IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,619,782
Granted Patent B2
US 12,619,782 · App. 18/806,263 · Granted May 5, 2026

Systems and methods for computing with private healthcare data

Inventors: Murali Aravamudan (Andover, MA); Karthik Murugadoss (Cambridge, MA); Sankar Ardhanari (Chapel Hill, NC); Ajit Rajasekharan (West Windsor, NJ); Venkataramanan Soundararajan (Andover, MA); Samir Awasthi (Boston, MA); Tyler Wagner (Cambridge, MA); Shamim Naqvi (Morristown, NJ); Akash Anand (Bhagalpur, IN); Rakesh Barve (Bengaluru, IN)
Assignee: nference, Inc.
G06F21/6254G06N20/00G16H10/60
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,619,782
App. No.
18/806,263
Granted
May 5, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Techniques are provided for computing with private healthcare data. The techniques include a de-identification method including receiving a text sequence; providing the text sequence to a plurality of entity tagging models, each of the plurality of entity tagging models being trained to tag one or more portions of the text sequence having a corresponding entity type; tagging one or more entities in the text sequence using the plurality of entity tagging models; and obfuscating each entity among the one or more tagged entities by replacing the entity with a surrogate, the surrogate being selected based on one or more attributes of the entity and maintaining characteristics similar to the entity being replaced.

Claims (46)

1 . A method comprising:

forming a first secure enclave within a first enterprise, wherein the first secure enclave is available to one or more processors for running one or more application computing processes in isolation from one or more unauthorized computing processes running on the one or more processors; and

pre-provisioning software within the first secure enclave, wherein the pre-provisioned software is configured to execute instructions of the one or more application computing processes on the one or more processors by:

receiving input data in an encrypted form;

loading the input data into the first secure enclave;

running one or more programs for analyzing the input data using the first secure enclave;

decrypting the input data using one or more cryptographic keys;

executing the one or more application computing processes based on the decrypted input data to generate output data, wherein executing the one or more application computing processes based on the decrypted input data comprises de-identifying the input data by removing personally identifying information from the input data; and

outputting the de-identified input data to a second enterprise.

2 . A system comprising:

a non-transitory memory; and

one or more hardware processors configured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory that, when executed, cause the one or more hardware processors to perform operations comprising:

forming a first secure enclave within a first enterprise, wherein the first secure enclave is available to one or more processors for running one or more application computing processes in isolation from one or more unauthorized computing processes running on the one or more processors; and

pre-provisioning software within the first secure enclave, wherein the pre-provisioned software is configured to execute instructions of the one or more application computing processes on the one or more processors by:

receiving input data in an encrypted form;

loading the input data into the first secure enclave;

running one or more programs for analyzing the input data using the first secure enclave;

decrypting the input data using one or more cryptographic keys;

executing the one or more application computing processes based on the decrypted input data to generate output data, wherein executing the one or more application computing processes based on the decrypted input data comprises de-identifying the input data by removing personally identifying information from the input data; and

outputting the de-identified input data to a second enterprise.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the one or more application computing processes based on the decrypted input data further comprises processing the input data as a function of specific data requests from the second enterprise.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the one or more processors, from a data provider, the input data; and

receiving, by the one or more processors, from an instruction provider corresponding to an entity other than the data provider, the one or more programs for analyzing the input data.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising providing a decryption key associated with the input data or the instructions of the one or more application computing processes inside the first secure enclave to the data provider or the instruction provider, respectively.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first secure enclave comprises a policy manager, wherein the policy manager is configured to implement a security policy.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-provisioned software is further configured to execute the instructions of the one or more application computing processes on the one or more processors by:

connecting the first secure enclave to a web browser; and

causing contents of the first secure enclave to be displayed as a web page.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein outputting the de-identified input data to the second enterprise comprises outputting the de-identified input data to a second secure enclave of the second enterprise.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein de-identifying input data by removing personally identifying information from the input data comprises replacing the personally identifying information with random data.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a de-identification probability of the de-identified input data.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein outputting the de-identified input data to a second enterprise comprises providing de-identified input data to a secure data layer, wherein the secure data layer is accessible to the second enterprise.

12 . The system of claim 2 , wherein executing the one or more application computing processes based on the decrypted input data further comprises processing the input data as a function of specific data requests from the second enterprise.

13 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the instructions from the non-transitory memory are further configured to cause the one or more hardware processors to perform operations of:

receiving from a data provider, the input data; and

receiving from an instruction provider corresponding to an entity other than the data provider, the one or more programs for analyzing the input data.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the instructions from the non-transitory memory are further configured to cause the one or more hardware processors to perform operations of providing a decryption key associated with the input data or the instructions of the one or more application computing processes inside the first secure enclave to the data provider or the instruction provider, respectively.

15 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the first secure enclave comprises a policy manager, wherein the policy manager is configured to implement a security policy.

16 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the pre-provisioned software is further configured to execute the instructions of the one or more application computing processes on the one or more processors by:

connecting the first secure enclave to a web browser; and

causing contents of the first secure enclave to be displayed as a web page.

17 . The system of claim 2 , wherein outputting the de-identified input data to the second enterprise comprises outputting the de-identified input data to a second secure enclave of the second enterprise.

18 . The system of claim 2 , wherein de-identifying input data by removing personally identifying information from the input data comprises replacing the personally identifying information with random data.

19 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the instructions from the non-transitory memory are further configured to cause the one or more hardware processors to perform operations of determining a de-identification probability of the de-identified input data.

20 . The system of claim 2 , wherein outputting the de-identified input data to a second enterprise comprises providing de-identified input data to a secure data layer, wherein the secure data layer is accessible to the second enterprise.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 29, 2024
From: ARAVAMUDAN, MURALI; MURUGADOSS, KARTHIK; ARDHANARI, SANKAR; RAJASEKHARAN, AJIT; SOUNDARARAJAN, VENKATARAMANAN; AWASTHI, SAMIR; WAGNER, TYLER; NAQVI, SHAMIM; ANAND, AKASH; BARVE, RAKESH
To: NFERENCE, INC.
Reel/Frame 069435/0094 →
Continuity (17)
Continuation 18381873 · Oct 19, 2023
Continuation 17975489 · Oct 27, 2022
Continuation 17192564 · Mar 4, 2021
Continuation In Part 16908520 · Jun 22, 2020
Continuation In Part 18384264 · Oct 26, 2023
Continuation 17935852 · Sep 27, 2022
Continuation 16908520 · Jun 22, 2020
Continuation 17985777 · Nov 11, 2022
Continuation In Part 16905520 · Jun 18, 2020
Provisional Application 63128542 · Dec 21, 2020
Provisional Application 63109769 · Nov 4, 2020
Provisional Application 62865030 · Jun 21, 2019
Provisional Application 62962146 · Jan 16, 2020
Provisional Application 62984989 · Mar 4, 2020
Provisional Application 62985003 · Mar 4, 2020
Provisional Application 63012738 · Apr 20, 2020
Related Publication 20250045458A1 · Feb 6, 2025
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