Enhanced wireless communication for medical devices

Inventors

Landgraf, Connor • Gershtein, Eugene • Crouch, Tyler

Assignees

Eko Health Inc

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for wireless communication between medical devices are provided. In some embodiments, commodity low power, low bandwidth communication protocols may be utilized to simultaneously convey multiple signals with high fidelity and reliability. For example, cardiac sound data and ECG data may be compressed using a common ADPCM component and inserted into a common BLE packet structure. Command-control data may also be inserted. Where required command-control data reporting frequency is less than the packet frequency, header bits may be utilized to convey multiple types of command-control data in a given packet byte position. Rolling packet sequence values may be inserted into the common packet structure, for use by receiving devices to identify link integrity failures.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to transmitting cardiac data from a wireless sensor to a host device using Bluetooth Low Energy communications. The method digitizes cardiac sound data and ECG data received at the wireless sensor, filters the digitized cardiac sound data and ECG data, and compresses the cardiac sound data and the ECG data using an adaptive differential compression component.

The core approach uses a common ADPCM compression component for both cardiac-sound audio and ECG data within a single optimized BLE packet. Cardiac-sound pre-filtering attenuates frequency components above about 2 kHz, and an ECG sample-rate selection supports compact encoding of the ECG data. The common packet structure multiplexes the compressed cardiac sound data and the compressed ECG data together, enabling transmission in a compact BLE payload.

The packet structure also includes command-control data. Header bits indicate command-control content types when their reporting rate is lower than packet rate, and the packet includes a rolling packet sequence value for link integrity verification. A rolling packet sequence is used to detect link integrity failures, which can trigger host device warning indicia on a user interface.

Claims Coverage

The relevant material provides one independent claim (method claim) defining a complete end-to-end transmission approach for cardiac sound data and ECG data over a Bluetooth Low Energy communications link, with filtering and adaptive differential compression combined into a common packet structure. The cited inventive features include multiplexing in a common packet structure, adaptive differential compression, and claim-dependent refinements specifying filtering and compression encoders, quantitative constraints, command-control insertion, and rolling packet sequence handling with host UI warnings.

Overall, the claim set covers transmitting digitized and filtered cardiac sound data and ECG data by compressing both with an adaptive differential compression component and multiplexing them into a common packet structure for Bluetooth Low Energy transmission, with dependent refinements specifying common adaptive differential pulse-code modulation compression, filtering constraints for cardiac sound, an approximately 500 Hz ECG sample rate, insertion of command-control data into the common packet, and rolling packet sequence handling to enable host device warning indicia.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications