4163results about How to "Easy to compress" patented technology

End effectors with redundant closing mechanisms, and related tools and methods are disclosed. The disclosed end effectors may be particularly beneficial when used for minimally invasive surgery. An example surgical tool comprises an elongate shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, a tool body disposed at the distal end of the shaft, a jaw movable relative to the tool body between a clamped configuration and an open configuration, a first actuation mechanism coupled with the jaw and operable to vary the position of the jaw relative to the tool body between the clamped configuration and the open configuration, and a second actuation mechanism coupled with the jaw. The second actuation mechanism has a first configuration where the jaw is held in the clamped configuration and a second configuration where the position of the jaw relative to the tool body is unconstrained by the second actuation mechanism.

An apparatus for supporting tissue during compression prior to the insertion of a surgical element into the tissue has a substrate. The substrate is made from a predetermined material. The predetermined material has a thickness and a predetermined stress strain profile. The predetermined stress strain profile is complementary to a stress strain profile of the tissue and permits the substrate to support the tissue when the surgical element is delivered into the tissue. The substrate provides hemostasis control of the tissue when the surgical element is delivered into the tissue.

A data and power transfer system comprising a first system unit which includes a first communication element operable to transfer communication signals and a first connector element operable to transfer electrical power; and a second system unit which includes a second communication element operable to transfer communication signals and a second connector element operable to transfer electrical power, wherein the first communication element and second communication element are operable to transfer data between one another and the first connector element and second connector element are operable to transfer electrical power whilst electrically insulated from one another.

A polyaxial orthopedic device for use with rod implant apparatus includes a screw having a curvate head, a two-piece interlocking coupling element which mounts about the curvate head, and a rod receiving cylindrical body member having a tapered socket into which both the screw and the interlocking coupling element are securely nested. The interlocking coupling element includes a socket portion which is slotted and tapered so that when it is radially compressed by being driven downwardly into the tapered socket in the cylindrical body it crush locks to the screw. The securing of the rod in the body member provides the necessary downward force onto the socket portion through a contact force on the top of the cap portion. Prior to the rod being inserted, therefore, the screw head remains polyaxially free with respect to the coupling element and the body. In a preferred embodiment, the cap portion and the socket portion are formed and coupled in such a way that when the cap portion is compressed toward the socket portion, there is an additional inward radial force applied by the cap portion to the socket portion, thereby enhancing the total locking force onto the head of the screw.

An impeller according to an example of the present invention comprises a hub, and at least one blade supported by the hub. The impeller has a deployed configuration in which the blade extends away from the hub, and a stored configuration in which the impeller is radially compressed, for example by folding the blade towards the hub. The impeller may comprise a plurality of blades, arranged in blade rows, to facilitate radial compression of the blades. The outer edge of a blade may have a winglet, and the base of the blade may have an associated indentation to facilitate folding of the blade.

Various forms of surgical instruments are disclosed. In various embodiments, the instrument includes a cartridge supporting assembly for operably supporting a staple cartridge therein. The cartridge supporting assembly may be responsive to firing and retraction motions applied thereto from a firing assembly. An anvil may be operably coupled to an anvil closure assembly. The anvil closure assembly may be constructed to selectively move the anvil in a proximal direction toward the cartridge supporting assembly to enable a portion of tissue to be clamped between a cartridge supported by the cartridge supporting assembly and the anvil under a predetermined amount of compression. The device may further include a closure actuator that operably interacts with the anvil closure assembly such that as the closure actuator is moved in a first direction, the anvil closure assembly causes the anvil to move in the proximal direction to increase the compression of the tissue between the staple cartridge and the anvil. A variable load generating member may cooperate with the anvil closure assembly and the closure actuator to apply a resistive load to the closure actuator in relation to an amount of compression applied to the tissue between the anvil and the staple cartridge.

A personal biometric key system uses a personal identity code transmitted to a universal biometric electronic lock via a communication system and using a clock or GPS chip and allows a person to select one or more personal biometric methods and to be personally responsible for the maintenance of the sensor and its availability. The selection can be tailored to the particular needs and circumstances of the person using the key. The person can also change the personal biometric sensor when needs and circumstances change. The organization being accessed by the key can set minimum levels for what type sensor data they will accept and for level of services they will provide for a given type sensor.

A locking screw assembly is provided which allows installation into a plate-like member using relatively little force, but which requires relatively great force for removal. The fastener has an annular locking ring provided within a groove in the head of the screw to allow the screw to sit within or flush with the anterior surface of the plate. The through-hole in the plate which receives the locking screw comprises an entrance, a collar section, an undercut, and an exit. The locking ring resides within the undercut. The locking ring has a leading surface that is chamfered or radiused and a trailing surface that is flat. The chamfer allows the locking ring to easily be inserted into the through-hole by interacting with a lead chamfer in the entrance. After installation, the flat trailing surface abuts a lip adjoining the collar section and the undercut and prevents the screw from being easily removed from the through-hole.

A balloon for use in compressing cancellous bone and marrow (also known as medullary bone or trabecular bone). The balloon comprises an inflatable balloon body for insertion into said bone. The body has a shape and size to compress at least a portion of the cancellous bone to form a cavity in the cancellous bone and / or to restore the original position of the outer cortical bone, if fractured or collapsed. The balloon desirably incorporates restraints which inhibit the balloon from applying excessive pressure to various regions of the cortical bone. The wall or walls of the balloon are such that proper inflation of the balloon body is achieved to provide for optimum compression of the bone marrow. The balloon can be inserted quickly into a bone. The balloon can be made to have a suction catheter. The balloon can be used to form and / or enlarge a cavity or passage in a bone, especially in, but not limited to, vertebral bodies. Various additional embodiments facilitate directionally biasing the inflation of the balloon.

In accordance with the present invention, structural and other composite materials have been developed which have superior performance properties, including high compressive strength, high tensile strength, high shear strength, and high strength-to-weight ratio, and methods for preparing same. Invention materials have the added benefits of ease of manufacture, and are inexpensive to manufacture. The superior performance properties of invention materials render such materials suitable for a wide variety of end uses. For example, a variety of substances can be applied to invention materials without melting, dissolving or degrading the basic structure thereof. This facilitates bonding invention materials to virtually any surface or substrate. Moreover, the bond between invention materials and a variety of substrates is exceptionally strong, rendering the resulting bonded article suitable for use in a variety of demanding applications. Invention materials can be manufactured in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, densities, in multiple layers, and the like; and the performance properties thereof can be evaluated in a variety of ways.

This invention is a system for the treatment of body passageways; in particular, vessels with vascular disease. The system includes an endovascular graft with a low-profile delivery configuration and a deployed configuration in which it conforms to the morphology of the vessel or body passageway to be treated as well as various connector members and stents. The graft is made from an inflatable graft body section and may be bifurcated. One or more inflatable cuffs may be disposed at either end of the graft body section. At least one inflatable channel is disposed between and in fluid communication with the inflatable cuffs.

The present invention provides a temperature control unit for an electrostatic adsorption electrode that is capable of controlling the wafer temperature rapidly over a wide temperature range without affecting in-plane uniformity while high heat input etching is conducted with high wafer bias power applied. A refrigerant flow path provided in the electrostatic adsorption electrode serves as an evaporator. The refrigerant flow path is connected to a compressor, a condenser, and a first expansion valve to form a direct expansion type refrigeration cycle. A second expansion valve is installed between the electrostatic adsorption electrode and the compressor to adjust the flow rate of a refrigerant. This makes it possible to compress the refrigerant in the refrigerant flow path of the electrostatic adsorption electrode and adjust the wafer temperature to a high level by raising the refrigerant evaporation temperature. Further, a thin-walled cylindrical refrigerant flow path is employed so that the thin-walled cylinder is deformed only slightly by the refrigerant pressure.

Systems and methods of storing previously transmitted data and using it to reduce bandwidth usage and accelerate future communications are described. By using algorithms to identify long compression history matches, a network device may improve compression efficiently and speed. A network device may also use application specific parsing to improve the length and number of compression history matches. Further, by sharing compression histories, compression history indexes and caches across multiple devices, devices can utilize data previously transmitted to other devices to compress network traffic. Any combination of the systems and methods may be used to efficiently find long matches to stored data, synchronize the storage of previously sent data, and share previously sent data among one or more other devices.

Disclosed is a system for the treatment of cerebral aneurysms using a stent and a aneurysm pocket fill structure delivery system. One embodiment of the present invention uses a highly radiopaque, drug eluting stent that is deployed with its sidewall over the ostium of the aneurysm pocket. A fill structure delivery catheter is then advanced through the patient's vascular system until the catheter's distal end is situated within the aneurysm pocket. Compressed aneurysm pocket filling structures are then pushed through the fill structure delivery catheter. As the aneurysm pocket filling structures emerge from an opening in the catheter's distal end, they promptly expand so that their minimum dimension is sufficiently large so that they cannot pass through the spaces between the struts of the stent that cover the ostium of the aneurysm pocket.

A bone plate has an upper surface, a lower surface, and at least one first hole extending through the upper and lower surfaces. The first hole has two or three vertically separate regions, each region communicating with or abutting the adjacent region. The first hole has a first upper region, which is unthreaded and which, from the plate's upper surface to the plate's lower surface, has a curved inward taper. The first hole has a second middle region, which is threaded and which, from the plate's upper surface to the plate's lower surface, has a conical inward taper. The first hole has a third lower region, which is unthreaded and which, from the plate's upper surface to the plate's lower surface, has a conical outward taper. The bone plate is straight, curved, or both straight and curved. The bone plate may have at least one second hole, different from the first hole. The second hole is an elongated hole, which has a compression ramp or which has a threaded portion through part of its perimeter and a non-threaded portion through the other part of its perimeter.

An impeller according to an example of the present invention comprises a hub, and at least one blade supported by the hub. The impeller has a deployed configuration in which the blade extends away from the hub, and a stored configuration in which the impeller is radially compressed, for example by folding the blade towards the hub. The impeller may comprise a plurality of blades, arranged in blade rows, to facilitate radial compression of the blades. The outer edge of a blade may have a winglet, and the base of the blade may have an associated indentation to facilitate folding of the blade.

A femoral intramedullary rod system capable of treating a variety of femoral bone fractures using a uniform intramedullary rod design. The system generally comprising an intramedullary rod defining an opening having an upper surface and a transverse member including a bone engaging portion and a connection portion defining a thru-hole with the nail sized to pass therethrough. A pin is selectively coupled to the transverse member to rigidly assemble the transverse member to the nail when the nail is passed through the thru-hole and the pin is received within the opening. In an alternative design, an epiphyseal stabilizer is joined to the nail by a locking member.

The invention relates to pre-processing of a pronunciation dictionary for compression in a data processing device, the pronunciation dictionary comprising at least one entry, the entry comprising a sequence of character units and a sequence of phoneme units. According to one aspect of the invention the sequence of character units and the sequence of phoneme units are aligned using a statistical algorithm. The aligned sequence of character units and aligned sequence of phoneme units are interleaved by inserting each phoneme unit at a predetermined location relative to the corresponding character unit.

A collapsible gastrointestinal anchor can be characterized in various embodiments by a radial force of about 0.1 Newtons (N) or greater at a compressed diameter of 25 millimeters (mm); by an average spring rate of about 13 Newtons / meter (N / m) or greater in a range of motion between a relaxed diameter and a compressive elastic deformation diameter; or by a radial force over the range of motion of about 0.1 N or greater. Typically, the anchor can be adapted to be retained within a subject's intestine, more typically in the duodenum, or particularly in the duodenal bulb just distal to the pylorus. A gastrointestinal implant device includes the collapsible gastrointestinal anchor and a floppy sleeve. The sleeve is open at both ends and adapted to extend into a subject's intestine, the anchor being coupled to a proximal portion of the sleeve. Also include are methods of implanting the gastrointestinal implant device in a subject, and methods of treating a subject for disease. The disclosed gastrointestinal invention leads to an improved ability to secure anchors and devices in the gastrointestinal tract while tending to minimize migration.

The invention relates to pre-processing of a pronunciation dictionary for compression in a data processing device, the pronunciation dictionary comprising at least one entry, the entry comprising a sequence of character units and a sequence of phoneme units. According to one aspect of the invention the sequence of character units and the sequence of phoneme units are aligned using a statistical algorithm. The aligned sequence of character units and aligned sequence of phoneme units are interleaved by inserting each phoneme unit at a predetermined location relative to the corresponding character unit.

PCT No. PCT / EP96 / 01272 Sec. 371 Date Nov. 21, 1997 Sec. 102(e) Date Nov. 21, 1997 PCT Filed Mar. 22, 1996 PCT Pub. No. WO96 / 29679 PCT Pub. Date Sep. 26, 1996The present invention concerns improved motion estimation in signal records. A method for estimating motion between one reference image and each frame in a sequence of frames, each frame consisting of a plurality of samples of an input signal comprises the steps of: transforming the estimated motion fields into a motion matrix, wherein each row corresponds to one frame, and each row contains each component of motion vector for each element of the reference image; performing a Principal Component Analysis of the motion matrix, thereby obtaining a motion score matrix consisting of a plurality of column vectors called motion score vectors and a motion loading matrix consisting of a plurality of row vectors called motion loading vectors, such that each motion score vector corresponds to one element for each frame, such that each element of each motion loading vector corresponds to one element of the reference image, such that one column of said motion score matrix and one motion loading vector together constitute a factor, and such that the number of factors is lower than or equal to the number of said frames; wherein the results from the Principal Component Analysis on the motion matrix are used to influence further estimation of motion from the reference image to one or more of the frames.

Embodiments of the invention relate to electrophysiology catheters and methods of using the same. According to one embodiment, the catheter includes a braided conductive member at its distal end that can be radially expanded, for example using a mandrel slidably disposed within a shaft of the catheter. According to another embodiment, the catheter comprises a tip portion constructed of an elastomeric material. According to a further embodiment, the catheter includes a braided conductive member wherein a thermocouple is formed using one filament of the braided conductive member and one thermocouple wire. Other embodiments of the invention relate to a handle for use with a catheter and methods of using the same. According to one embodiment, the handle comprises a thumbwheel coupled to a housing, a spring disposed within the housing in contact with the thumbwheel, and means for increasing compression of the spring to increase rotational friction on the thumbwheel.

Apparatus is provided for use with a native valve of a heart of a subject. The apparatus includes: (1) an annular upstream support portion, comprising an expandable first frame, the upstream support portion configured to be placed against an upstream surface of the native valve; (2) a flexible polyester connector; and (3) an anchoring element, flexibly coupled to the upstream support portion by the connector, and configured to anchor the upstream support portion to the native valve by engaging tissue of the native valve.

This invention provides a method of combining two standard video streams, into one standard video stream, in such a way that it can be encoded efficiently, and that it can enhance the TV viewing experience by presenting Stereoscopic 3D imagery, dual-view display capability, panoramic viewing, and user interactive “pan-and-scan”. The video standards for High Definition Video are used, which are governed by the ATSC and SMPTE standards bodies. Having a dual stream of standard video, which occupies now a single stream of standard video, provides a means to use the standard installed base of equipment for recording, transmission, playback and display.

Systems and methods of storing previously transmitted data and using it to reduce bandwidth usage and accelerate future communications are described. By using algorithms to identify long compression history matches, a network device may improve compression efficiently and speed. A network device may also use application specific parsing to improve the length and number of compression history matches. Further, by sharing compression histories and compression history indexes across multiple devices, devices can utilize data previously transmitted to other devices to compress network traffic. Any combination of the systems and methods may be used to efficiently find long matches to stored data, synchronize the storage of previously sent data, and share previously sent data among one or more other devices.

A method for motion estimation within biological tissue is disclosed. The method involves acoustically coupling a transducer to a target biological tissue, which transducer emits an ultrasonic signal and collects the energy back-scattered by the target issue. A first set of energy data is collected and stored, then target tissue is axially compressed and a second set of ultrasonic energy data is collected and stored. One of the first and second data sets is warped to account for the anticipated compression forming a warped data set. This warped data set is cross-correlated with the unwarped one of the first and said second data sets to obtain a fine scale displacement of said target biological tissue from the displacement estimated by the warping. This fine scale displacement is summed with the warped data set to obtain a total axial displacement. A gradient of the total axial displacement is taken and used to form a strain image. An apparatus for practicing this method is also disclosed.

In an image encoding / decoding device of the present invention, the prediction direction in a target block, i.e., a block which becomes the target of the intra-frame prediction processing, is estimated by taking advantage of pre-encoded blocks which are adjacent to the target block. First, as edge information on decoded images on the adjacent blocks, intensities and angles of the edges are calculated. Next, of the degrees of likelihood calculated with respect to each prediction direction by taking advantage of this edge information and, e.g., a neural network, the prediction direction whose degree of likelihood is the highest is employed as the prediction direction in the target block. Also, a variable-length code table is dynamically created based on the estimated result, which allows a significant reduction in the prediction-direction representing code amount.

A novel RF buffer circuit adapted for use with an RF switch circuit and method for switching RF signals is described. The RF switch circuit is fabricated in a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. The RF switch includes pairs of switching and shunting transistor groupings used to alternatively couple RF input signals to a common RF node. The switching and shunting transistor grouping pairs are controlled by a switching control voltage (SW) and its inverse (SW_). The switching and shunting transistor groupings comprise one or more MOSFET transistors connected together in a “stacked” or serial configuration. The stacking of transistor grouping devices, and associated gate resistors, increase the breakdown voltage across the series connected switch transistors and operate to improve RF switch compression. A fully integrated RF switch is described including digital control logic and a negative voltage generator integrated together with the RF switch elements. In one embodiment, the fully integrated RF switch includes a built-in oscillator, a charge pump circuit, CMOS logic circuitry, level-shifting and voltage divider circuits, and an RF buffer circuit. Several embodiments of the charge pump, level shifting, voltage divider, and RF buffer circuits are described. The inventive RF switch provides improvements in insertion loss, switch isolation, and switch compression.

A bone plate has an upper surface, a lower surface, and at least one first hole extending through the upper and lower surfaces. The first hole has two or three vertically separate regions, each region communicating with or abutting an adjacent region. The first hole has a first unthreaded upper region, which has a curved inward taper from the plate's upper surface toward the plate's lower surface. The first hole has a second threaded middle region, which has a conical inward taper from the plate's upper surface toward the plate's lower surface. A third unthreaded lower region has a conical outward taper from the plate's upper surface toward the plate's lower surface. The bone plate may be straight, curved, or include a combination of both straight and curved segments.