“Therapy Management System” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20220310222): Patent Application

2022 OCT 17 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent application by the inventors Daoud, Saleem (San Diego, CA, US); Haines, Gregory Grant (San Diego, CA, US); Jung, Christopher (San Diego, CA, US), filed on June 2, 2022, was made available online on September 29, 2022, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application has not been assigned to a company or institution.

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Many electronic devices maintain a data log of information to keep a record of their operational status, use history, and other parameters. Such electronic devices can be used for controlling a variety of operations, such as transmitting data. In the context of electronic medical devices such as infusion pumps and the like, they may be used for dispensing or releasing medicaments, including fluids and other materials such as insulin and related medicaments. The data log may provide, for example, a history of transmitted or received data, data associated with substances or fluids such as on-board and dispensed volume, composition, lot number, and other characteristics, as well as operational parameters relating to transmitting, dispensing or releasing such substances or fluids. These electronic devices may not include sufficient memory to maintain a running, cumulative record of these data over an extended time period, or there may be a need for such cumulative data or other non-cumulative data to be backed-up, mirrored, or simply stored elsewhere for archival or other purposes. Therefore, these data may be maintained at one or more locations that are remote from the device, such as, e.g., a remote computing device or a network data storage facility that may have more extensive data storage capacity than that on the electronic device. As the device continues to operate, data such as those comprising a data log and/or other operational information (which such operational information may or may not be in a data log) may need to be sent to, transferred to, or otherwise maintained at a remote location such as a network data storage site to meet various needs of the users of and manufacturers of such devices.

“In most cases, privacy concerns for the data generated by the electronic device will encourage careful control of access to such data by using a variety of authorization schemes. If the device is used for medical or patient care purposes, then such privacy and other data security concerns may mandate data security schemes. In the U.S., for example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 established national standards for electronic health care transactions and for the security and privacy of health data. Other such privacy mandates for patient-related and consumer-related data exist outside the U.S. as well.

“For example, portable medicament infusion devices, such as infusion pumps, are used to regulate the dispensing of fluids such as insulin and other medicaments to a patient. These electronic devices may be in constant or frequent operation and may store data relating to, e.g., the dispensing of medicaments such as insulin to the patient, data relating to various operational parameters of the pump, and the like. Such data, particularly if it is cumulative in nature, may be more than can be accurately and safely stored in the memory of the infusion device itself. It may also be desired to store all or selected portions of such data at one or more alternative sites such as, e.g., a remote computing device or a network data storage facility. Such remote locations may be used to archive such data, enable analysis thereof for the patient, the health care provider, the manufacturer, and even government regulatory authorities, and for other purposes. It is therefore desirable to maintain some or all of such data in a format that is available to meet such needs.

“It is known to establish and use network data facilities for storage of data such as portable insulin pump data. Access to such data, however, can be cumbersome and protracted. In some cases, access to the network stored data requires the presence of the actual insulin pump at the computer or other device being used to obtain access. In other cases, data transfer can be a relatively slow and cumbersome process. Moreover, once access to such data is granted and an authorized communication path is established, it may be desirable or necessary to carefully control such access so that third parties are not able to use the communication path to gain unauthorized access to the data.

“Easier access to the network stored data and more secure data transfer are desired improvements. The present invention addresses these needs.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “Disclosed herein are techniques for accessing stored data over a computer network through a network data manager. In one aspect, a request message containing an access requestor identifier is received at the network data manager from a client device for access to a data storage facility. The network data manager determines if the access requestor identifier is associated with a data record that identifies a product device having a registration record, and if it does, the network data manager transmits a data link to the client device, wherein the data link provides access to the data record by the client device over the computer network for a predetermined time period such that access to the data record is halted upon expiration of the predetermined time period. The client device may comprise, for example, a desktop or laptop computer. The product device, for example, may comprise a portable insulin pump that can be connected to the computer for data transfer to and from the network data manager.

“In another aspect, data transfer over a computer network from a product device is accomplished with an uploader application executing at a host device, such that the uploader application authenticates the product device, extracts a data log from the authenticated product device, and uploads the extracted data log to a data record at a data storage facility over the computer network. The uploader application can receive a data link at the host device from the network data manager in response to uploading of the extracted data log, and generates a display of the received data link, wherein the data link provides access to the data record by the host device over the computer network for a predetermined time period such that access to the data record is halted upon expiration of the predetermined time period.

“In other aspects, access to data is controlled such that access is automatically terminated such that an unattended but previously authorized device cannot be used to gain access. For example, the network data manager may send an access grant message to the client device for access to the stored data and receives a data request back from the client device. The network data manager will then provide the requested data record to the client device over the computer network only if the predetermined time period for the data link has not expired. In this way, access to the stored data is securely controlled and unauthorized access is less likely. In yet another aspect, the product identifier associated with the registration record at the network data manager may relate to a product device, and the product device and client device may be integrated together into a single device. For example, the product device (and client device) may comprise an insulin pump device that directly communicates with the network data manager.

“Other features and advantages of the present invention should be apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments that illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A portable infusion system for transferring data over a computer network, the portable infusion system comprising: a memory that stores data of a portable infusion device; a network communications block adapted for communications with the computer network; a processor coupled to the memory and the network communications block; wherein the processor responds to an upload request by authenticating the portable infusion device and extracting a data log comprising at least a portion of the data stored in the memory and an identifier associated with the portable infusion device, and wherein the processor sends the extracted data log and identifier over the computer network to a network data manager, and receives an upload success message from the network data manager in response to a successful sending of the extracted data log and a determination that the identifier is associated with a data record at the network data manager that identifies a product device having a registration record; wherein the upload success message includes a data link, such that the data link provides access to the data record by the portable infusion system until the data link is automatically canceled, wherein access to the data record is halted upon the data link being canceled.

“2. The system of claim 1, wherein the data link is automatically canceled upon expiration of a predetermined time period.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable infusion system includes a portable infusion device that includes the memory, and further comprising a drive mechanism for infusion of a fluid from the portable infusion device.

“4. The system of claim 1, further including a host computer that comprises a host processor, the memory, and the network communications block, wherein the host computer receives the extracted data log and identifier from device memory of the portable infusion device, and the host processor sends the extracted data log and identifier over the computer network to a network data manager.

“5. A method of transferring data over a computer network from a portable infusion system, the method comprising: responding to an upload request by extracting a data log comprising at least a portion of data stored in memory of a portable infusion device and an identifier associated with the portable infusion device; sending the extracted data log and identifier over the computer network to a network data manager, and receiving an upload success message from the network data manager in response to a successful sending of the extracted data log and a determination that the identifier is associated with a data record at the network data manager that identifies a product device having a registration record; wherein the upload success message includes a data link, such that the data link provides access to the data record by the portable infusion system until the data link is automatically canceled, wherein access to the data record is halted upon the data link being canceled.

“6. The method of claim 5, wherein the data link is automatically canceled upon expiration of a predetermined time period.

“7. The method of claim 5, wherein responding comprises authenticating a portable infusion device having a drive mechanism for infusion of a fluid from the portable infusion device at a host computer that communicates with the portable infusion device.

“8. The method of claim 7, wherein responding comprises receiving the extracted data log and identifier at the host computer from device memory of the portable infusion device; and wherein the host computer sends the extracted data log and identifier over the computer network to a network data manager.

“9. A method of accessing stored data over a computer network through a network data manager, the method comprising: receiving a request message at the network data manager from a client device for access to a data storage facility, the request message including an access requestor identifier; determining at the network data manager that the access requestor identifier is associated with a data record that identifies a product device having a registration record; and transmitting a data link to the client device, wherein the data link provides access to the data record by the client device over the computer network for a predetermined time period such that access to the data record is halted upon expiration of the predetermined time period.

“10. The method of claim 9, further including: sending an access grant message from the network data manager to the client device for access to the stored data; receiving a data request from the client device in response to the access grant message, requesting access to a data record of the stored data at the data storage facility; providing the requested data record to the client device over the computer network only if the predetermined time period has not expired.

“11. The method of claim 10, wherein the data request comprises a request to view the data record.

“12. The method of claim 9, wherein the product identifier relates to a portable insulin pump device.

“13. The method of claim 9, wherein the product identifier relates to a product device, and the product device and client device are integrated together into a single device.

“14. The method of claim 9, wherein the data link comprises an Internet link that is accessed via an Internet browser application executing on the client device.

“15. The method of claim 9, wherein the associated data record further identifies an authorized access partner who has replied to an access invitation message associated with the product device.

“16. The method of claim 16, wherein determining comprises: receiving login information from the client device at the network data manager; and identifying access partner registration data that is associated with the login information and that is associated with the product device.

“17. The method of claim 17, wherein the access partner registration data and login information are stored at the data storage facility.

“18. The method of claim 9, wherein the associated data record further identifies a product user who is associated with the registration record of the product device.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Daoud, Saleem; Haines, Gregory Grant; Jung, Christopher. Therapy Management System. Filed June 2, 2022 and posted September 29, 2022. Patent URL: https://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220220310222%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20220310222&RS=DN/20220310222

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