Patent Issued for Intelligent health-based blockchain (USPTO 12009070): Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company

2024 JUL 01 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx journalists, a patent by the inventors Ferry, Richard (Springfield, MA, US), Gibadlo, Krzysztof (Springfield, MA, US), John, Jiby (Suffield, CT, US), Knas, Michal (Monson, MA, US), filed on March 5, 2021, was published online on June 11, 2024.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 12009070, is Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (Springfield, Massachusetts, United States).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “As the blockchain technology has improved, many institutions generate blockchains to store users’ sensitive information. For example, many institutions create health blockchains where users’ health data (e.g., data received from various health-tracking devices) is stored onto a blockchain and used for health-related purposes. Even though blockchains offer a secure method of data storage, generating and maintaining a blockchain requires heavy calculations processing power. For instance, when storing a user’s health related data onto a blockchain, a server must collect the data periodically, generate a block instance, communicate with different network nodes within the blockchain, identify a latest valid blockchain, and update the blockchain, which is a computer-intensive process that requires heavy computing power. This process is especially burdensome when each health-tracking device transmits multiple batches of data per day.

“In order to overcome the above-mentioned problem, some conventional and existing methods have implemented a software solution where data is received less frequently. For example, a central server may instruct a health-tracking device to transmit collected data in batches. As a result, instead of receiving health-related data multiple times a day, the central server receives health-related data once every few weeks, which reduces how frequently the server must update the blockchain. Even though this solution possibly solves the heavy computing power needed to generate, update, and maintain the blockchain, it increases the chance of fraudulent activity before the user’s data is stored onto the blockchain because cyber attackers are allotted more time to compromise the data before it is transferred and stored onto the user’s blockchain. Therefore, conventional and existing solutions may alleviate one problem but create other technical problems.”

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, NewsRx editors also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “For the aforementioned reasons, there is a need for a more accurate system and method that would allow users to accurately upload, store, and access health records, profile, and other pertinent health information in a more efficient and fraud-proof manner than possible with human-intervention or conventional solutions. Disclosed herein are systems and methods for dynamic generation of an intelligent health-based blockchain.

“In an embodiment, a computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by a first server from an electronic device operated by a user, a request to update a blockchain of the user, the request comprising identification information associated with a health-tracking sensor, a second server associated with the health-tracking sensor, and user authentication data; generating, by the first server, a first instruction to receive health data captured by the health-tracking sensor, the first instruction comprising the identification information associated with the health-tracking sensor and the user authentication data; upon transmitting the first instruction to the second server, receiving, by the first server, health data captured by the health-tracking sensor; storing, by the first server, health data in a volatile memory storage; periodically updating, by the first server, the blockchain of the user based on the health data stored in the volatile memory storage where updating comprises: retrieving, by the first server, a plurality of latest valid block instances associated with the user from a plurality of network nodes, each block instance comprising encrypted health data associated with the user and a corresponding hash value, wherein each block instance is stored in a database associated with at least one of the plurality of network nodes; comparing, by the first server, the hash value associated with each block instance within the plurality of latest valid blockchains with each respective hash value associated with each respective block instance within each latest valid blockchain received from each network node of the plurality of network nodes; upon a number of matching hash values satisfying a pre-determined threshold: generating, by the first server, a new block instance comprising the health data stored within the volatile memory storage and a new hash value based at least on one of the user, the health data captured by the health-tracking sensor, the second server, and the user computing device, according to a hashing algorithm.

“In another embodiment, a computer system comprising an electronic device operated by a user; a health-tracking sensor configured to captured health data associated with the user, the health-tracking device further configured to transmit the captured health data to a first server; a plurality of network nodes where each network node is configured to store at least one block instance of a blockchain of a user; a second server in communication with the health-tracking sensor, the first server, the plurality of network nodes, and the electronic device, the second server configured to receive, from the electronic device, a request to update the blockchain of the user, the request comprising identification information associated with the health-tracking sensor, a second server associated with the health-tracking sensor, and user authentication data; generate a first instruction to receive health data captured by the health-tracking sensor, the first instruction comprising the identification information associated with the health-tracking sensor and the user authentication data; upon transmitting the first instruction to the first server, receive health data captured by the health-tracking sensor; store health data in a volatile memory storage; periodically update the blockchain of the user based on the health data stored in the volatile memory storage where updating comprises: retrieve a plurality of latest valid block instances associated with the user from the plurality of network nodes, each block instance comprising encrypted health data associated with the user and a corresponding hash value, wherein each block instance is stored in a database associated with at least one of the plurality of network nodes; compare the hash value associated with each block instance within the plurality of latest valid block instances with each respective hash value associated with each respective block instance within each latest valid blockchain received from each network node of the plurality of network nodes; upon a number of matching hash values satisfying a pre-determined threshold: generate a new block instance comprising the health data stored within the volatile memory storage and a new hash value based at least on one of the user, the health data captured by the health-tracking sensor, the second server, and the user computing device, according to a hashing algorithm.

“It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the various embodiments disclosed herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by at least one node of a blockchain from a first electronic sensor, health data associated with a user, the first electronic sensor configured to monitor and capture the health data associated with the user; periodically updating, by the at least one node of the blockchain, the blockchain using the health data associated with the user, where the updating comprises: storing, by the at least one node of the blockchain, first health data associated with the user and received from the first electronic sensor and second health data associated with the user and received from a second electronic sensor in volatile memory storage over the course of a first pre-determined time period; responsive to detecting an end to the first pre-determined time period, retrieving, by the at least one node of the blockchain, a latest valid block instance of the blockchain from a plurality of nodes of the blockchain, wherein block instances of the blockchain comprise encrypted health data associated with the user received from the first electronic sensor over different pre-determined time periods and corresponding hash values, wherein the latest valid block instance is stored in a database associated with at least one of the plurality of nodes; generating, by the at least one node of the blockchain, a file with the first health data and the second health data of the first pre-determined time period from the volatile memory storage; comparing, by the at least one node of the blockchain, a hash value associated with at least a portion of the latest valid block instance with a hash value of a corresponding latest valid block instance retrieved from at least one other node within the blockchain; and upon a number of matching hash values satisfying a pre-determined threshold, appending, by the at least one node of the blockchain, a new block instance comprising the generated file with the first health data and the second health data of the first pre-determined time period and a new hash value generated according to a hashing algorithm to the latest valid block instance.

“2. The method of claim 1, wherein the new hash value is based at least on one of data associated with the user or the first health data associated with the user.

“3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one node causes the first electronic sensor to transmit data in accordance with a predetermined frequency.

“4. The method of claim 3, wherein the predetermined frequency is received from the user.

“5. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one node revises the predetermined frequency in accordance with data received from a second electronic monitor.

“6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first electronic sensor is a wearable device.

“7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first health data associated with the user corresponds to a heart rate of the user.

“8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first health data associated with the user corresponds to a sleep pattern of the user.

“9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first electronic sensor is associated with a mattress.

“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein appending the new block instance to the latest valid block instance comprises moving, by the at least one node of the blockchain, the first health data associated with the user of the first pre-determined time period from the volatile memory storage into the new block instance.

“11. A blockchain having a plurality of nodes, each node having a processor configured to store at least one block instance of the blockchain, wherein at least one node is configured to: receive, from a first electronic sensor, health data associated with a user, the first electronic sensor configured to monitor and capture the health data associated with the user; periodically update the blockchain using the health data associated with the user, where the updating comprises: storing first health data associated with the user and received from the first electronic sensor and second health data associated with the user and received from a second electronic sensor in volatile memory storage over the course of a first pre-determined time period; responsive to detecting an end to the first pre-determined time period, retrieving a latest valid block instance of the blockchain from a plurality of nodes of the blockchain, wherein block instances of the blockchain comprise encrypted health data associated with the user received from the first electronic sensor over different pre-determined time periods and corresponding hash values, wherein the latest valid block instance is stored in a database associated with at least one of the plurality of nodes; generating a file with the first health data and the second health data of the first pre-determined time period from the volatile memory storage; comparing a hash value associated with at least a portion of a latest valid block instance with a hash value of a corresponding latest valid block instance retrieved from at least one other node within the blockchain; and upon a number of matching hash values satisfying a pre-determined threshold, appending a new block instance comprising the generated file with the first health data and the second health data of the first pre-determined time period and a new hash value generated according to a hashing algorithm to the latest valid block instance.

“12. The blockchain of claim 11, wherein the new hash value is based at least on one of data associated with the user or the first health data associated with the user.

“13. The blockchain of claim 11, wherein the at least one node causes the first electronic sensor to transmit data in accordance with a predetermined frequency.

“14. The blockchain of claim 13, wherein the predetermined frequency is received from the user.

“15. The blockchain of claim 13, wherein the at least one node revises the predetermined frequency in accordance with data received from a second electronic monitor.

“16. The blockchain of claim 11, wherein the first electronic sensor is a wearable device.

“17. The blockchain of claim 11, wherein the first health data associated with the user corresponds to a heart rate of the user.

“18. The blockchain of claim 11, wherein the first health data associated with the user corresponds to a sleep pattern of the user.

“19. The blockchain of claim 11, wherein the first electronic sensor is associated with a mattress.”

For more information, see this patent: Ferry, Richard. Intelligent health-based blockchain. U.S. Patent Number 12009070, filed March 5, 2021, and published online on June 11, 2024. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(12009070)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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