139results about How to "More sensitive" patented technology

A system and method for monitoring photodynamic therapy of a target tissue, where the target tissue contains a photosensitizing substance, include a first light source configured to deliver light to the target tissue, the first light source having a wavelength capable of exciting the photosensitizing substance. An ultrasonic transducer receives photoacoustic signals generated due to optical absorption of light energy by the target tissue, and a control unit in communication with the ultrasonic transducer reconstructs photoacoustic tomographic images from the received photoacoustic signals to provide an indication of optical energy deposition due to the photosensitizing substance in the target tissue.

A system and method for monitoring laser therapy of a target tissue include a therapeutic control unit having a first light source configured to deliver light to the target tissue for therapy, an ultrasonic transducer for receiving photoacoustic signals generated due to optical absorption of light energy by the target tissue, and a monitoring control unit in communication with the ultrasonic transducer for reconstructing photoacoustic tomographic images from the received photoacoustic signals to provide an optical energy deposition map of the target tissue. A second light source utilized for imaging may also be provided.

The invention provides a solar tracking system for controlling the alignment of an instrument with respect to the sun, the instrument having a solar radiation receiver and a solar radiation collector for collecting solar radiation and directing the radiation towards the receiver, the system having: at least first and second detectors locatable so as to move with the receiver and receive radiation from the collector, for generating respective first and second output signals according to their respective exposure to solar radiation from the collector; a comparison means for comparing the first and second outputs and producing a comparison signal indicative thereof; and control means for controlling the alignment of the instrument according to the comparison signal.

An accelerometer includes a housing with a chamber, a member with a stored static charge, and a pair of electrodes connected to the housing. The member is connected to the housing and extends at least partially across the chamber. The pair of electrodes are each spaced from and on substantially opposing sides of the member from each other and are at least partially in alignment with each other. The member is movable with respect to the pair of electrodes or one of the pair of electrodes is movable with respect to the member.

An optical lens system for taking image comprises four lens elements from the object side to the image side: a first lens element with positive refractive power having a convex object-side surface; a second lens element with negative refractive power having a concave object-side surface and a concave image-side surface, at least one of the object-side surface and the image-side surface of the second lens element being aspheric, inflection points being formed on the image-side surface of the second lens element; a third lens element with positive refractive power having a convex object-side surface and a convex image-side surface; a fourth lens element with negative refractive power; and an aperture stop being located between the object side and the second lens element.

Systems and methods that facilitate the presentation and assessment of selected features in projection and / or reconstructed breast images, such as calcifications that meet selected criteria of size, shape, presence in selected slice images, distribution of pixels that could be indicative of calcification relative to other pixels or of other image features of clinical interest.

A photosensitive device (100), the photosensitive device (100) comprising a substrate (101) and a plurality of vertically aligned nanowire diodes (102 to 105) provided on and / or in the substrate (101).

A magneto elastic sensor having a longitudinally extending shaft like member which is subject to a load, is provided. A magneto-elastically active region is directly or indirectly attached to or forming a part of the member in such a manner that the mechanic stress is transmitted to the active region. A magnetically polarized region of the active region becomes increasingly helically shaped as the application stress increases. A magnetic field sensor means is arranged approximate the at least one magneto elastically region for outputting a signal corresponding to a stress induced magnetic flux emanating from the magnetically polarized region. The magnetic sensor means is configured for determination of a shear stress and / or of a tensile or compressive stress. In particular, the sensor means comprises at least one direction sensitive magnetic field sensor, which is arranged having a predetermined and fixed spatial coordination with the member.

The present invention provides a rapid and sensitive method for the detection of a West Nile virus (WNV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) and Dengue virus (DENV) and antibodies directed against thereof involving contacting a biological specimen suspected of being infected with WNV, JE, SLE or DEN with a substantially purified and isolated WNV E glycoprotein or subfragment thereof having a native conformation wherein the E glycoprotein or subfragment thereof has a reactivity with antibodies against WNV and a cross-reactivity with antibodies against JEV, SLEV and DENV. The instant invention further provides a rapid, sensitive, and consistent method for the specific detection of WNV by employing diagnostic assays having the antigen NS5 which is specifically reactive with anti-WNV antibodies but not cross-reactive with antibodies against other flaviviruses such as JEV, SLEV, or DENV. The present invention also provides a rapid, sensitive, and consistent method for the specific detection of DENV by employing diagnostic assays having the antigen NS5 which is specifically reactive with anti-DENV antibodies but do not cross-react with antibodies against other flaviviruses such as JEV, SLEV, or WNV. Further, the DENV NS5 antigens are serospecific and do not cross react with antibodies to other DENV strains. Thus, the method of the present invention provides a manner by which to discriminate infections by each DENV strain. Further, diagnostic kits for carrying out the methods are provided. The methods and kits for carrying out the methods of the invention are rapid and require as little as 10 minutes to detect a result.

The methods and applications of a surface plasmon resonance-enhanced marking technique are disclosed. The technique uses surface plasmon resonance (SPR) excited nanoparticles and a surface plasmon resonance source in nonlinear interactions with nearby chemical substances and medium for marking purposes. The SPR-enhanced absorption and fluorescence rates of chemical substances or medium and nonlinearity of SPR interactions with chemical substances or medium make the proposed method suitable for marking fragile materials including biomaterials, such as writing on thin plastic foils or DNA-protein crosslinking. The marking method can also be applied to a three-dimensional recording and read out information system with subwavelength resolutions, coding information of secrete documents, drug delivery, tissue surgery, tattoo writing or removal, photodynamic therapy, cosmetic and dermatological treatment.

A system for manufacturing a book on demand includes a first printing unit for printing a first component of the book (i.e. a cover), a second printing unit for printing a second component of the book (i.e. a text block), and a binding station for binding the first component and the second component together. The system may further include a computer control system receiving information relating to the book to be manufactured, the information comprising information relating to the content of said first or second component and information relating to the finished size of the book. The computer control system initiates—among other functions—manufacture of the first component by said first printing unit, receives a signal that the printing of the first component is successful and, after receipt of this signal, initiates printing of the second component by said second printing unit. The first component could be stored in a buffer until the second component is ready. The advantage of this hierarchy is that the process which is more time consuming and / or sensitive with respect to disturbances and / or more expensive can control the over-all process. Rejects of completed books not fulfilling the quality criteria are avoided and down-times minimized. Also avoided is the requirement to store the second component until the first component is ready.

An ambient condition detector incorporates an audio transducer for discrimination between alarm and non-alarm conditions. The transducer can provide occupancy information. In addition, a monitoring system can graphically present information as to the location of individuals, such as firefighters, in the region.

A MEMS optical display system includes an illumination source for providing illumination light, a collimating lens for receiving the illumination light and forming from it collimated illumination light, and a microlens array having an array of lenslets for receiving the illumination light from the collimating lens. The converging microlens array directs the illumination light through an array of pixel apertures in an aperture plate to a microelectrical mechanical reflector array positioned opposite the aperture plate. The microelectrical mechanical reflector array includes an array of microelectrical mechanical actuators that support reflectors in alignment with the array of pixel apertures and selectively orients the reflectors to direct the illumination light back through the pixel apertures (to form part of a display image) or against the aperture plate (to be blocked). The illumination light passing back through the pixel apertures passes through the microlens array and a beamsplitter to a display screen.

Methods for producing plasma-treated, functionalized carbon-containing surfaces are provided. The methods include the steps of subjecting a carbon-containing substrate to a plasma to create surface active sites on the surface of the substrate and reacting the surface active sites with stable spacer molecules in the absence of plasma. Biomolecules may be immobilized on the resulting functionalized surfaces. The methods may be used to treat a variety of carbon-containing substrates, including polymeric surfaces, diamond-like carbon films and carbon nanotubes and nanoparticles.

A diagnostic drug and a diagnostic kit for autoimmune diseases including at least one of a polypeptide selected from an HMG-1 family, a polypeptide selected from an HMG-2 family, a fragment thereof which is reactable with an antibody of an autoimmune disease patient, and a method for detecting an antibody of an autoimmune disease patient using the same are provided.

The present invention provides a rapid and sensitive method for the detection of a West Nile virus (WNV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), St. Louis encephalitis virus (SLEV) and Dengue virus (DENV) and antibodies directed against thereof involving contacting a biological specimen suspected of being infected with WNV, JE, SLE or DEN with a substantially purified and isolated WNV E glycoprotein or subfragment thereof having a native conformation wherein the E glycoprotein or subfragment thereof has a reactivity with antibodies against WNV and a cross-reactivity with antibodies against JEV, SLEV and DENV. The instant invention further provides a rapid, sensitive, and consistent method for the specific detection of WNV by employing diagnostic assays having the antigen NS5 which is specifically reactive with anti-WNV antibodies but not cross-reactive with antibodies against other flaviviruses such as JEV, SLEV, or DENV. The present invention also provides a rapid, sensitive, and consistent method for the specific detection of DENV by employing diagnostic assays having the antigen NS5 which is specifically reactive with anti-DENV antibodies but do not cross-react with antibodies against other flaviviruses such as JEV, SLEV, or WNV. Further, the DENV NS5 antigens are serospecific and do not cross react with antibodies to other DENV strains. Thus, the method of the present invention provides a manner by which to discriminate infections by each DENV strain. Further, diagnostic kits for carrying out the methods are provided. The methods and kits for carrying out the methods of the invention are rapid and require as little as 10 minutes to detect a result. The invention also provides monoclonal antibodies against WNV NS5 and DENV NS5 antigen and their use in detecting WNV and DENV infections in a biological sample.

A composition, method, and test device for quantitatively determining the oxidant concentration of a test sample are disclosed. The test device includes a test pad having a suitable carrier matrix incorporating an indicator reagent composition capable of interacting with an oxidant to produce a detectable and measurable response for oxidant over a wide concentration range of oxidant. An indicator reagent composition contains: (a) an iodide salt, (b) a buffer, and (c) a water-soluble polymer, preferably a cellulose-based polymer. An indicator reagent composition is incorporated into a carrier matrix, like filter paper, to provide a test pad useful in a dry phase oxidant assay of a test sample, especially for test samples containing a high concentration of oxidant, like chlorine or a peroxide.

A method and apparatus detects the presence of a fluorescent tracer dye, a change in capacitance, or a change in fiber optic electrical properties to determine whether or not a TCP gun has fired. The method and apparatus detects the number of charges fired to determine whether or not all TCP guns have fired and also determines the contributions of injection wells to producing wells by introducing fluorescent tracers into injection wells and detecting the presence of the fluorescent tracers at production wells. The invention places fluorescent dye particles in a gravel pack to sense when a gravel pack is deteriorating by detecting the tracer dye particles in the well flow.

A high-sensitivity pressure conduction sensor is presented. The present invention includes a pair of locally resilient conductive layers and a locally resilient pressure conduction composite disposed between and contacting both conductive layers. Alternate embodiments include at least three locally resilient conductive layers and at least two locally resilient pressure conduction composites, each having a critical percolation threshold. Each composite is disposed between and contacting two conductive layers in a multi-layer fashion. Other embodiments include a locally resilient pressure conduction composite, a flexible substrate completely surrounding the composite so as to seal it therein, and a pair of electrical leads contacting the composite and terminating outside of the flexible substrate. Pressure conduction composites are composed of a plurality of conductive particles electrically isolated within a non-conductive matrix. Conductive particles are loaded so as to have a volume fraction approaching the critical percolation threshold of the material system and exhibit a conductance that greatly increases with pressure. Sensors may be arranged to form one or more arrays including planar and conformal configurations. The present invention has immediate application in keyboards, intrusion systems, control systems, submarines, ships, sonobuoys, doors, and switches.

Improving the dynamic range of captured images is disclosed by using sub-pixel arrays to capture light at different exposures and generate color pixel outputs for an image in a single frame. Each sub-pixel array can include multiple sub-pixels. The sub-pixels that make up a sub-pixel array can include red (R) sub-pixels, green (G) sub-pixels, blue (B) sub-pixels, and in some embodiments, clear sub-pixels. Those sub-pixel arrays having clear sub-pixels effectively have a higher exposure level and can capture low-light scenes (for dark areas) better than those sub-pixel arrays without clear sub-pixels. Each sub-pixel array can produce a color pixel output that is a combination of the outputs of the sub-pixels in the sub-pixel array. Each sub-pixel in a sub-pixel array can have the same exposure time, or in some embodiments, individual sub-pixels within a sub-pixel array can have different exposure times to improve the overall dynamic range even more.

The present invention relates to a method of detection of a compound of interest that is present at low levels in a sample. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of detection of a compound of interest in solution by a nucleic acid-labelled binding construct, separation of the unbound nucleic acid-labelled binding construct, and the detection of the bound nucleic acid-labelled binding construct in the solution phase. The present invention is particularly adaptable to be used in conjunction with a nucleic acid amplification reaction for detecting the presence or absence of the nucleic acid portion of binding construct in a sample indicating the presence or absence of the compound of interest.

A MEMS optical display system includes an illumination source for providing illumination light, a collimating lens for receiving the illumination light and forming from it collimated illumination light, and a microlens array having an array of lenslets for receiving the illumination light from the collimating lens. The converging microlens array directs the illumination light through an array of pixel apertures in an aperture plate to a microelectrical mechanical reflector array positioned opposite the aperture plate. The microelectrical mechanical reflector array includes an array of microelectrical mechanical actuators that support reflectors in alignment with the array of pixel apertures and selectively orients the reflectors to direct the illumination light back through the pixel apertures (to form part of a display image) or against the aperture plate (to be blocked). The illumination light passing back through the pixel apertures passes through the microlens array and a beamsplitter to a display screen.

A radiation sensor (27) includes a radiation sensor chip (1) including first (7) and second (8) thermopile junctions connected to form a thermopile (7,8). The first thermopile junction is disposed in a floating portion of a dielectric membrane (3) thermally insulated from a silicon substrate (2) of the chip, and the second thermopile junction is disposed in the dielectric membrane directly adjacent to the substrate. Bump conductors (28) are bonded to corresponding bonding pads (28A) coupled to the thermopile (7,8) to physically and electrically connect the chip to conductors on a printed circuit board (23). The silicon substrate transmits infrared radiation to the thermopile while blocking visible light.

Methods are presented for analysing semiconductor materials (8), and silicon photovoltaic cells and cell precursors in particular, using imaging of photoluminescence (12) generated with high intensity illumination (16). The high photoluminescence signal levels (16) obtained with such illumination (30) enable the acquisition of images from moving samples with minimal blurring. Certain material defects of interest to semiconductor device manufacturers, especially cracks, appear sharper under high intensity illumination. In certain embodiments images of photoluminescence generated with high and low intensity illumination are compared to highlight selected material properties or defects.