Telemetry overuse reduction in an implantable device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10201712-B2
Application number	US-201615009505-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 28, 2016
Priority date	Jan 28, 2016
Publication date	Feb 12, 2019
Grant date	Feb 12, 2019

Abstract

Systems, apparatus, methods and computer-readable storage media facilitating telemetry overuse reduction in an implantable medical device (“IMD”) are provided. In one embodiment, an IMD includes a housing configured to be implanted at least partially within a patient, a memory and circuitry within the housing and a processor that executes executable components stored in the memory. The executable components include: a communication component configured to establish a telemetry connection with an external device to communicate data associated with sensed physiological data or therapy; and an authorization component configured to determine whether the external device is authorized to communicate with the IMD, wherein the communication component is further configured to disable the telemetry connection with the external device and prevent additional communication with the external device for a defined period of time based on a determination that the external device fails to be authorized to communicate with the IMD.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An implantable medical device configured to be at least partially implanted within a patient, comprising:
a housing configured to be implanted at least partially within the patient;
a memory, within the housing, that stores executable components; and
circuitry, within the housing, and configured to at least one of obtain sensed physiological data associated with the patient or deliver a therapy to the patient;
a processor, within the housing, that executes the executable components stored in the memory, wherein the executable components comprise:
a communication component configured to establish a telemetry connection with an external device to communicate data associated with at least one of the sensed physiological data or the therapy; and
an authorization component configured to determine whether the external device is authorized to communicate with the implantable medical device, wherein the communication component is further configured to disable the telemetry connection with the external device and prevent additional communication with at least the external device for a defined period of time based on a determination that the external device fails to be authorized to communicate with the implantable medical device, wherein the communication component is also configured to prevent the additional communication with other external devices for the defined period of time based on the determination that the external device fails to be authorized to communicate with the implantable medical device.

2. The implantable medical device of claim 1 , wherein the communication component is configured to establish the telemetry connection with the external device using a Bluetooth Low Energy communication protocol.

3. The implantable medical device of claim 1 , wherein the authorization component is configured to determine whether the external device is authorized to communicate with the implantable medical device based on reception of valid authorization information from the external device.

4. The implantable medical device of claim 1 , wherein the authorization component is configured to determine whether the external device is authorized to communicate with the implantable medical device based on reception of a defined packet from the external device within a defined window of time following reception of a request, from the external device, to establish the telemetry connection.

5. The implantable medical device of claim 1 , wherein the authorization component is configured to determine whether the external device is authorized to communicate with the implantable medical device based on reception of a defined packet from the external device within a defined window of time following transmission of an acknowledgment message to the external device by the implantable medical device, wherein the acknowledgment message indicates the implantable medical device has received a request, from the external device, to establish the telemetry connection.

6. The implantable medical device of claim 1 , wherein the authorization component is further configured to associate the external device with a storage cell of the memory that characterizes the external device as unauthorized to communicate with the implantable medical device based on the determination that the external device is unauthorized to communicate with the implantable medical device, and wherein the communication component is configured to reject future requests, received from the external device, to pair with the implantable medical device, based on association of the external device with the storage cell.

7. The implantable medical device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a telemetry regulation component configured to determine, based on the determination that the external device fails to be authorized to communicate with the implantable medical device, a number of previous failed attempts to authorize the external device in association with establishing one or more previous telemetry connections with the implantable medical device, and
wherein the communication component is further configured to disable the telemetry connection with the external device and prevent the additional communication with the external device for the defined period of time based on the determination that the external device fails to be authorized to communicate with the implantable medical device and a determination that the number of previous failed attempts exceeds a threshold amount.

8. The implantable medical device of claim 7 , wherein based on the determination that the external device fails to be authorized to communicate with the implantable medical device and the determination that the number of previous failed attempts exceeds the threshold amount, the telemetry regulation component is further configured to determine an amount of telemetry communication conducted by the implantable medical device over a defined period of time, and
wherein the communication component is further configured to disable the telemetry connection with the external device and enable additional telemetry communication with the external device and other external devices based on a determination that the amount of telemetry communication fails to exceed the threshold amount.

9. The implantable medical device of claim 7 , wherein based on the determination that the external device fails to be authorized to communicate with the implantable medical device and the determination that the number of previous failed attempts exceeds the threshold amount, the telemetry regulation component is further configured to determine an amount of telemetry communication conducted by the implantable medical device over another defined period of time, and
wherein the communication component is further configured to disable the telemetry connection with the external device and prevent additional telemetry communication with the external device and other external devices based on a determination that the amount of telemetry communication exceeds the threshold amount.

10. The implantable medical device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a telemetry regulation component configured to determine, based on the determination that the external device fails to be authorized to communicate with the implantable medical device, a number of telemetry requests received by the implantable medical device from one or more unauthorized devices over another defined period of time, and
wherein the communication component is further configured to disable the telemetry connection with the external device and prevent the additional communication with the external device and other external devices for the defined period of time based on the determination that the external device fails to be authorized to communicate with the external device and a determination that the number of telemetry requests received by the implantable medical device from the one or more unauthorized devices exceeds a threshold amount.

11. The implantable medical device of claim 10 , wherein the communication component is configured to prevent the additional communication with the external device and the other external devices by deactivating a transceiver of the implantable medical device for the defined period of time.

12. The implantable medical device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a telemetry regulation component configured to determine, based on the determination that the external device fails to be authorized to communicate with the implantable medical device, an amount of telemetry communication conducted by the implantable medical device over another defined period of time, and
wherein the communication component is

Assignees

• Medtronic Inc

Inventors

• Yoder Matthew R
• Zhang Bo
• Kivi Gary P
• Sanden Richard A

Classifications

• A61N1/37252 Primary

  Details of algorithms or data aspects of communication system, e.g. handshaking, transmitting specific data or segmenting data · CPC title

• A61N1/37254

  Pacemaker or defibrillator security, e.g. to prevent or inhibit programming alterations by hackers or unauthorised individuals · CPC title

• A61N1/37217

  characterised by the communication link, e.g. acoustic or tactile · CPC title

• G16H40/63

  for local operation · CPC title

• A61N1/37276

  characterised by means for reducing power consumption during telemetry · CPC title