Systems and methods for updating firmware of medical devices while minimizing clinical impact

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12002576-B2
Application number	US-202016926497-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 10, 2020
Priority date	Jul 15, 2019
Publication date	Jun 4, 2024
Grant date	Jun 4, 2024

Abstract

Systems and methods for updating firmware of medical devices while minimizing clinical impact are described. A method includes receiving, by a control module of a patient care device, a new configuration package, including firmware for the control module and/or a first functional module of the patient care device, storing the new configuration package in a first memory bank of the control module, wherein a second configuration package comprising a current version of firmware for at least one of the control module and the first functional module is currently stored in a second memory bank of the control module, determining whether the new configuration package includes a new version of the firmware, and when a new version is included, transmitting the new version to the first functional module, for storage in a different memory bank than a memory bank currently storing a firmware currently used by the first functional module.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving, by a control module of a patient care device, from a device remote from the control module, a new configuration package, wherein the new configuration package comprises a first module firmware for a first type of infusion device module connected to the control module, and a second module firmware for a second type of infusion device module connected to the control module;
receiving information associated with the new configuration package, the received information identifying a version of the first module firmware and specifying that the first module firmware is for the first type of infusion device module and identifying a version of the second module firmware and specifying that the second module firmware is for the second type of infusion device module, the first type and the second type of infusion device module each being a large volume infusion pump or a syringe pump;
storing, by the control module, the received new configuration package in a first memory bank of the control module, wherein a second configuration package is stored in a second memory bank of the control module when the new configuration package is received;
determining, by the control module, based on the information associated with the new configuration package, received by the control module from the remote device and stored in the first memory bank of the control module, that a first infusion device module connected to the control module is of the first type specified by the received information and that the identified version of the first module firmware is a new version for the first infusion device module connected to the control module, or that a second infusion device module connected to the control module is of the second type specified by the received information and that the identified version of the second module firmware is a new version for the second infusion device module connected to the control module;
responsive to determining that the first infusion device module is the first type specified by the received information and the first module firmware is a new version for the first infusion device module or the second infusion device module is the second type specified by the received information and the second module firmware is a new version for the second infusion device module, and that the first infusion device module or the second infusion device module, respectively, is connected to the control module:
transmitting, by the control module, the corresponding module firmware to a first memory bank of the connected infusion device module while a current version of the firmware for the connected infusion device module is stored in a second memory bank of the connected infusion device module that is different than the first memory bank of the connected infusion device module, wherein the current version of the firmware for the connected infusion device module is currently used by the connected infusion device module while being stored in the second memory bank of the connected infusion device module and while the corresponding module firmware received from the remote device is being transmitted to the first memory bank of the connected infusion device module.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the patient care device is associated with a predetermined configuration zone, and the new configuration package is received from the remote device based on the patient care device being within the predetermined configuration zone, wherein the predetermined configuration zone comprises a geographic location or care area, the method further comprising:
receiving, by the control module, an activation command from a central computing system based on the patient care device being within the predetermined configuration zone;
determining, by the control module, in response to the activation command, whether the patient care device is currently active based on a status indicator of the patient care device; and
in response to determining that the patient care device is currently inactive, by the control module, sending the connected infusion device module an instruction to switch execution of the current version of the firmware stored in the second memory bank of the connected infusion device module to the corresponding module firmware stored in the first memory bank of the connected infusion device module.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the control module, an indication from the connected infusion device module that the corresponding module firmware was successfully stored in the first memory bank of the connected infusion device module; and
in response to receiving the indication, by the control module, sending the connected infusion device module an instruction to switch execution of the current version of the firmware for the connected infusion device module stored in the second memory bank of the connected infusion device module to the corresponding module firmware stored in the first memory bank of the connected infusion device module.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , further comprising:
prior to switching execution to the corresponding module firmware for the connected infusion device module:
initiating, by the control module, a power-down process of the control module in response to determining that the patient care device is currently inactive; and
during a boot-up process of the control module after completion of the power-down process, initiating, by the control module, the step of switching execution to the corresponding module firmware for the connected infusion device module.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
during a boot-up process, detecting, by the control module, a connection to the connected infusion device module; and
sending, by the control module, in response to detecting the connection, an instruction to the connected infusion device module to switch execution to the corresponding module firmware of the connected infusion device module.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to transmitting the corresponding module firmware to the connected infusion device module:
determining, by the control module, based on available bandwidth of one or more processors of the control module, whether available computing resources of the control module are sufficient to transmit the corresponding module firmware to the connected infusion device module; and
in response to determining that the available computing resources are sufficient, initiating, by the control module, the transmitting of the corresponding module firmware to the connected infusion device module.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the control module, whether the new configuration package includes the corresponding module firmware for the connected infusion device module based on an identifier associated with the corresponding module firmware for the connected infusion device module.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting, by the control module, a new connection from the second infusion device module; and
sending, by the control module, responsive to the new connection, a message to the second infusion device module indicating a version of firmware of the second infusion device module to execute on the second infusion device module.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving, by the control module, a response from the second connected infusion device module, wherein in the response indicates that the version of firmware indica

Assignees

• Carefusion 303 Inc

Inventors

• Hulan Greg T
• Weiler Aron
• Rajendran Karthi
• Borges Gregory

Classifications

• G16H40/40 Primary

  for the management of medical equipment or devices, e.g. scheduling maintenance or upgrades · CPC title

• G06F8/65 Primary

  Updates (security arrangements therefor G06F21/57) · CPC title

• G06F8/71

  Version control (security arrangements therefor G06F21/57); Configuration management · CPC title