MEDICAL INFORMATION TRANSPONDER IMPLANT

IMPLANT TRANSPONDEUR TRANSMETTANT DES DONNEES MEDICALES

English Abstract

A passive electrical transponder (20) may be encoded with a
code corresponding to medical information, and the transponder
(20) directly transplanted in a patient's underarm area (22). The
information may then be accessed with an electromagnetic hand
held reader (26) which is brought into proximity of the
transponder (20). The medical information may itself be directly
encoded into the transponder (20), or a code used which is then
keyed to a corresponding data entry in a data bank (30)
accessible over telecommunication lines (32). With this
invention medical information may be reliably recorded,
maintained, and accessed with minimal patient involvment in
order to achieve a high degree of reliability and accuracy.

French Abstract

Un transpondeur (20) électrique passif peut être codé avec un code correspondant à des informations médicales, et peut être directement transplanté dans la région de l'aisselle (22) d'un patient. On peut ensuite accéder aux informations à l'aide d'un lecteur (26) à main électromagnétique qui est amené à proximité du transpondeur (20). Les informations médicales peuvent être codées directement dans le transpondeur (20) ou bien celui-ci peut contenir un code constituant une clé d'accès à un groupe de données correspondant dans une banque de données (30) accessible par les lignes de télécommunications (32). Grâce à cette invention, on peut enregistrer, tenir à jour et consulter de manière fiable, des informations médicales, en impliquant au minimum le patient, afin d'obtenir une grande fiabilité et une précision élevée.

Claims

7
What Is Claimed Is:
1. A medical information storage system for humans,
said device comprising an implantable transponder, a remote
data base, and an electromagnetic reader, said transponder
having means for being encoded with a unique code for
accessing a corresponding entry in the remote data base and
being adapted for noninvasive retrieval of said code by the
electromagnetic reader, the remote database containing
medical information that relates to a particular human
associated with the unique code ands that may be updated or
altered to maintain the medical information relating to
said human, said electromagnetic reader providing retrieval
of said code following the implantation of said transponder
into the human to thereby provide access to said medical
information in said remote database, characterized in that
said transponder is uncoded and embedded in a human and in
that said electromagnetic reader has means for encoding
said transponder with the unique code.
2. A system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said
transponder is passive and thereby does not include a
source of electrical power.
3. A system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said
transponder is a cylinder approximately 2 mm in diameter
and approximately 11 mm in length.
4. A system as claimed in Claim 3, wherein said
transponder is adapted for implantation under said human's
underarm.
5. A system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said code
is a 64 bit binary number.
6. A medical information storage device for humans,
said device comprising an electromagnetic, passive
transponder implanted in a human, said transponder being
unencoded but having means for being encoded with a code,
said code corresponding to a data entry in a remote data
bank, said data entry comprising said medical information,
and an electromagnetic reader adapted to non-invasively
program said code into said transponder while said

8
transponder is implanted in the human and to non-invasively
read said code from said transponder.
7. The device of Claim 6 wherein said
electromagnetic reader comprises a hand held reader.
8. The device of Claim 7 wherein said transponder is
a cylinder approximately 2 mm in diameter and approximately
11 mm in length.

Description

WO 94/06105 ~ ~~ PCT/US93/07386
MEDICAL INFORMATION TRANSPONDER IMPLANT
Background and Summary of the Invention
Over the years, there hav~a been many devices
proposed for use in recording anf, associating medical
information with an individual. Most commonly, this
medical information includes the basic information neces-
sary for emergency treatment such as blood type, allergic
drug reactions, closest relative, any on-going medica-
tions, and other similar kinds of data. In the prior
art, various kinds of fill-in-the:-blank cards, tags,
labels and the like are available: for use. These may
stored in a wallet, worn as a bracelet or necklace, asso-
ciated with a shoe or other article of clothing, or oth-
erwise associated or attached to an individual. These
prior art devices have met with limited success, for
various reasons.
One drawback encountered 'with these prior art
devices is the limited amount of information which may be
conveniently recorded and carried. Secondly, the infor-
mation is typically recorded by t:he individual himself
and is therefore subject to mistake and/or error due to
the fact that the individual is rarely medically trained.

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WO 94/06105 PCT/US93/0738c
2
Therefore, the medical information must first be obtained
from a doctor or other trained medical personnel and
errors may develop through merely communicating this
information to the individual. F'o~~the same reason, not
all of the more pertinent information may be recorded as
it may not be known or appreciated by the individual.
Similarly, updating the information occurs only haphaz-
ardly, subject to the whim of the. individual. There may
also be problems encountered in retrieving this informa-
tion at the time of its need. Th.e location of the data
must first be ascertained, and then the data correctly
read from the card or other means used to record the
data. Unhappily, an individual's own handwriting may be
sufficiently bad to prevent the reading of data even
after location of the data card. Additionally, the data
entry on the card may have been obliterated or otherwise
obscured. All of these difficulties represent drawbacks
in the various approaches in the prior art which have
limited the widespread adoption and use of these prior
art devices.
The inventors herein are also aware of a passive
electrical transponder which has been used in the prior
art to mark or identify inventory items and even live-
stock with an identifying number or code for inventory
purposes. The passive electrical transponder is quite
small, generally comprising a cylinder 2 mm in diameter
by il mm in length, and its code may be conveniently read
by an electromagnetic hand held reader. In operation,
the hand held reader is brought into proximity of the
transponder and emits a low frequency magnetic field to
activate the passive transponder and thereby cause it to
transmit its encoded data to the reader. With this par-
ticular commercial device, no bataery or other source of
electrical power is included in t:he passive transponder
which helps contribute to its small size. One of the
patents which have issued which describes these commer-

~~O 94106105- 2 1 ~ 2 9 9 3 PCf/US93/07386
3
cially available passive transponcters and hand held read-
ers is U.S. Patent 5,041,826. In this patent, the patentee
suggests that the primary object of the device is for
identifying an object, animal or person. However, the
inventors herein are not aware of any usage presently
made of this device for identifying humans. Furthermore,
this device is presently used to nnerely identify an ob-
~ect or the like for inventory purposes, and such appli-
cation would not seem to be particularly adaptable for
use with humans as much less intrusive and convenient
means are already available for such purposes, including
driver's licenses, and other forma of "identification".
In a novel and unique approach, the inventors
herein have succeeded in conceiving of the use of the
passive transponder for direct implantation in a human
with the transponder being encoded to correspond to ap-
propriate medical information in one of several ways. In
practice, the passive transponder would be encoded and
would then be implanted directly auto a human in a conve-
niently accessible location, such as under the arm in the
armpit. Because of its small size, it would be unobtru-
sive and barely even noticeable to the patient. At the
same time, the transponder could 1be encoded in one of
several ways to provide ready and complete access to a
wide variety of medical information. Furthermore, the
medical information will have been verified and stored by
trained medical professionals such that its accuracy can
be relied upon even in emergency situations.
With presently commercial7.y available devices, the
transponder may be encoded with up to sixty-four binary
bits of data. This memory size is expected to be in-
creased as the passive transponder is further developed
and improved over time. With this memory size, much
information could be directly encoded and stored in the
transponder itself. With at least one commercial device,

214~9~3
WO 94/06105 ;-, " ' PCT/US93/0738(
4
there are three different ways to encode information into
the transponder. The first of these is to encode the
information at the time that the chip is manufactured.
Ordinarily, if encoding is perfo~:~med at this time, then a
unique number would be encoded into the transponder and
it could then be used to access data stored in a data
bank, as explained more completely herein. Secondly, the
memory chip may be encoded after manufacture, but prior
to sealing the chip into the transponder envelope. If
the chip were to be encoded at this stage, then custom
encoding could be achieved which could be medical infor-
mation associated with any particular patient. Thirdly,
the chip could be manufactured and sealed in the tran-
sponder envelope without encoding, and perhaps even im-
planted in the patient. Encoding could then take place
through a read/write operation with the electromagnetic
reader as described herein. If encoded in this manner,
custom encoding could be utilized to directly encode the
transponder with medical information corresponding to the
particular patient. With any of the three methods for
encoding the transponder, a unique identifier may be
utilized and the identifier used to access data in a
remote data bank.
The encoded information contained in the passive
transponder could be used to access a data bank which
would be immediately available, for example over tele-
phone lines, such that trained medical personnel could
readily obtain the medical information on an emergency
basis. With the remote data bank option, the amount of
data which may be stored is virtually unlimited, the data
bank may be updated or changed as the patient's informa-
tion changed, and all of this data entry, alteration, and
accessing would be handled by trained personnel in order
to provide reliable medical data. for the safety and bene-
fit of the patient, as well as for reduced legal liabili
ty. As is well known, there may be tremendous legal

WO 94/06105 214 2 ~~ ~ ~ pCT/US93/07386
liability which could result from reliance on inaccurate
data. This inaccurate data could result in any one of
the many ways discussed above in connection with the
prior art attempts to solve this problem. With the pres-
s ent invention the legal liability would be effectively
minimized and could also be isolated and controlled for
insurance purposes with those who are trained and skilled
in handling this kind of data. W~.th these advantages, it
is expected that many medical personnel will welcome the
adoption and implementation of ths; present invention.
While the principal advantages and features of the
present invention have been descr3.bed above, a more com-
plete and thorough understanding of the invention may be
attained by referring to the drawj.ng and description of
the preferred embodiment which fo7.low. '
Brief Description of the Drawing
The drawing is a perspective view of a passive
transponder implanted in the underarm of a patient with a
reader juxtaposed for reading its encoded data.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment
As shown in the drawing, a passive transponder 20
may be conveniently implanted ~usi: beneath the skin and
the underarm area 22 of a patient 24. A hand held elec-
tromagnetic reader 26 may be brought into close proximity
of the passive transponder 20 and its encoded information
read thereby in a non-invasive manner. Similarly, the
electromagnetic reader 26 may be used in a read/write
mode to directly encode the transponder 20. Alternately,
the memory chip (not shown because of its relatively
smaller size) contained in the transponder 20 may be
encoded at the time of manufacture or prior to its being
sealed in the transponder 20. A decoder controller 28
may be used to display the encoded information and also,
decoder controller 28 may be used to access a data bank
30 over a telecommunication line :32.

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WO 94/06105 ' PCT/US93/0738~.
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With presently available commercial devices, the
passive transponder 20 may be encoded with up to sixty-
four binary bits of data for the direct encoding and
reading therefrom of medical information including blood
type, allergic reactions, on-going medication, and such
other information as might be nes:ded or desirable. In a
second mode of implementation, the encoded information
contained within the passive transponder 20 may instead
be used to access data bank 30 over telecommunication
lines 32 in order to obtain the same, or even a much
larger amount of information relating to the particular
patient 24. With this second mocte of implementation, the
data entries contained in data bank 30 may be convenient-
ly altered, updated, or otherwise: modified by trained
medical personnel to maintain the; information current
with respect to the particular patient 24 as time passes.
The accuracy and reliability of t:he data, whether encoded
directly in passive transponder ::0 or stored in data bank
30, is expected to be virtually i:lawless in view of the
fact that only trained personnel will be entering data as
opposed to relying on individual patients determining and
entering their own data on personal ID cards or other
prior art devices as are present7~~y in use.
There are various changes and modifications which
may be made to the invention as would be apparent to
those skilled in the art. Howevs:r, these changes or
modifications are included in thE: teaching of the disclo-
sure, and it is intended that the: invention be limited
only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Representative Drawing