2528results about How to "Improve precision" patented technology

A surgical manipulator (10) can manipulate a medical tool (12) with one or more degrees of freedom. In preferred embodiments, the manipulator (10) is a parallel mechanism including a plurality of arms (21, 22) pivotally supporting a medical tool (12), with the orientation of the medical tool (12) being adjusted by varying the position of joints (23, 24) mounted on the arms (21, 22). The motions of the joints (23, 24) can be controlled such that the tool (12) is pivoted about a virtual pivot point located within the body wall of a patient (30). The manipulator (10) can enhance the dexterity of an operator and enable the operator to perform medical procedures more easily than by hand.

A device (1) for treatments of endoscopic resection/removal of tissues, includes: a handpiece apt to be held by an user; an external tubular element (3) having a proximal end, a distal end and a cutting aperture disposed at the distal end; an internal tubular element (4) apt to be pivotally housed in the external tubular element (3) and having a proximal end, a distal end and a cutting tip at its distal end. The device also includes guide elements (5) for rotating and/or oscillating the internal tubular element (4) with respect to the external tubular element (3). The guide elements (5) include an electric motor (19) and electric feeding element for the electric motor (19) and are contained completely inside the handpiece (2).

The invention provides methods for stabilizing a nucleic acid sequencing reaction. Generally, methods of the invention include exposing a target nucleic acid to a single-stranded nucleic acid binding protein and performing a sequencing reaction.

Structural parameters of a specimen are determined by fitting models of the response of the specimen to measurements collected by different measurement techniques in a combined analysis. Models of the response of the specimen to at least two different measurement technologies share at least one common geometric parameter. In some embodiments, a model building and analysis engine performs x-ray and optical analyses wherein at least one common parameter is coupled during the analysis. The fitting of the response models to measured data can be done sequentially, in parallel, or by a combination of sequential and parallel analyses. In a further aspect, the structure of the response models is altered based on the quality of the fit between the models and the corresponding measurement data. For example, a geometric model of the specimen is restructured based on the fit between the response models and corresponding measurement data.

The performance of traditional speech recognition systems (as applied to information extraction or translation) decreases significantly with, larger domain size, scarce training data as well as under noisy environmental conditions. This invention mitigates these problems through the introduction of a novel predictive feature extraction method which combines linguistic and statistical information for representation of information embedded in a noisy source language. The predictive features are combined with text classifiers to map the noisy text to one of the semantically or functionally similar groups. The features used by the classifier can be syntactic, semantic, and statistical.

A portable multi-functional endoscopic device and method for use in the examination of tissue within a corporeal orifice to permit diagnostic, therapeutic or anatomical assessment data to be transmitted, recorded, or analyzed. The device includes a base unit sized and configured to be held in a human hand to permit functional and directional control of the device, an interchangeable head assembly sized and configured to be inserted into the orifice being removably connectable to the base unit, and an inflatable tissue stabilizer disposed external to a distal end of the device. In preferred aspects, the endoscopic device has an image sensor, light source, lens, air pump, and working tools.

An image encoding apparatus includes a pixel bit depth increase converter to convert bit depth of each pixel of an input image to output a converted input image and output bit conversion information indicating the number of bits changed by conversion, an image encoder to encode the input converted input image to output encoded image information, and a multiplexer to multiplexes the bit conversion information and encoded image information.

In a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) a rotodynamic blood pump (10) is powered by a brushless DC motor (12). A power supply (14) supplies power to the motor (12). Three feedback channels, one for each of voltage, current, and motor speed lead to a microcontroller or microprocessor (18). The three feedback waveforms are analyzed, and from these waveforms, motor input power, patient heart rate, current pump flow rate, and systemic pressure are determined. The microprocessor (18) then calculates a desired flow rate proportional to the patient heart rate. The microprocessor communicates a new power output to a commutation circuit (16), which regulates power to the motor (12). The pump (10) also includes safety checks that are prioritized over desired pump flow. These include prevention of ventricular suction, low pulsatility, minimum and maximum pump speed, minimum speed-relative pump flow, minimum absolute pump flow, minimum and maximum motor input power.

Critical needs for MRI patient instruction, testing, comfort, motion control, and speech communication are provided for better imaging which leads to more effective medical care. An MRI Digital Video Projection System is disclosed which provides better quality display to the patient to better inform, instruct, test, and comfort the patient plus the potential to stimulate the brain with microsecond onset times to better diagnose brain function. An MRI Motion Tracker and Patient Augmented Visual Feedback System enables monitoring patient body part motion, providing real time feedback to the patient and/or technician to substantially improve diagnostic yield of scanning sessions, particularly for children and mentally challenged individuals. An MR Forward Predictive Noise Canceling Microphone System removes the intense MRI acoustic noise improving patient communication, patient safety and enabling coding of speech output. These systems can be used individually but maximum benefit is from providing all three.

A system and method of treating target tissue in a patient's eye, which includes generating a light beam, deflecting the light beam using a scanner to form first and second treatment patterns, delivering the first treatment pattern to the target tissue to form an incision that provides access to an eye chamber of the patient's eye, and delivering the second treatment pattern to the target tissue to form a relaxation incision along or near limbus tissue or along corneal tissue anterior to the limbus tissue of the patient's eye to reduce astigmatism thereof.

This invention is related to a flow fluorometric device and method employing a two-photon excitation and/or confocal optical set-up. The optical set-up of this invention is optimal for counting small fluorescent biological particles. The active focal volume is diffraction-limited and consequently much smaller than the volume of the flow channel. The excitation and detection concept has been found very efficient for rejection of the background signal. An objective lens with large numerical aperture for focusing the laser and for collecting the fluorescence is used and this restricts the active volume of measurement to a diffraction-limited volume which approximately corresponds to a volume of femtoliter. This volume is significantly smaller than the detection volume of ordinary flow cytometry.

System and method for the indexing and retrieval of semantically annotated information units from a collection of semantically annotated indexed information units in response to a query using an ontology-based IR model. The retrieval method comprises: receiving a semantically annotated query with semantic annotations to individuals or classes within a determined populated base ontology; embedding, as a set of weighted-mentions to individuals or classes within the populated base ontology, the semantically annotated query in a semantic representation space of an ontology-based metric space IR model; obtaining the representation in the semantic representation space for every indexed information unit; computing the Hausdorff distance between the space representation of the query and the space representation of all the indexed information units of the collection; retrieving and ranking, the relevant information units based on the computed Hausdorff distance.

The present invention relates to a 3D landscape real-time imager. It also relates to methods for operating such an imager. Such an imager comprises: —at least one illuminating part which is designed to scan at least a portion of the landscape at a given range and having an ultra-short laser pulse source emitting at least one wavelength, and an optical rotating block, with a vertical axis of rotation, and controlled such that given packets of pulses are shaped in a pattern of rotating beams sent toward the said at least partial landscape; —at least one receiving part which comprises a set of SPAD detector arrays, each arranged along a vertical direction and rotating at a given speed in synchronism with the optical rotating block of the illuminating part, the detection data of the SPAD detector arrays being combined to acquire 3D imaging data of the said at least partial landscape in a central controller.

Enhanced accuracy finger position and motion sensors devices, algorithms, and methods are disclosed that can be used in a variety of different applications. The sensors can be used in conjunction with partial fingerprint imagers to produce improved fingerprint scanners. The finger motion sensors may also be used (either with or without a partial fingerprint imager) to control electronic devices. When several of these finger motion and position sensors are aligned in different directions, finger motion over a two dimensional surface may be detected. This creates a finger controlled “mouse” computer input device. Motion of a finger along the surface of such sensors may allow a user to control the movement of an indicator on a display screen, and control a microprocessor device. Such techniques are particularly useful for small space constrained devices, such as cell phones, smart cards, music players, portable computers, personal digital accessories, and the like.

A method for spinal drilling operation is disclosed. The method includes the steps of disposing a guiding element on a vertebra; mounting an auxiliary element on a locating part of the guiding element; mounting a k-pin on the auxiliary element; locating the k-pin and removing the auxiliary element from the locating part; mounting a cannular driller having a holding part and a drilling part through the k-pin; and rotating the holding part to drive the drilling part for a reaming process. A guiding assembly for spinal drilling operation is also disclosed. Accordingly, the spinal drilling process can be conducted easier and more precisely.

A graphics system including a custom graphics and audio processor produces exciting 2D and 3D graphics and surround sound. The system includes a graphics and audio processor including a 3D graphics pipeline and an audio digital signal processor. The graphics pipeline performs Z-buffering and optionally provides memory efficient full scene anti-aliasing (FSAA). When the anti-aliasing rendering mode is selected, Z value bit compression is performed to more efficiently make use of the available Z buffer memory. A Z-clamping arrangement is used to improve the precision of visually important Z components by clamping Z values to zero of pixels that fall within a predetermined Z-axis range near the Z=0 eye/camera (viewport) plane. This allows a Z-clipping plane to be used very close to the eye/camera plane--to avoid undesirable visual artifacts produced when objects rendered near to the eye/camera plane are clipped--while preserving Z value precision for the remaining depth of the scene. In an example implementation, a Z value compression circuit provided in the graphics pipeline is enhanced to effectuate Z-clamping within the predetermined range of Z values. The enhanced circuitry includes an adder for left-shifting an input Z value one or more bits prior to compression and gates for masking out the most significant non-zero shifted bits to zero.

An image sensor module having a sensor chip closely adhered on a concave surface and a fabrication method thereof are disclosed. The image sensor module includes at least one sensor chip, at least one sensor chip-mounting structure comprising a substrate and a polymer layer formed on the substrate, the polymer layer having an concave surface formed on an upper part thereof by a polymer molding method, so that the sensor chip is bent and bonded on the concave surface, and at least one lens fixed on the at least one sensor chip-mounting structure above the sensor chip.

A calibration cage for use in Roentgen Stereophotogrammetric Analysis (RSA), comprising a biplanar configuration of two compartments, each with a fiducial plate at the bottom and a control plate at the top and parallel thereto, the fiducial and control plates of one compartment being oriented at approximately 90° to fiducial and control plates of the other compartment such that a region of interest is positioned on one side of the fiducial and control plates of both compartments.

An all-in-one embedded audio video communications device used for connecting through a packet-type network, such as the Internet, or a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The device employs a plurality of features that accommodates the needs of the hard of hearing and speech and/or hearing impaired communities. Some of the features include a touchscreen monitor, an internal camera and a flashing light alert system. The device employs a novel GUI which makes navigating through the menus of the device quick and easy. Connectivity to a packet-type network can be realized through an Ethernet connection, an SDIO slot, or other known wireless means. Other connection ports include a USB 2.0 port, an RJ-11 port and A/V In and Out jacks. The device can establish a user profile which facilitates a connection with a Video Relay Service provider or a point-to-point end user who uses sign language as their native language.