Managing communications with a connected health system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12470630-B2
Application number	US-202418742176-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 13, 2024
Priority date	Nov 18, 2020
Publication date	Nov 11, 2025
Grant date	Nov 11, 2025

Abstract

A medical system, comprising: a medical machine; and a gateway device configured to communicate with the medical machine to allow access to a network, the gateway device comprising a data allowance and limitation unit that is configured to limit communication between the medical machine and the network when the data allowance and limitation unit is in an open state, wherein the data allowance and limitation unit is placed in the open state when a plannable system event occurs, and wherein, while in the open state, the data allowance and limitation unit is placed in a closed state when an unplanned event occurs, thereby providing less limited communication between the medical machine and the network compared to the open state.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A medical system, comprising:
a medical machine; and a data allowance and limitation unit that is configured to limit communication between the medical machine and a network when the data allowance and limitation unit is in an open state, wherein the data allowance and limitation unit is placed in the open state when a plannable system event occurs, and is configured to switch from the open state to a closed state, thereby providing less limited communication between the medical machine and the network compared to the open state, wherein the data allowance and limitation unit switches from the open state to the closed state in response to
the medical machine detecting an occurrence of an unplanned event while the plannable system event is being performed, or
the medical system receiving, from a user of the medical system, an input indicating a request for help while the plannable system event is being performed.

2 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the data allowance and limitation unit is part of the medical machine.

3 . The medical system of claim 1 , comprising a user interface,
wherein the medical machine receives the input in response to the user interacting with the user interface.

4 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the user interface is part of the data allowance and limitation unit.

5 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the plannable system event is regarding a medical treatment that the medical machine performs on a particular patient, and wherein the medical machine is further configured to:
in response to detecting the unplannable event, present one or more questions to the particular patient, and cause the data allowance and limitation unit to automatically switch to the closed state in response to receiving no response from the particular patient within a predetermined time from when the one or more questions were presented.

6 . The medical system of claim 1 , further comprising a notification system, wherein the notification system is configured to notify a user of the medical system about the unplanned event by providing a notification that is acoustical, optical or tactile.

7 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the plannable system event is regarding performing a medical treatment on a particular patient, and
wherein in response to detecting the unplanned event, the medical system is configured to present to the particular patient an option to accept or decline a recommendation to establish a communication between the medical machine and the network.

8 . The medical system of claim 7 , further comprising a user interface through which the particular patient can accept or decline the recommendation.

9 . The medical system of claim 7 , wherein if the particular patient does not respond to the recommendation, the data allowance and limitation unit moves into the closed state and establishes a communication between the medical machine and the network.

10 . The medical system of claim 9 , wherein the data allowance and limitation unit switches to the closed state automatically if the medical system senses irregularities in the particular patient's vital parameters.

11 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the medical system is configured to allow a user to cause establishing a communication between the medical machine and the network during the plannable system event.

12 . The medical system of claim 11 , wherein the communication connects the medical machine to a remote device of one or more of a health provider or a technician.

13 . The medical system of claim 12 , further comprising a user interface allowing the user to communicate with the health provider or the technician.

14 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the data allowance and limitation unit is a hardware switch.

15 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the data allowance and limitation unit includes a software switch.

16 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the plannable system event comprises one or more of connecting a patient to the medical system, providing medical therapy by the medical system, or connecting or installing disposable components to the medical system.

17 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the unplanned event comprises one or more of a patient needing assistance for preparation or use of the medical system, the medical system sensing a faulty use of medical equipment, the medical system sensing a specific health condition of a patient before, during, or after a medical therapy that the medical system performs on the patient, the medical system sensing a technical problem, or the medical system sensing a complication that potentially leads to one or more specific critical health conditions of the patient.

18 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the data allowance and limitation unit is physically and/or electronically controllable by a user.

19 . The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the medical system is a dialysis system and the medical machine is a dialysis machine.

20 . The medical system of claim 19 , wherein the dialysis system is a home dialysis system and the dialysis machine is a home dialysis machine.

21 . The medical system of claim 19 , wherein the dialysis system is a hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis system, and the dialysis machine is a hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis machine.

22 . A method performed by a medical system that includes a medical machine and a data allowance and limitation unit, the method comprising:
placing a data allowance and limitation unit into an open state when a plannable system event occurs, wherein at the open state, the data allowance and limitation unit limits communication between the medical machine and a network; and switching the data allowance and limitation unit from the open state to a closed state, thereby providing less limited communication between the medical machine and the network compared to the open state, wherein the data allowance and limitation unit switches from the open state to the closed state in response to
the medical machine detecting an occurrence of an unplanned event while the plannable system event is being performed, or
the medical system receiving, from a user of the medical system, an input indicating a request for help while the plannable system event is being performed.

23 . A connected health system comprising:
a medical system, comprising:
a medical machine; and
a data allowance and limitation unit that is configured to limit communication between the medical machine and a network when the data allowance and limitation unit is in an open state,
wherein the data allowance and limitation unit is placed in the open state when a plannable system event occurs, is configured to switch from the open state to a closed state, thereby providing less limited communication between the medical machine and the network compared to the open state, and wherein the data allowance and limitation unit switches from the open state to the closed state in response to
the medical machine detecting an occurrence of an unplanned event while the plannable system event is being performed, or
the medical system receiving, from a user of the medical system, an input indicating a request for help while the plannable system event is being performed; and one or more remote systems configured to communicate with the medical machine when the data allowance and l

Assignees

• Fresenius Medical Care Deutschland Gmbh
• Fresenius Medical Care Holdings Inc

Inventors

• Diga Mihai
• Wolf Klaus
• Perplies Stefan
• Fischer Karsten
• Thoelking Johannes

Classifications

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• H04L67/10

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title

• H04L12/66

  Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways · CPC title

• G16H50/20

  for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems · CPC title

• G16H40/67

  for remote operation · CPC title