918results about How to "Minimize distortion" patented technology

The present invention provides a device for occluding an anatomical aperture, such as an atrial septal defect (ASD) or a patent foramen ovale (PFO). The occluder includes two sides connected by a central tube. The occluder is formed from a tube, which is cut to produce struts in each side. Upon the application of force, the struts deform into loops. The loops may be of various shapes, sizes, and configurations, and, in at least some embodiments, the loops have rounded peripheries. In some embodiments, at least one of the sides includes a tissue scaffold. The occluder further includes a catch system that maintains its deployed state in vivo. When the occluder is deployed in vivo, the two sides are disposed on opposite sides of the septal tissue surrounding the aperture and the catch system is deployed so that the occluder exerts a compressive force on the septal tissue and closes the aperture.

An orthopedic flip-wing tissue retainer (2) comprises a flip-wing (7), tissue-retaining means (8) and a joint formed between the flip-wing (7) and the tissue-retaining means (8). The tissue retainer (2) is easily installed and used to anchor a biological tissue. The tissue retainer (2) can be used in combination with other devices to replace or repair a ligament or tendon in a joint. In particular, when used for ligament replacement, the tissue retainer (2) eliminates or at least minimizes the twisting that typically occurs during conventional surgery. In addition, the tension of the ligament graft can be precisely adjusted by using a tension-adjusting device (3 or 203) in combination with the flip-wing tissue retainer (2). The tension-adjusting device (203) can include a ball (204)-and-socket (205) joint.

A golf club that is preferably made from fiber-reinforced plastic composite by an injection molding process. The preferred golf club head includes a striking face for striking a golf ball, an outer periphery, a cavity formed between the outer periphery and the back of the striking face, a sole enclosing the bottom portion of said cavity, and at least one elongate power bar extending across the cavity from the striking face to the outer periphery. The sole is preferably integrally formed with the face plate and outer periphery. The cavity of the golf club head opens to the top of the club head. Each elongate power bar separates the cavity into receptacles. Inserts may be placed within the receptacles for aesthetic, aerodynamic, acoustic, and other purposes.

An apparatus includes an optical transmission unit which irradiates a subject to be examined with light containing a specific wavelength component, an electroacoustic conversion unit which receives acoustic waves generated inside the subject by the light radiated by the optical transmission unit and converts them into electrical signals, an image data generating unit which generates first image data on the basis of the reception signals obtained by the electroacoustic conversion unit, an electroacoustic conversion unit which receives ultrasonic reflection signals obtained by transmitting ultrasonic waves to the subject and converts them into electrical signals, an image data generating unit which generates second image data on the basis of the reception signals obtained by the electroacoustic conversion unit, and a display unit which combines the first and second image data and displays the resultant data.

An apparatus for chemical vapor deposition is disclosed. An aspect of the present invention provides an apparatus for chemical vapor deposition that includes: a process chamber configured to demarcate a reaction space; a back plate placed above the reaction space and having a gas inlet in a middle thereof; a gas diffusion member arranged below and separated from the gas inlet and coupled to the back plate by a first coupling member and configured to diffuse process gas supplied through the gas inlet; a shower head placed below and separated from the back plate and the gas diffusion member and having a middle part thereof coupled to the gas diffusion member by a second coupling member and having a plurality of spray holes perforated therein; and a susceptor arranged below and separated from the shower head and supporting a substrate. The gas diffusion member has a plurality of gas guiding holes that vertically penetrate the gas diffusion member such that the process gas supplied through the gas inlet is diffused toward a lower side of the gas diffusion member.

An engine mounting configuration reacts engine thrust at an aft mount. The engine mounting configuration reduces backbone bending of the engine, intermediate case distortion and frees-up space within the core nacelle.

The present invention provides a device for occluding an anatomical aperture, such as an atrial septal defect (ASD) or a patent foramen ovale (PFO). The occluder includes two sides connected by a central tube. The occluder is formed from a tube, which is cut to produce struts in each side. Upon the application of force, the struts deform into loops. The loops may be of various shapes, sizes, and configurations, and, in at least some embodiments, the loops have rounded peripheries. In some embodiments, at least one of the sides includes a tissue scaffold. The occluder further includes a catch system that maintains its deployed state in vivo. When the occluder is deployed in vivo, the two sides are disposed on opposite sides of the septal tissue surrounding the aperture and the catch system is deployed so that the occluder exerts a compressive force on the septal tissue and closes the aperture.

Privacy is defined in the context of a guessing game based on the so-called guessing inequality. The privacy of a sanitized record, i.e., guessing anonymity, is defined by the number of guesses an attacker needs to correctly guess an original record used to generate a sanitized record. Using this definition, optimization problems are formulated that optimize a second anonymization parameter (privacy or data distortion) given constraints on a first anonymization parameter (data distortion or privacy, respectively). Optimization is performed across a spectrum of possible values for at least one noise parameter within a noise model. Noise is then generated based on the noise parameter value(s) and applied to the data, which may comprise real and / or categorical data. Prior to anonymization, the data may have identifiers suppressed, whereas outlier data values in the noise perturbed data may be likewise modified to further ensure privacy.

A diagnostic system for collecting, processing, recording and analyzing sounds associated with the physiologic activities of various human organs. The system includes a plurality of transducers placed on the body surface at the operator's discretion. The microphones are coupled to analogue / digital signal processing circuitry for enhancement of the desired signal and exclusion of ambient noise. An A / D converter digitizes the incoming data and transmits data, which is divided into a multitude of discrete blocks, received over very finite intervals of time, to a computer workstation and moved through an analysis program sequentially. The program is displayed as a series of icons which depict operations that the program performs and which allow the operator to reprogram the system at any time. The data is finally displayed in graphical format and stored in memory as the program processes each block sequentially.

A method for bending sheet metal includes introducing to the sheet metal thinned regions which are positioned either along or immediately adjacent to a bending line. These thinned regions allow the metal to be easily bent along the bending line using conventional hand tools or non-specialized machines. The thinned regions may be shaped as slots having a specific width, length, end shape, spacing from each adjacent slot, and depth into the metal sheet. According to one embodiment of the invention, each slot is cut through the entire thickness of the metal sheet. Other related embodiments require that the slots be only partially cut or etched thereby having a depth that is less than the thickness of the metal sheet. The thinned regions may be any appropriate shape as controlled by the shape of the bend, the type of metal, the thickness of the metal, the ductility of the metal, the angle of the bend, and the application of the metal (e.g., load bearing, etc). According to a second embodiment, two generally parallel sets of thinned regions are formed adjacent and generally parallel to the bending line. In a preferred application, the two sets of thinned regions are slots (cutting through the metal) and are staggered or offset with respect to each other.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus, comprising an RF matching network connected to at least one RF input port and at least one RF output port and including one or more voltage or current controlled variable reactive elements; and wherein the RF matching network is tuned to optimize the RF matching network and wherein said tuning is limited by a predetermined number of tuning steps that are taken within a transmit burst and / or limited by the magnitude of each step taken within a transmit burst and / or limited to the steps only being allowed between bursts.

A method for bending sheet metal includes introducing to the sheet metal thinned regions which are positioned either along or immediately adjacent to a bending line. These thinned regions allow the metal to be easily bent along the bending line using conventional hand tools or non-specialized machines. The thinned regions may be shaped as slots having a specific width, length, end shape, spacing from each adjacent slot, and depth into the metal sheet.According to one embodiment of the invention, each slot is cut through the entire thickness of the metal sheet. Other related embodiments require that the slots be only partially cut or etched thereby having a depth that is less than the thickness of the metal sheet. The thinned regions may be any appropriate shape as controlled by the shape of the bend, the type of metal, the thickness of the metal, the ductility of the metal, the angle of the bend, and the application of the metal (e.g., load bearing, etc).According to a second embodiment, two generally parallel sets of thinned regions are formed adjacent and generally parallel to the bending line. In a preferred application, the two sets of thinned regions are slots (cutting through the metal) and are staggered or offset with respect to each other.

The present invention hands-on simulator system discloses a three dimension display system comprising a three dimensional horizontal perspective display and a 3-D audio system such as binaural simulation to lend realism to the three dimensional display. The three dimensional display system can futher comprise a second display, together with a curvilinear blending display section to merge the various images. The multi-plane display surface can accommodate the viewer by adjusting the various images and 3-D sound according to the viewer's eyepoint and earpoint locations. The present invention hands-on simulator system can project horizontal perspective images into the open space and a peripheral device that allow the end user to manipulate the images with hands or hand-held tools.

An apparatus for applying an inward force to a medical device may include at least two independently operable sections. Each section may include a plurality of movable blades arranged to form an aperture or chamber whose size may be varied. Each blade may be pivotally connected to a mount and slidably engaged with a constraining member. The blades are movable so as to allow the aperture to be sized to contain the medical device and to alter the size of the aperture.

The present invention hands-on simulator system discloses a three dimension display system comprising a three dimensional horizontal perspective display and a 3-D audio system such as binaural simulation to lend realism to the three dimensional display. The three dimensional display system can futher comprise a second display, together with a curvilinear blending display section to merge the various images. The multi-plane display surface can accommodate the viewer by adjusting the various images and 3-D sound according to the viewer's eyepoint and earpoint locations. The present invention hands-on simulator system can project horizontal perspective images into the open space and a peripheral device that allow the end user to manipulate the images with hands or hand-held tools.

Digital watermarking of digital audio is performed by Fourier transforming digital audio data, wavelet transforming the magnitude components of the Fourier transform coefficients of the digital audio data, discrete cosine transforming a watermark signal, multiplying the sign of the wavelet transform coefficients of the magnitude components to the coefficients of the discrete cosine transformed watermark signal, adding the coefficients of the Fourier transformed digital audio data and the adjusted discrete cosine transformed watermark signal, and inverse wavelet transforming the audio signal's coefficients before inverse Fourier transformation to finally generate watermark-embedded audio signal data.

An article of externally-worn eye wear, including, but not limited to, eyeglasses, sunglasses, goggles, and contact lenses. The eye wear includes a wavelength transmission blocker for blocking substantially all of light wavelengths throughout the blue light spectrum. The wavelength transmission blocker protects the eyes against the harmful effect of the blocked light. Also, since the eye wear is worn externally from the eye, and the user can remove the eye wear, the user can selectively block the light. As such, the eye wear can be worn to block potentially harmful light, or the eye wear can be removed if blocking the light would cause other hazards.

The invention provides a wide-angle, low-cost endoscopic objective optical system that is reduced in terms of distortion and field curvature and composed only of spherical lenses, especially a video endoscopic objective optical system. The optical system comprises a first group G1 comprising a negative meniscus lens convex on an object side thereof, an aperture stop S, a second group G2 comprising a positive lens having a plane directed toward an object point side, a third group G3 including at least one concave refractive surface and having a positive refracting power as a whole, and a fourth group G4 comprising a cemented lens comprising a negative meniscus lens and a double-convex lens and having positive refracting power, so that an image is formed at an imaging device I via the first group G1 to the fourth group G4. A chief ray is reflected at the convex surface of the positive lens in the second group in a direction away from an optical axis.

A method for embedding a watermark into content is disclosed. The content contains content samples. The method including the steps of: receiving the content, creating a continuous watermark sequence from the watermark, and for each content sample in a first predetermined order: calculating a sample mean, calculating a sample variance, and normalizing the content. Further steps include generating a set of content coefficients from the content, generating a set of watermark coefficients from the watermark sequence, embedding the watermark in the content by adjusting the amplitude of the watermark coefficients so that the distortion between the content coefficients and the associated watermark coefficients are minimized using a secret mapping function, and outputting the content. The mapping functions may be controlled by a key-dependent random sequence to protect the watermarks.

A vehicle overhead audio system, an electromagnetic transducer assembly for use therein and a computer system programmed with a graphic software control for changing the audio system's signal level and delay are provided where a headliner of the vehicle is a loudspeaker of the system thereby replacing many other loudspeakers and being invisible to the occupants. The headliner is driven in multiple zones that effect proper imaging for all occupants. Supplemental high frequency and subwoofer speakers and signal processing circuitry are included in one aspect of the invention.

In a power amplifier a Doherty amplifier is provided with an output higher harmonic reflection circuit that is connected to the output terminal of a first FET chip and sets an even-numbered higher harmonic load of an output signal at the output terminal to be a short-circuit, or at a low impedance approximating a short-circuit, and sets an odd-numbered higher harmonic load of an output signal at the output terminal to be an open-circuit, or a high impedance approximating an open-circuit.

In embodiments of the present invention, an ultrasound system includes an ultrasound machine, which may be located in a hospital, clinic, vehicle, home, etc., coupled to a remotely located diagnosis station via a communication network. For some embodiments, the ultrasound machine includes an application-specific scan head that has identification information that allows the home ultrasound machine to notify a user whether the attached scan head is appropriate for the type of examination to be performed. For other embodiments, a first stage of beamforming is conducted in reconfigurable hardware and a second stage of beamforming is conducted in programmable software digital signal processor. The diagnosis station may transfer information associated with a scanning protocol for the ultrasound examination to the ultrasound machine via the communication network, and the ultrasound machine may transfer measurement values acquired during the ultrasound examination to the diagnosis station via the communication network.

A system for tracking cargo containers contained within a terminal includes a tag transmitter adapted to be positioned on container handling equipment and operative for transmitting a wireless RF signal based on an event affecting the location of a container handled by the container handling equipment. A plurality of spaced apart access points are positioned at known locations within the terminal that receive the wireless RF signals from the tag transmitter. A processor is operatively connected to the locating access points for geolocating the tag transmitter and determining the container location at the time the event occurs.

A touch panel-mounted liquid crystal panel minimizes picture distortion upon driving of the touch panel. In the liquid crystal panel, a lower glass substrate has switching devices provided in the vicinity of intersections between data lines and gate lines. An upper glass substrate has a black matrix joined to it. Patterned clusters of spacers are positioned at an area corresponding to the black matrix in such a manner to enlarge its contact area with the upper glass substrate, thereby keeping a uniform distance between the upper and lower glass substrates. The enlarged contact area allows the patterned clusters of spacers to sufficiently absorb a pressure load of a finger or a stylus pen. Accordingly, uniform distance between the upper and lower glass substrates is maintained even upon driving the touch panel. As a result, light deterioration and local image distortion is prevented or minimized.

A device for the correction of the power factor in power supply units with forced switching operating in transition mode is described. The device comprises a converter and a control device coupled to said converter so as to obtain from an alternating network input voltage a regulated output voltage on the output terminal. The converter comprises a power transistor and the control device comprises a pilot circuit suitable for determining the period of switched-on time and the period of switched-off time of said power transistor and control means coupled to said pilot circuits and with said converter and which are capable of prolonging said period of switched-on time of the power transistor at the instants of time in which the alternating network voltage substantially assumes the value zero.