4183results about How to "Avoid introducing" patented technology

A self contained, compact, long term, ambulatory physiological recorder is designed for mounting directly to the body of a patient, immediately adjacent to the organ or system that is to be monitored, and is adhesively and covertly held there in place and comfortably under clothing by the very transducer, skin electrodes that detect the physiological information to be recorded, and thereby increasing continuity and decreasing artifact by obviating the need for numerous and cumbersome, hanging electrode leads as well as unsightly and cumbersome recorder pouches suspended from shoulder straps or belts.

The present invention provides microfluidic devices, systems and methods for using the same, which facilitate the introduction of fluid to and from a microfluidic channel located within the microfluidic devices.

Filtering of optical fibers and other related devices. High-energy methods for depositing thin films directly onto the ends of optical fibers can be used to produce high-quality, high-performance filters in quantity at a reasonable cost. These high-quality filters provide the high performance needed for many demanding applications and often eliminate the need for filters applied to wafers or expanded-beam filtering techniques. Having high-quality filters applied directly to optical fiber and faces permits production of high-performance, micro-sized devices that incorporate optical filters. Devices in which these filters may be used include spectroscopic applications including those using fiber optic probes, wavelength division multiplexing, telecommunications, general fiber optic sensor usage, photonic computing, photonic amplifiers, pump blocking and a variety of laser devices.

Methods and apparatus for use in a wellbore to meter and choke certain components from being produced, based upon their density relative to the density of oil are disclosed. The device includes an inner tubular body portion having apertures in the wall thereof for passing oil, an outer tubular body and at least one metering orifice therebetween to meter production. Disposed around the inner body is an axially movable member to selectively cover and expose the apertures of the inner body, thereby permitting fluid to flow therethrough.

An ocular implant for treating glaucoma is provided, which may include any number of features. More particularly, the present invention relates to implants that facilitate the transfer of fluid from within one area of the eye to another area of the eye. One feature of the implant is that it includes a proximal inlet portion and a distal inlet portion adapted to be inserted into the anterior chamber of the eye, and an intermediate portion adapted to be inserted into Schlemm's canal. Another feature of the implant is that it can be biased to assume a predetermined shape to aid in placement within the eye.

Systems and methods for determining surgical system settings during a surgical procedure are disclosed. The surgical systems comprise of a control system, a means for tissue removal, sensing capabilities and machine learning application(s). The sensing capabilities and machine learning application(s) are configured to determine type and/or properties of the removed tissue and to predict preferred surgical settings for optimized removal and surgical outcomes. The learning machine application(s) communicates these preferred settings to a surgical control system.

Block-based image processing methods and apparatus that provide a reduction in block-transform image coding artifacts are described. In various embodiments, the invention is directly incorporated into a decoding process. In such embodiments, transform coefficients are modified in simple but particularly effective ways that reduce or eliminate many of the artifacts that were caused by the quantization of the transform coefficients during encoding and/or by independent block processing during encoding. In other embodiments, the invention is used on an image that has already been decoded. In such embodiments image data values are directly modified in a block-based fashion or a forward block transform is applied and then the methods of the invention for processing transform coefficient blocks are used, followed by an inverse transform operation to generate pixel values from the resulting processed transform coefficient blocks.

The process for streaming media data in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network includes the step of submitting a request through the P2P network to play a time segment of a media file. A local computer is connected through the P2P network to a streaming computer having the desired time segment. Thereafter, an initial data byte is located in the time segment via a conversion table associated with the media file. The time segment is streamed from the streaming computer to the local computer starting with the initial data byte. The time segment is stored on the local computer for playback through a corresponding media player.

A school, home or commercial desk that can be used for traditional tasks and yet provides readily available access to computer equipment. The computer in a desk (10) is comprised of a desk body (24) that houses the internal components of a standard computer; a desk top (12) that houses the flat panel screen (18) beneath a view panel (20) that is mounted flush with the surface of the desk top (12); a keyboard tray (14) that holds the standard computer keyboard; and a support system of four adjustable legs (42). The desk top (12), keyboard tray (14), and legs (42) are all adjustble to suit the users specific ergonomic needs. The desk body (24) consists of a front panel (28), back panel (30), right side panel (32),and left side panel (34), bottom panel (36), and top panel (38) that give the computer in a desk (10) its shape, support and access to available, installed computer components. Furthermore, the computer in a desk (10) can be used for traditional and computer related tasks regardless of the user adjusted.

A device for degassing gas bubbles out of a liquid comprises a housing having a liquid inlet, a liquid outlet and a gas bubble outlet. The housing includes a spiral wall defining a spiral flow path for the liquid and a hydrophobic membrane above the spiral wall and between the spiral wall and the gas bubble outlet. The spiral wall forces inward liquid entering the housing through the inlet into a spiral flow along the spiral flow path, and causes an upward flow of the gas bubbles toward the hydrophobic membrane. A method for degassing gas bubbles out of a liquid, e.g., blood, e.g., during hemodialysis, hemofiltration and hemodiafiltration, and use of such a degassing device in an extracorporeal circuit for degassing gas bubbles out of liquid, e.g., blood, e.g., during hemodialysis, hemofiltration and hemodiafiltration, are disclosed.

A system for measuring a metabolic parameter. The system includes an integrated airway adapter capable of monitoring any combination of respiratory flow, O₂ concentration, and concentrations of one or more of CO₂, N₂O, and an anesthetic agent in real time, breath by breath. Respiratory flow may be monitored with differential pressure flow meters under diverse inlet conditions through improved sensor configurations which minimize phase lag and dead space within the airway. Molecular oxygen concentration may be monitored by way of luminescence quenching techniques. Infrared absorption techniques may be used to monitor one or more of CO₂, N₂O, and anesthetic agents.

A content recommender based on collaborative filtering and implicit user feedbacks comprising retrieving a social graph split into a user and the user's relationship network in order to obtain a social aware model of the user's preferences based on preferences of the users belonging to the user's relationship network, minimizing the objective function for all the response values of the whole user-item matrix, the response values meaning implicit and explicit feedback data, providing a list of content recommendations obtained by a score function computed using the social aware model.

A patch plug is provided that has a coating continuous over both the patch and plug portions, providing a strong and continuous seal to prevent seal failure and water and air introduction. The patch and plug portions may be formed separately, each with a coating element, and fused together in a press which bonds the coatings of the patch and plug portions together to form a single, continuous coating. Means known in the art, for example rubber cement, can also be employed to further ensure a firm seal between the patch plug and the tire. Methods of manufacturing and using the patch plug are also taught herein.

In a control method and a system for the automatic pre-processing of device malfunctions, first data about a device malfunction are sent to a central control device by means of first terminal equipment. On the basis of the first data and on the basis of stored second data, the central control device automatically selects a group of second terminal equipment that are allocated to various service technicians. A malfunction incident signal and at least a part of the data are then sent to the selected terminal equipment and output thereat. The terminal equipment respectively acquires preliminary diagnosis data relating to the malfunction and availability data from the respective service technician. These data are communicated to the central control device, which automatically evaluates the existing data, selects a specific second terminal equipment from the group and communicates an assignment signal to the selected second terminal equipment.

Apparatus and methods are provided to minimize waste and improve quality and production in web processing operations. The apparatus and methods provide defect detection both before and after application of component patches to a traveling web to create a product. Web defect detection may be provided by way of at least one visual inspection station located upstream from the patch applicator. Patch defect detection may be accomplished by way of a visual inspection station located proximate the patch applicator. If defects are detected in either the traveling web or the component patch prior to patch application, patch application may be prevented until both a satisfactory web and patch are provided. If defects are detected after patch application, the resulting product may be culled. Furthermore, the apparatus may be provided with diagnostic software to warn against extant or imminent machine complications.

The invention comprises a method for measuring the relative thickness of the lipid layer component of the precorneal tear film on the surface of an eye after distribution of the lipid layer subsequent to blinking. Light is directed to the lipid layer of a patient's eye with an illuminator. The illuminator is a broad spectrum light source covering the visible region and is a lambertion light emitter such that the light source is specularly reflected from the lipid layer and undergoes constructive and destructive interference in the lipid layer. The specularly reflected light is collected and focused using a collector such that the interference patterns on the tear film lipid layer are observable. The collector also produces an output signal representative of the specularly reflected light which is suitable for further analysis, such as projection on to a high resolution video monitor or analysis by or storage in a computer. In order to facilitate ease of measurement, the patient's head may be positioned on an observation platform when the illuminator directs light to the lipid layer of the patient's eye.

The invention relates to the field of biology, and discloses a serum-free culture medium which essentially comprises an IMDM (Iscove Modified Dulbecco Medium), L-glutamine, sodium bicarbonate, Hepes, recombinant human insulin, recombinant human transferrin, recombinant human albumin, 2-mercaptoethanol, protocatechuic acid, lipid, amino acid, vitamins, trace elements, Pluronic F-68, hydrocortisone, vitamin C, bonding amine or recombinant human fibronectin, progesterone, putrescine, heparin, serotonin, epidermal growth factors (EGFs), b-fibroblast growth factors (FGF), platelet derive growth factor (PDGF)-BB and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I. The serum-free culture medium is clear in chemical components, free from animal sources and serum and safe and ideal in cell cultivation and avoids the doped animal components and unstable batches, and the results of the cultured mesenchymal stem cells show that the total cellular score, the cell phenotype and the secretory cell factors are normal, so that the serum-free culture medium has good industrial application prospect.