66results about How to "Minimizing contribution" patented technology

A system for collecting, storing and displaying dermatological images for the purpose of monitoring and diagnosis of skin conditions and skin cancers, including melanoma. A hand-held unit illuminates a section of the patient's skin, and an imaging device generates imaging signals from light derived from a skin section. Pairs of light output ports in the hand-held unit are arranged such that their intensity distributions overlap at their half-intensity levels so that the resulting summation of their intensities has a flat central region. Three image stores are maintained, one for lesion images, one for “nearby skin” images, and one for reference-white images. The “nearby skin” images are used by the system software to automatically determine the skin/lesion border. The reference white images are used to set the dynamic range of the instrument and to compensate for lighting irregularities. Two images of the same lesion taken at different times may be displayed simultaneously so that changes in the lesion may be determined. The calibration system is designed so that image data taken on any of multiple machines built to the same specification will be corrected back to a common reference standard to ensure absolute accuracy in colour rendition.

A system and process are provided for converting a light hydrocarbon gas to a synthetic heavier hydrocarbon liquid. The system includes an autothermal reformer, a Fischer-Tropsch reactor and a Brayton cycle that are structurally and functionally integrated. In the practice of the process, a mixture of a hydrocarbon feed gas, a compressed air feed and process steam is fed to the autothermal reformer to produce a synthesis gas. The synthesis gas is fed to the Fischer-Tropsch reactor where it is catalytically reacted to produce heavy hydrocarbons. The outlet from the Fischer-Tropsch reactor is separated into water, a low heating value tail gas, and the desired hydrocarbon liquid product. The water is pressurized and heated to generate process steam. The tail gas is heated and fed with compressed air and steam to the Brayton cycle having a combustor and a series of power turbines and compressors. The tail gas and air feed are burned in the combustor to produce a combustion gas that is used to drive a power turbine linked by a shaft to an air compressor, thereby driving the air compressor. The system further includes a plurality of heat exchangers that enable heat to be recovered from the outlet of the autothermal reformer. The recovered heat is used to make the process steam as well as to preheat the hydrocarbon feed gas before it is fed to the autothermal reformer, preheat the synthesis gas before it is fed to the Fischer-Tropsch reactor and preheat the tail gas before it is fed to the combustor.

An apparatus for continuous on-line measurement of chemical composition of aerosol particles with a fast time resolution is provided. The apparatus includes an enhanced particle size magnifier for producing activated aerosol particles and an enhanced collection device which collects the activated aerosol particles into a liquid stream for quantitative analysis by analytical means. Methods for on-line measurement of chemical composition of aerosol particles are also provided, the method including exposing aerosol carrying sample air to hot saturated steam thereby forming activated aerosol particles; collecting the activated aerosol particles by a collection device for delivery as a jet stream onto an impaction surface; and flushing off the activated aerosol particles from the impaction surface into a liquid stream for delivery of the collected liquid stream to an analytical instrument for quantitative measurement.

The physiological or mental functioning of a patient is assessed by subjecting a patient to a protocol expected to activate or suppress the neurhormonal systems that regulate blood flow. A physiological signal indicative of the cardiac cycle, such as the electrocardiograph signal, is then monitored in synchrony with performance of the protocol. The physiological signal is processed to quantify the low frequency oscillation during different conditions during the protocol, and the results are interpreted in terms of cardiovascular changes, such as changes in blood flow to active tissues in the body. The results are then compared to normative data to assess the physiological or mental functioning of the patent.

A method and apparatus that allows accurate spectrophotometric determination of the concentrations of various hemoglobin species in whole undiluted blood. The invention employs 1) an optical apparatus designed to maximize the true optical absorbance of whole blood and to minimize the effects of light scattering on the spectrophotometric measurements of the concentrations of various constituent components, and 2) methods to correct the hemoglobin concentration measurements for light scattering and for the effects of the finite bandwidth of the substantially monochromatic light. In the optical apparatus optical parameters, such as sample thickness, detector size and shape, sample-to-detector distance, wavelengths, monochromicity, and maximum angle of light capture by detector, are selected so as to minimize the contribution of light scattering to maximize the contribution of true optical absorbance. After making measurements of a blood sample's optical density at each of the wavelengths, corrections are made for the effects of light scattering.

An improved tempura batter system comprises an improved primer layer and improved batter matrix layer. The batter matrix is formed from a controlled gelling of batter-forming components which balances control of gelatinization, coagulation and gelation with cellular network expansion while managing water mobility and quantity. A balancing of cereals, proteins, leavening system, fat and emulsifier produces effective gelatinization characteristics and controlled formation of outer shell. A network of well-distributed, uniformly-sized gas cells is provided throughout the matrix by employing an aerated and/or emulsified plastic fat.

Techniques for correcting gradient non-linearity bias in mean diffusivity measurements by MRI systems are shown and include minimal number of spatial correction terms to achieve sufficient error control using three orthogonal diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) gradients. The correction is based on rotation of system gradient nonlinearity tensor into a DWI gradient frame where spatial bias of b-matrix is described by its Euclidian norm. The techniques obviate time consuming multi-direction acquisition and noise-sensitive mathematical diagonalization of a full diffusion tensor for medium of arbitrary anisotropy.

A lighting system comprises a chromatic reflective unit (606), and a light source (602), wherein the chromatic reflective unit (606) is shaped as a rotational paraboloid or a portion of a rotational paraboloid, and the light source (602) is positioned close to or at the paraboloid focal position.

A biological sample device for detecting the presence or absence of specific analytes in a sample is provided. A sample, such as a blood or urine sample or a pre-processed tissue sample is collected on a porous pad. A first membrane in liquid communication with the sample pad includes an analyte-specific, electroactively-labeled detection reagent reactive with the an analyte. A second membrane in liquid communication with the first membrane includes a biosensor whose surface has been modified by an analyte-specific capture reagent. The analyte-binding capture reagent immobilizes the analyte electroactive label complex on the surface of the biosensor, whereby direct interaction of the electroactive label with the surface of the biosensor generates an electric signal used by an electronic processing unit to determine whether the analyte is present in the sample.

An analog circuit for processing analog signals in an integrated circuit comprising a number of metal oxide semiconductor transistor devices. The circuit includes a first transistor device having a thin oxide thickness, and a second transistor device having a thicker oxide thickness. A voltage pulse protection is arranged to maintain the operating voltage of the thin oxide transistor in the presence of a rapidly rising voltage waveform (e.g. ESD), or at least to mitigate its effect on the thin oxide transistor device. Preferably a cascode based op amp structure is implemented.

The invention provides a 100% biodegradable/compostable pet litter system that is self-contained for proper care, maintenance and disposal of pet waste. The kit is designed to include a false floor system to allow contaminated litter to sift through the floor and away from the pet after each use. The kit contains a design for sealing and transporting along with disposable waste bags and scooper for solid waste removal. The kit contains storage for bags and scooper when not in use. The kit incorporates 100% biodegradable litter such as pine pellets, corn, paper or other biodegradable litter. The kit is manufactured from 100% biodegradable materials such a fiberboard or any material which can breakdown in a landfill in as little as 2 months but no longer than 12 months.

A microphone circuit includes a first microphone, a second microphone, an adjustable delay unit, and a combiner. The first microphone generates a first microphone signal that includes a contribution associated with an output signal that is generated by a loudspeaker in response to an input signal. The second microphone generates a second microphone signal that includes a contribution associated with the output signal from the loudspeaker. The adjustable delay unit delays the second microphone signal relative to the first microphone signal by a delay value. The combiner combines the delayed second microphone signal and the first microphone signal to provide a combined microphone signal. The adjustable delay unit adjusts the delay value so as to reduce at least a portion of the contribution to the combined microphone signal that is associated with the output signal from the loudspeaker.

This invention relates to an optical probe (200) and an optical imaging system, including an optical guide (201) having a proximal end and a distal end, an actuation means having driving coils (204) and a magnet, with of which being attached to the optical guide. By supplying a driving current through the driving coils a magnetic flux is generated which interacts with the magnet forming a driving force acting at on the optical guide causing a displacement of the distal end of the optical guide. A position measuring including a position measuring coil (205) is used for monitoring the position of the optical guide, where the internal arrangement of the position measuring coil and the driving coils is such that said displacement of the distal end of the optical guide causes a change in the internal arrangement. A power supply supplies an additional high frequency alternating current (AC) through the driving coils which causes an induced voltage in the position measuring coil and thus generates a magnetic coupling between the position measuring coil and the driving coils. A position measuring means measures the displacement of the distal end of the optical guide by means of measuring the induced voltage resulting in when the internal arrangement changes. This induced voltage change being indicative for the position of the distal end.

An apparatus and method for artificial reverberation having one or more input summing nodes receiving an input signal and which each feed a first series of delay elements and the output of which is thereafter summed, weighted, and fed back to the input summing nodes. Also, a feedback summing node which further feeds a second delay element which feeds an output with a signal which has multi-dimensional or multi-delay reverberation relative to the input signal. An alternative embodiment further feeds one or more of the first delay element outputs weighted via an output gain to an output summing node which also sums the output of the second delay element and provides a summed output having a multi-dimensional or multi-delay reverberation. The embodiment is easily and economically implemented via conventional integrated electronic circuits, a combination of analog and digital electronics, digital signal processors, microprocessors, micro-controllers, or computer algorithms.

The present invention provides improved capillaries that lead to increased resolution in conventional capillary-flow cytometers. The cross-sectional shape of capillaries made according to the present invention lack a center of symmetry. In some embodiments, capillaries have inner side walls that are tilted at angles with respect to the collection-system optical axis so that the widest dimension of the inner bore is closest to the collection optical system and have an outer wall closest to the collection optical system with a dimension large enough to minimize the contribution of outer-wall refraction to the collected light signal. Exemplary capillary embodiments include tubes with a rectangular outer wall and a trapezoidal inner wall, a rectangular outer wall and a triangular inner wall, triangular outer and inner walls, a triangular outer wall with a trapezoidal inner wall, and a hemispherical or rhomboid outer wall and trapezoidal or triangular inner wall.

A method for adjusting the tone scale reproduction of a color image composed of pixels provided in a plurality of color channels is based on generating a reference image from a combination of the color channels, whereby each spatial coordinate of the reference image is characterized by a reference image level. Channel averages of the color channel values of the pixels that correspond to the different valued reference image levels are generated. A channel tone scale transformation is formed by relating each channel average to its corresponding reference image level, and the channel tone scale transformation is utilized on a pixel by pixel basis in the respective channels of the digital color image to produce a processed digital color image having improved tone scale reproduction.

A current perpendicular to plane dual giant magnetoresistive sensor (dual CPP GMR sensor) that prevents spin torque noise while having high dR/R performance. The sensor has a design that maximizes the GMR effect (dR/R) by providing a pinned layer structure that maximizes the positive GMR contribution of the AP2 layer (or magnetic layer closest to the spacer layer) while minimizing the negative GMR contribution of the AP1 layer (or layer furthest from the spacer layer). The pinned layer structure includes an AP1 layer that includes a thin CoFe layer that is exchange coupled with an IrMn or IrMnCr AFM layer and has two or more Co layers with a spin blocking layer sandwiched between them. The use of the Co layers and the spin blocking layer in the AP1 layer minimizes the negative contribution of the AP1 layer. The AP2 layer has a plurality of CoFe layers with nano-layers such as Cu sandwiched between the CoFe layers. The nano-layers increase the already strong GMR effect provided by the CoFe layers, increasing the positive GMR effect from the AP2 layer.

A measurement device comprises a high permittivity dielectric resonator (10) with a low microwave loss tangent and having at least a first symmetry axis (z-i); an electrically conductive resonance chamber (100) containing and geometrically similar to the resonator (10) and having a second symmetry axis (z2) coincident with the first symmetry axis (z-i); the resonance chamber (100) having a plurality of similar ports (104) orthogonal to the first symmetry axis (z-i), each such port (104) having a microwave antenna (114), either to inject microwaves into the resonance chamber, thereby to excite an electric field in the resonator, or to receive microwaves from the resonance chamber; and a comparator circuit (200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800) connected to a first one (P1) of the plurality of ports (104) to inject microwaves into the resonance chamber and to another (P2, P3) of the plurality of ports (104) to receive microwaves from the resonance chamber; wherein the measurement device further comprises an electrically conductive tuning screw (106) in electrical contact with the resonance chamber (100), the tuning screw being at least partially positionable in the electric field thereby excited in the resonator; and a source of magnetism (18) to apply a magnetic field to a sample brought into proximity with a top surface (12) of the resonator (10) substantially parallel or anti-parallel to the first symmetry axis (z-i); and wherein one (P3) of the other of the plurality of ports (104) to receive microwaves from the resonance chamber (100) is orthogonal to the first one (P1) of the plurality of ports (104) to inject microwaves into the resonance chamber. Such a measurement device may be used to measure both the conductivity or sheet resistance of a thin film (30), as well as the carrier mobility of the thin film, without contacting the resonator (10) with either the thin film or a substrate (20) on which the thin film is formed.

Intrinsic material and optical properties of liquid crystal units, such as variable response to wavelength and temperature variations, are accommodated in accordance with the invention by introducing at least a pair of wave plates of different thicknesses which, together with the retardation introduced by the liquid crystal, serve to broaden the wavelength of response in fashion which also athermalizes the response. Specific retardations and angles of inclination relative to the input polarization are employed for overcoming these nonlinearlities.

In an aspect, an illumination system (100) is disclosed to comprise a light source (102) configured to generate a light beam (103), and a chromatic reflective unit (1) for being illuminated by the light beam (103). The chromatic reflective unit (1) comprises a plurality of non-coplanar reflective surface sections (3′), and a chromatic diffusing layer (5) comprises a plurality of nanoparticles (37) embedded in a matrix (39), wherein the chromatic diffusing layer (5) is provided upstream of the plurality of reflective surface sections (3′) such that at least a portion of the light beam (103) passes through the chromatic diffusing layer (5) before and after being reflected by the plurality of non-coplanar reflective surface sections (3′). Chromatic diffusing layer (5) is further configured to provide for—together with non-coplanar reflective surface sections (3′)—a specular reflectance that is larger in the red than in the blue and for a diffuse reflectance that is larger in the blue than in the red.

A floating body germanium (Ge) phototransistor and associated fabrication process are presented. The method includes: providing a silicon (Si) substrate; selectively forming an insulator layer overlying the Si substrate; forming an epitaxial Ge layer overlying the insulator layer using a liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) process; forming a channel region in the Ge layer; forming a gate dielectric, gate electrode, and gate spacers overlying the channel region; and, forming source/drain regions in the Ge layer. The LPE process involves encapsulating the Ge with materials having a melting temperature greater than a first temperature, and melting the Ge using a temperature lower than the first temperature. The LPE process includes: forming a dielectric layer overlying deposited Ge; melting the Ge; and, in response to cooling the Ge, laterally propagating an epitaxial growth front into the Ge from an underlying Si substrate surface.