Digital Pressure Transducer with Authentication Capability

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code which, when executed by a processor of digital pressure transducer for use in a blood pressure monitoring system to measure the blood pressure of a patient and to provide authentication, the blood pressure monitoring system including a measurement site, a tube, and a host device, the tube coupled between the measurement site of the patient and the digital pressure transducer, and the tube containing a fluid for pressure measurement from the measurement site, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:

• performing authentication with the host device;
• converting a digital pressure measurement to a digital blood pressure measurement for the patient, wherein the digital pressure measurement is received from an analog to digital converter (ADC) that converts an analog pressure measurement of a fluid pressure from the fluid of the tube from the measurement site to the digital pressure measurement;
• and
• transmitting the digital blood pressure measurement of the patient to the host device.

A blood pressure monitoring system to measure the blood pressure of a patient from a measuring site and to provide authentication, the blood pressure monitoring system comprising:

• a host device;
• a tube coupled between the measurement site of the patient and a digital pressure transducer, the tube containing a fluid for pressure measurement from the measurement site, wherein the digital pressure transducer includes:
• an analog pressure transducer to measure an analog pressure of a fluid pressure from the fluid of the tube from the measurement site;
• an analog to digital converter (ADC) to convert the analog pressure measurement to a digital pressure measurement;
• an interface to connect to the host device;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• perform authentication with the host device;
• convert the digital pressure measurement to a digital blood pressure measurement for the patient;
• and
• transmit the digital blood pressure measurement of the patient to the host device.

A digital pressure transducer for use in a blood pressure monitoring system to measure the blood pressure of a patient and to provide authentication, the blood pressure monitoring system including a measurement site, a tube, and a host device, the tube coupled between the measurement site of the patient and the digital pressure transducer, and the tube containing a fluid for pressure measurement from the measurement site, the digital pressure transducer comprising:

• an analog pressure transducer to measure an analog pressure of a fluid pressure from the fluid of the tube from the measurement site;
• an analog to digital converter (ADC) to convert the analog pressure measurement to a digital pressure measurement;
• a random number generator;
• a secret key;
• an interface to connect to the host device;
• and
• a processor configured to authenticate the digital pressure transducer to the host device by performing operations including:
• commanding the random number generator to generate a random number upon a request from the host device;
• generating a hash-based message authentication code (HMAC) based upon the random number and the secret key;
• commanding the interface to transmit the HMAC to the host device such that the host device is capable of authenticating the digital pressure transducer;
• converting the digital pressure measurement to a digital blood pressure measurement for the patient;
• and
• transmitting the digital blood pressure measurement of the patient to the host device.