Patent Issued for Computer-based marketplace for information (USPTO 11042916)

2021 JUL 14 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Hospital & Nursing Home Daily -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Hunter, William L. (Vancouver, CA), Raynor, Michael E. (Mississauga, CA), filed on February 28, 2017, was published online on June 22, 2021.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11042916 is Canary Medical Inc. (Vancouver, Canada).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “

“Technical Field

“The present disclosure relates generally to devices, systems and methods for generating and creating a market for information More particularly, but not exclusively, the present disclosure relates to devices, systems and methods which provide an electronic forum where entities (e.g., individuals, groups, or commercial organizations) can offer information (e.g., personal information, medical information, behavioral information, etc.) for transfer to third parties by sale, license, or other arrangement; and where buyers can solicit, purchase, license, or otherwise obtain permissible access to use information offered by entities (as illustrated above).

“Description of the Related Art

“There is already a market for some types of personal information. For example, social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Tumblr, and so on), search engines (e.g., Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc.), credit bureaus, and others, collect different types of information on various entities (typically, not but exclusively, individuals), including (but not limited to) personal information via a variety of mechanisms, and generate revenue from this information in a variety of ways. For example, by analyzing the information that has been collected, social networks and search engines can identify individuals or groups that meet certain criteria and then selling advertising to third parties that which to reach individuals or groups that meet those criteria.

“The individuals on whom information is collected, however, tend to realize value from information about themselves primarily through the use of services that are provided, the use of which generates the information that social networks or search engines then use to sell advertising. There is typically no monetary payment to the provider of the information (e.g., individuals) by the provider of the service (e.g., the social network or search engine). To illustrate, users of a search engine do not pay money to the provider of the search engine for the use of the search engine. Rather, the search engine provider makes the search engine available for use without requiring monetary payment, but collects information about the user’s search history, and uses this information to draw conclusions about what sorts of online advertising are most likely to elicit a purchase response if presented to the search engine user, and then solicits advertising revenue from the appropriate advertisers. Alternatively, advertisers can enlist a search engine provider for potential customers based on the analysis of the search histories of users of the search engine. The price secured by the search engine provider for direct or indirect use of the personal information collected via the use of the search engine is determined by the search engine provider in direct negotiation with the advertiser. The information provider-in this example, the individual using the search engine-is not consulted, informed consent to use/sell personal information is typically not obtained from the information provider, and the revenue generated by the sale of the information is not shared with the information provider.

“In contrast, some markets for information are very tightly controlled. For example, medical information the physicians, hospitals or insurance carriers that generate or collect medical information typically steward this information with great care, often bound by explicit and extensive legal requirements. Thus, although individuals are subject to a wide range of medical procedures (e.g. physician visits, medication administration, surgical procedures, diagnostic testing procedures, medical imagining procedures, etc.), the medical information generated from these procedures is generally available for use by the patient only upon a specific request, and is generally unavailable to others (outside of a treating physician, hospital, or insurance carrier).

“As a consequence, the full scope of a person’s medical information is not typically aggregated in a single database. Several attempts have been made to create such databases, e.g., Microsoft’s HealthVault, Google Heath, and Apple Health. These efforts have met with limited success: the level of participation and the completeness of the information available have both been too low to create any real value for potential users of that information, by the individuals on whom data are held, or, by other third parties.

“Other types of medical information are often not collected at all. For example, when a medical device is implanted into an individual (e.g., a total hip or knee replacement, a vascular stent or graft), the performance of such devices is very often observable only through the interrogation or examination of the patient, or expensive and generally static medical imaging technology (e.g., sonograms, X-rays, MRIs).

“For the reasons including, but not limited to, those described in paragraphs above, the creation of datasets of containing information (e.g., the patient’s history, results of physical exams, diagnostic tests, etc.) that support more effective and efficient innovation in medical devices or medical procedures has historically been time-consuming, difficult and expensive. Specifically, those who might have the information required to create such dataset have typically needed to be identified, contacted, and solicited for the information one at a time. This has limited the scale (i.e., the number of records that can be included in the dataset), scope (i.e., the number of different fields of information included in each record), accuracy, completeness, reliability and timeliness of the information available. This, in turn, has limited the pace and extent of progress users of this information have been able to make in their respective endeavors.

“The present disclosure addresses the above-noted limitations in the creation of datasets that contain relevant information (e.g., personal or medical information). In particular, the present disclosure provides for the automated collection of information (including personal or medical information, such as that generated by sensor-enabled, implantable medical devices and information reported by individuals, such as the patient’s self-reported symptoms and self-assessment of physical and emotional wellbeing), as well as a computer-based market in which a variety of users and providers of such information can reach mutually acceptable terms for the access and use of that information (e.g., as compiled into datasets) and payment for such access and use.

“All of the subject matter discussed in the Background section is not necessarily prior art, and should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its discussion in the Background section. Along these lines, any recognition of problems in the prior art discussed in the Background section or associated with such subject matter should not be treated as prior art unless expressly stated to be prior art. Instead, the discussion of any subject matter in the Background section should be treated as part of the inventor’s approach to the particular problem, which in and of itself may also be inventive.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “Briefly stated, the present invention provides devices, systems and methods for collecting and analyzing information, and in preferred embodiments aggregating the information into a database, from which can be compiled one or more productizable datasets. For example, within one embodiment, personal information can be obtained pertaining to the state or activity of a person or their possessions, including for example, driving records, credit score, search engine history, activity on social networks, purchasing behavior, marital and familial status, travel, internet search history, purchases and so on. Similarly, personal medical information can be obtained from a large number of sources such as physician and hospital visits, diagnostic procedures, medical and surgical procedures, laboratory tests, imaging studies, superficial monitoring devices, implanted medical devices, physiological testing, psychological testing, rehabilitation procedures, genomic information, subjective information (patient reported symptoms and experiences), and health and fitness monitoring, to name but a few.

“Whether pertaining to an individual, a group of individuals, the average characteristics of a defined population, or some other unit of analysis, information, including personal information, has many uses to many parties, including, but not limited to, the individuals or groups described by the information, physicians, medical device companies, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, healthcare payers, researchers, governments, public health policy makers, consumer products companies or purchasers of advertising of any type, providers of services of many types (including, but not limited to, legal, accounting, rehabilitation, physiotherapy, renovation, travel-related services, automotive companies, and so on), and so on, are but a few of the groups that may be interested in obtaining access to information, including personal information and personal medical information.

“For example, when producers of sensor-enabled medical devices, consumer devices, wearable monitoring devices and other devices are able to study datasets of personal medical information that contain accurate, reliable and timely information on patient behavior and medical device functionality, they might be better able to determine which patients are best-suited for their current devices, and what sorts of design improvements would be most beneficial to future patients. Similarly, when researchers or service providers, such as medical practitioners, are able to study datasets that contain accurate, reliable, and timely personal medical information, they may be better able to determine which treatment regimens are best-suited to which people, and to improve these regimens for the benefit of current and future patients.

“Furthermore, augmenting personal medical information with personal information can enhance the ability to improve the medical devices or pharmaceutical products themselves, make medical procedures and treatments more effective and safe, enhance patient compliance to prescribed treatment regimens, improve recovery and rehabilitation efforts, and determine the longer term outcomes, including the safety and efficacy of the treatment undertaken.

“In general terms, prospective purchasers of personal information, including, but not limited to, personal medical information, can define the type and quantity of information they seek, the price they are willing to pay, and the terms of use (e.g., for how long the information will be used, and for what purpose). The operator of the market provided for in the current disclosure can then interrogate the database to determine if the requested information is available at the price specified and on the terms specified by the prospective purchaser. If the prospective purchaser’s conditions can be met, the productizable dataset will be compiled and the sale will be completed. If the prospective purchaser’s conditions cannot be met, the operator of the market can assist prospective purchasers to modify the parameters of their request (e.g., the type of information required, the number of records required, the price offered, and the terms given) and give potential sellers of personal information the opportunity to modify their parameters (e.g., the information they will provide, at what price, and on what terms) in order to allow the market operator to compile an appropriate productizable dataset and enable a transaction to take place.

“In general, then, the current disclosure provides for: (1) a way for recipients of, e.g., implantable medical devices, to generate potentially valuable personal medical information; (2) a database that holds this personal medical information and other types of personal medical information provided by the patient, whether generated automatically or by input directly by the patient; (3) a way for entities (including, but not limited to, individuals referenced in (1), immediately above) to generate personal information generally, automatically or by manual input, and contribute this personal information to the database; (4) a market that reveals the value of personal medical information and personal information, and, based on that revealed value, creates incentives to providers of information to contribute information of various types to the database and make them available for sale; (5) a system whereby an entity can provide or withhold consent for the use of personal information (such as medical information) by third parties; and (6) the compilation into productizable datasets of information that has been released for such use.

“This Brief Summary has been provided to introduce certain concepts in a simplified form that are further described in detail below in the Detailed Description. Unless and except where otherwise expressly stated, this Brief Summary does not identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor does it limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium whose stored contents configure a computing system to perform a method, the method comprising: a) maintaining at least one database having information stored therein, at least a portion of the information obtained from a plurality of implanted medical devices each implanted in a respective owner, the plurality of implanted medical devices each comprising a sensor configured to detect or measure one or more operational properties of the implanted medical device and to generate information corresponding to the one or more operational properties, said database being organized as a plurality of records, each record associated with a respective owner and having a plurality of fields each having information associated therewith; b) receiving a request comprising: i) a specification for a dataset identifying one or more fields, specified information associated with the one or more identified fields, and a specified quantity of records to be included in the dataset, wherein the specified information comprises a type of implanted medical device, and at least one of the one or more operational properties of the type of implanted medical device, and ii) a specification for consideration specifying a compensation to be provided to the respective owner of the information; c) determining if one or more records satisfy the request by: i) searching said database to find records that contain some or all of the specified information and that satisfy the specification for consideration; and ii) retrieving information from at least some of the found records; and d) forming a productized dataset comprising at least some of the retrieved information.

“2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1 whose stored contents configure the computing system to perform the method, the method further comprising repeating the determining until at least the specified quantity of records is found.

“3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2 whose stored contents configure the computing system to perform the method, wherein determining if one or more records satisfy the request further comprises, responsive to a failure to find the specified quantity of records: modifying the specification for a dataset; and repeating the determining until the specified quantity of records is found.

“4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 3 whose stored contents configure the computing system to perform the method, the method further comprising: presenting information on the records found based on the modified specification for a dataset; and receiving a notice of acceptance of the records found based on the modified specification for a dataset.

“5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2 whose stored contents configure the computing system to perform the method, wherein determining if one or more records satisfy the request further comprises, responsive to a failure to find the specified quantity of records: solicitating a modification of the specification for a dataset; and repeating the determining based on the modified specification for a dataset until the specified quantity of records is found.

“6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2 whose stored contents configure the computing system to perform the method, wherein determining if one or more records satisfy the request further comprises, responsive to a failure to find the specified quantity of records: soliciting a modification of the specification for consideration; and repeating the determining based on the modified specification for consideration until the specified quantity of records is found.

“7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2 whose stored contents configure the computing system to perform the method, wherein determining if one or more records satisfy the request further comprises, responsive to a record that does not satisfy the specification for a dataset: solicitating a modification of the record to include new information that results in the record satisfying the specification for a dataset; receiving the modification of the record; and repeating the determining with respect to the modified record.

“8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2 whose stored contents configure the computing system to perform the method, wherein determining if one or more records satisfy the request further comprises: identifying a plurality of records that satisfies the specification for a dataset but not the specification for consideration; and adding the plurality of records to an auction pool.

“9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 8 whose stored contents configure the computing system to perform the method, wherein determining if one or more records satisfy the request further comprises: presenting information on discrepancies between the specification for consideration and the compensation included in the plurality of records in the auction pool.

“10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 8 whose stored contents configure the computing system to perform the method, wherein determining if one or more records satisfy the request further comprises: receiving a modification of one or more of the plurality of records in the auction pool to include a new compensation that results in the one or more records satisfying the specification for consideration.

“11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 2, whose stored contents configure the computing system to perform the method, wherein responsive to the quantity of found records being greater than the specified quantity of records, the method further comprising: solicitating a modification of one or more found records to include a new compensation less than the original compensation that results in the one or more records satisfying a revised specification for consideration.

“12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1 wherein the type of implantable medical device specified in the request comprises an orthopedic implant and the one or more operational properties of the orthopedic implant comprises one or more measures of flexures, force, load, stress, steps, repetitive movements, motion, position, vibration, temperature, and migration.

“13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 12 wherein the orthopedic implant comprises one of a hip prosthesis, a knee prosthesis, and a shoulder prosthesis.

“14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises one of a fluid pressure sensor, fluid volume sensor, contact sensor, position sensor, pulse pressure sensor, blood volume sensor, blood flow sensor, chemistry sensor, metabolic sensor, accelerometer, mechanical stress sensor and temperature sensor.

“15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1 wherein the specification for consideration further comprises one or more terms of use for the information in the dataset.

“16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 1 wherein forming a productized dataset comprising at least some of the retrieved information comprises one or more of removing personally identifiable information from the retrieved information, obfuscating the retrieved information, preparing and/or implementing a terms-of use for the retrieved information, and forming the retrieved information into one or more computer-readable files.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Hunter, William L. Computer-based marketplace for information. U.S. Patent Number 11042916, filed February 28, 2017, and published online on June 22, 2021. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=11042916.PN.&OS=PN/11042916RS=PN/11042916

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