises a radio section, one or more means for connecting to and exchanging data between said adapter and said host device, one or more means for exchanging data between said adapter and a wireless infrastructure, a CPU block including integrated support for hosting one or more applications; and one or more memory means, wherein said adapter is configured with one or more host interface modes, and wherein one of said one or more host interface modes is Adapter Mode;    configuring said adapter with a set of parameters appropriate to said host device, wherein said parameters are chosen from the group consisting of network settings, communication port settings, and rendezvous packet definition;    connecting said adapter to said host device;    detecting when said host device has requires a network connection;    presenting said host device to said wireless infrastructure via said adapter; and    enabling a network connection by exchanging data between said wireless infrastructure and said host device via said adapter.    
     
     
         102 . The method of  claim 101 , further comprising the steps of configuring said adapter to execute at least one rendezvous protocol on behalf of said host device, and executing said protocol.  
     
     
         103 . The method of  claim 102 , further comprising the step of broadcasting to said infrastructure said protocol, wherein said protocol comprises a UDP packet of a pre-defined format.  
     
     
         104 . The method of  claim 102 , further comprising the step of passing bidirectional data between said host device and said wireless infrastructure via said adapter once said rendezvous protocol is executed.  
     
     
         105 . The method of  claim 101 , wherein said network connection is enabled by the further steps of associating, obtaining an IP address, and authenticating.  
     
     
         106 . A method of converting an 802.11 radio into an asset tag and back to an 802.11 radio, comprising the steps of: 
 providing an 802.11 radio, wherein said radio includes a radio section, one or more means for connecting to and exchanging data between said radio and a wireless infrastructure, one or more location tracking modes, and one or more beacons, wherein said radio includes configurable beacon parameters;    configuring said one or more beacon parameters, wherein said parameters are chosen from the group consisting of transmit power, duty cycle, and beacon method;    executing a loop until data transaction required, wherein said loop comprises the further steps of detecting when low-power operation is required, booting an operating system, transmitting the beacon as configured and sleeping until the next beacon;    ending said loop; and    booting a full operating system.    
     
     
         107 . A method for adding location to a patient context comprising the steps of: 
 providing a patient monitor;    providing an asset tag, wherein said asset tag includes an identifier;    providing a location engine, wherein said location engine includes a coordinate system;    providing location sensors;    connecting said asset tag to said location engine;    determining content of a patient context, wherein said patient context includes at least one identifier unique to said patient;    binding said asset tag identifier and said at lease one identifier unique to said patient;    mapping said location sensors to said coordinate system;    mapping the location of said asset tag to said coordinate system;    populating a database, wherein said database contains data chosen from the group consisting of x,y coordinates, asset tag identifiers, time, height, asset type, and meta information;    providing one or more annunciators, wherein said one or more annunciators is chosen from the group consisting of audio, text, and graphic;    providing conditions for activating said one or more annunciators;    activating said one or more annunciators; and    indicating the location of said patient when said conditions for annunciating are satisfied.    
     
     
         108 . The method of  claim 107 , wherein said patient context comprises information chosen from the group consisting of: name; patient ID; current state of physiological parameters; alarm limits; and location.  
     
     
         109 . The method of  claim 107  wherein said patient context includes at least one continuous vital sign reading, wherein disruption of said continuous vital sign reading breaks said binding between said asset tag identifier and the remainder of the patient context.  
     
     
         110 . A method for supporting out of box operation with strong authentication and encryption for a medical device wireless adapter comprising the steps of: 
 providing a medical device wireless adapter, wherein said adapter comprises a radio section, one or more means for connecting to and exchanging data between said adapter and a host device, one or more means for exchanging data between said adapter and a wireless infrastructure, a CPU block including integrated support for hosting one or more applications; and one or more memory means, and wherein said adapter is configured with one or more host interface modes, an OEM certificate, an OEM certificate chain, a web server certificate, and a web server certificate chain;    determining if a customer device certificate is required;    creating a customer device and server certificates if required;    creating certificate chains for customer certificate;    installing customer certificate to provision radio;    installing server certificates to provision said infrastructure;    powering-on said device;    authenticating, wherein said adapter will loop a process until authentication is complete, wherein said process includes the further steps of starting loop; attempting to authenticate using a primary certificate;    completing network authentication if successful; determining if network authentication occurred; promoting a secondary certificate to primary certificate if authentication failed to occur; and ending loop; and    completing the network connection.