2412 results about "Order of magnitude" patented technology

A working end of a surgical instrument that carries first and second jaws for delivering energy to tissue. In a preferred embodiment, at least one jaw of the working end defines a tissue-engagement plane that contacts the targeted tissue. The cross-section of the engagement plane reveals that it defines a surface conductive portion that overlies a variably resistive matrix of a temperature-sensitive resistive material or a pressure-sensitive resistive material. An interior of the jaw carries a conductive material or electrode that is coupled to an Rf source and controller. In an exemplary embodiment, the variably resistive matrix can comprise a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) material, such as a ceramic, that is engineered to exhibit a dramatically increasing resistance (i.e., several orders of magnitude) above a specific temperature of the material. In use, the engagement plane will apply active Rf energy to captured tissue until the point in time that the variably resistive matrix is heated to its selected switching range. Thereafter, current flow from the conductive electrode through the engagement surface will be terminated due to the exponential increase in the resistance of variably resistive matrix to provide instant and automatic reduction of Rf energy application. Further, the variably resistive matrix can effectively function as a resistive electrode to thereafter conduct thermal energy to the engaged tissue volume. Thus, the jaw structure can automatically modulate the application of energy to tissue between active Rf heating and passive conductive heating of captured tissue to maintain a target temperature level.

In the systems and methods of the present invention a multifocal multiphoton imaging system has a signal to noise ratio (SNR) that is reduced by over an order of magnitude at imaging depth equal to twice the mean free path scattering length of the specimen. An MMM system based on an area detector such as a multianode photomultiplier tube (MAPMT) that is optimized for high-speed tissue imaging. The specimen is raster-scanned with an array of excitation light beams. The emission photons from the array of excitation foci are collected simultaneously by a MAPMT and the signals from each anode are detected using high sensitivity, low noise single photon counting circuits. An image is formed by the temporal encoding of the integrated signal with a raster scanning pattern. A deconvolution procedure taking account of the spatial distribution and the raster temporal encoding of collected photons can be used to improve decay coefficient. We demonstrate MAPMT-based MMM can provide significantly better contrast than CCD-based existing systems.

A microfluidic device comprises a matrix of rotary flow reactors. The microfluidic matrix device offers a solution to the “world-to-chip” interface problem by accomplishing two important goals simultaneously: an economy of scale in reagent consumption is achieved, while simultaneously minimizing pipetting steps. N² independent assays can be performed with only 2N+1 pipetting steps, using a single aliquot of enzyme amortized over all reactors. The chip reduces labor relative to conventional fluid handling techniques by using an order of magnitude less pipetting steps, and reduces cost by consuming two to three orders of magnitude less reagents per reaction. A PCR format has immediate applications in medical diagnosis and gene testing. Beyond PCR, the microfluidic matrix chip provides a universal and flexible platform for biological and chemical assays requiring parsimonious use of precious reagents and highly automated processing.

A highly sensitive assay is disclosed which combines immunomagnetic enrichment with multiparameter flow cytometric and immunocytochemical analysis to detect, enumerate and characterize carcinoma cells in the blood. The assay can detect one epithelial cell or less in 1 ml of blood and has a greater sensitivity than conventional PCR or immunohistochemistry by 1-2 orders of magnitude. In addition, the assay facilitates the biological characterization and staging of carcinoma cells.

Methods and applications of surface plasmon resonance-enhanced antibacterial, anti-adhere, adhere, catalytic, hydrophilic, hydrophobic, spectral change, biological and chemical decomposition properties of materials with embedded nanoparticles are disclosed. A method of the nonlinear generation of surface plasmon resonance enables the use of light with wavelengths from X-Ray to IR to enhance properties of materials by several orders of magnitude. The nanoparticle size is crucial for the enhancement and their size is considered to be in the proposed methods and applications within a range of 0.1 nm to 200,000 nm. The nanoparticles preferably are made of noble metals and/or semiconductor oxides. The invention describes a very broad spectrum of applications of surface plasmon resonance-enhanced properties of materials with embedded nanoparticles, from environmental cleanup by road pavement and construction materials, self-cleaning processes of surface materials, thermochromic effects on heat blocking materials, corrosion preventing paint, to sanitization by antibacterial textile fabrics, filters, personal clothing, contact lenses and medical devices.

A technique of sampling, sensing, reading and/or determining the data state of a memory cell of a memory cell array (for example, a memory cell array having a plurality of memory cells which consist of an electrically floating body transistor). In one embodiment, the present inventions are directed to a memory cell, having an electrically floating body transistor, and/or a technique of reading the data state in such a memory cell. In this regard, the present inventions employ the intrinsic bipolar transistor current to read and/or determine the data state of the electrically floating body memory cell (for example, whether the electrically floating body memory cell is programmed in a State “0” and State “1”). During the read operation, the data state is determined primarily by or sensed substantially using the bipolar current responsive to the read control signals and significantly less by the interface channel current component, which is negligible relatively to the bipolar component. The bipolar transistor current may be very sensitive to the floating body potential due to the high gain of the intrinsic bipolar transistor. As such, the programming window obtainable with the bipolar reading technique may be considerably higher (for example, up two orders of magnitude higher) than the programming window employing a conventional reading technique (which is based primarily on the interface channel current component.

The invention relates to a composite comprising a weight fraction of single-wall carbon nanotubes and at least one polar polymer wherein the composite has an electrical and/or thermal conductivity enhanced over that of the polymer alone. The invention also comprises a method for making this polymer composition. The present application provides composite compositions that, over a wide range of single-wall carbon nanotube loading, have electrical conductivities exceeding those known in the art by more than one order of magnitude. The electrical conductivity enhancement depends on the weight fraction (F) of the single-wall carbon nanotubes in the composite. The electrical conductivity of the composite of this invention is at least 5 Siemens per centimeter (S/cm) at (F) of 0.5 (i.e. where single-wall carbon nanotube loading weight represents half of the total composite weight), at least 1 S/cm at a F of 0.1, at least 1×10^{−4 S/cm at (F) of 0.004, at least 6×10−9} S/cm at (F) of 0.001 and at least 3×10⁻¹⁶ S/cm (F) plus the intrinsic conductivity of the polymer matrix material at of 0.0001. The thermal conductivity enhancement is in excess of 1 Watt/m-° K. The polar polymer can be polycarbonate, poly(acrylic acid), poly(acrylic acid), poly(methacrylic acid), polyoxide, polysulfide, polysulfone, polyamides, polyester, polyurethane, polyimide, poly(vinyl acetate), poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(vinyl chloride), poly(vinyl pyridine), poly(vinyl pyrrolidone), copolymers thereof and combinations thereof. The composite can further comprise a nonpolar polymer, such as, a polyolefin polymer, polyethylene, polypropylene, polybutene, polyisobutene, polyisoprene, polystyrene, copolymers thereof and combinations thereof.

A method of simulating aerial images of large mask areas obtained during the exposure step of a photo-lithographic process when fabricating a semiconductor integrated circuit silicon wafer is described. The method includes the steps of defining mask patterns to be projected by the exposure system to create images of the mask patterns; determining an appropriate sampling range and sampling interval; generating a characteristic matrix describing the exposure system; inverting the matrix to obtain eigenvalues as well as the eigenvectors (or kernels) representing the decomposition of the exposure system; convolving the mask patterns with these eigenvectors; and weighing the resulting convolution by the eigenvalues to form the aerial images. The method is characterized in that the characteristic matrix is precisely defined by the sampling range and the sampling interval, such that the sampling range is the shortest possible and the sampling interval, the largest possible, without sacrificing accuracy. The method of generating aerial images of patterns having large mask areas provides a speed improvement of several orders of magnitude over conventional approaches.

An automated method of rapidly producing customized 3D graphics images in which various user images and video are merged into 3D computer graphics scenes, producing hybrid images that appear to have been created by a computationally intensive 3D rendering process, but which in fact have been created by a much less computationally intensive series of 2D image operations. To do this, a 3D graphics computer model is rendered into a 3D graphics image using a customized renderer designed to automatically report on some of the renderer's intermediate rendering operations, and store this intermediate data in the form of metafilm. User images and video may then be automatically combined with the metafilm, producing a 3D rendered quality final image with orders of magnitude fewer computing operations. The process can be used to inexpensively introduce user content into sophisticated images and videos suitable for many internet, advertising, cell phone, and other applications.

Directional piezoelectric devices and methods for their manufacture are provided that improve the quality of piezoelectric device mediated signal detection and provide new thermal imaging devices. The devices can provide over an order of magnitude improved signal to noise ratio compared with previously known devices. The devices may be used along with new head mounted acoustic technologies for improved voice communication systems in inherently noisy environments. The head mounted technologies utilize microphones that are activated by pressure wherein the applied trigger pressure further serves to improve efficiency of the microphones. Also provided are head pieces that include both microphones and speakers that are particularly useful for harsh environments such as those encountered by fire fighters. The head pieces are capable of further functions related to contact with the head of the user, such as reporting physiological variables of the user, along with oral communications.

A method of prestack reverse-time migration of seismic data that yields significant gains in computer storage and memory bandwidth efficiency is disclosed. The values only of the source wave incident on the boundaries of a simulation domain are saved, rather than all of the values of the wavefield throughout the entire simulation domain. This data allows an accurate and robust approximation of the forward propagated source wave for all finite-difference approximation orders of the acoustic wave equation. The method reduces the amount of data storage required by an order of magnitude and overcomes the present challenge of requiring special large memory hardware while allowing for the implementation of 3D prestack reverse-time migration on off-the-shelf platforms.

Methods, and structures formed thereby, are disclosed for forming laterally grown structures with nanoscale dimensions from nanoscale arrays which can be patterned from nanoscale lithography. The structures and methods disclosed herein have applications with electronic, photonic, molecular electronic, spintronic, microfluidic or nano-mechanical (NEMS) technologies. The spacing between laterally grown structures can be a nanoscale measurement, for example with a spacing distance which can be approximately 1-50 nm, and more particularly can be from approximately 3-5 nm. This spacing is appropriate for integration of molecular electronic devices. The pitch between posts can be less than the average distance characteristic between dislocation defects for example in GaN (ρ=10¹⁰/cm²→d=0.1 μm) resulting an overall reduction in defect density. Large-scale integration of nanoscale devices can be achieved using lithographic equipment that is orders of magnitude less expensive that that used for advanced lithographic techniques, such as electron beam lithography.

The present invention relates to a method and structure for controlling plasma uniformity in plasma processing applications. Electron thermal conductivity parallel and perpendicular to magnetic field lines differs by orders of magnitude for low magnetic fields (on the order of 10 gauss). This property allows the directing of heat flux by controlling the magnetic field configuration independent of ions since the effect of modest magnetic fields upon the transport of ions themselves is minimal. Heat is preferentially conducted along magnetic field lines with electron temperatures on the order of 0.1 to 1 eV/cm being sufficient to drive kilowatt-level heat fluxes across areas typical of plasma processing source dimensions.

The invention discloses a method and spectral-imaging device for optochemical sensing with plasmon-modified multiband fluorescence polarization and with plasmon-modified polarization phase shift changes of a light beam reflected and/or passed through a total internal reflection conducting structure. The optochemical sensing is performed for molecules placed nearby the conducting structure and being excited by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to lower excited state (LES) and/or to higher excited states (HES). The invention also describes the spectral imaging device with an improved sensitivity of several orders of magnitude. The disclosed method and imaging device may find applications in clinical diagnostics, pharmaceutical screening, biomedical research, biochemical-warfare detection and other diagnostic techniques. The device can be used in bio-chip and micro-array technologies, flowcytometer, fiber optic and other types of diagnostic devices.

The present invention is directed to system for and methods of real time observing, monitoring, and detecting anomalies in programs' behavior at instruction level. The hardware assist design in this invention provides fine grained observability, and controllability. Fine grained observability provides unprecedented opportunity for detecting anomaly. Controllability provides a powerful tool for stopping anomaly, repairing the kernel and restoring the state of processing. The performance improvement over pure software approach is estimated to be many orders of magnitudes. This invention is also effective and efficient in detecting mutating computer viruses, where normal, signature based, virus detection is under performing.

The objective of the present invention is providing a method for fabricating high quality diffractive waveplates and their arrays that exhibit high diffraction efficiency over large area, the method being capable of inexpensive large volume production. The method uses a polarization converter for converting the polarization of generally non-monochromatic and partially coherent input light beam into a pattern of periodic spatial modulation at the output of said polarization converter. A substrate carrying a photoalignment layer is exposed to said polarization modulation pattern and is coated subsequently with a liquid crystalline material. The high quality diffractive waveplates of the present invention are obtained when the exposure time of said photoalignment layer exceeds by generally an order of magnitude the time period that would be sufficient for producing homogeneous orientation of liquid crystalline materials brought in contact with said photoalignment layer. Compared to holographic techniques, the method is robust with respect to mechanical noises, ambient conditions, and allows inexpensive production via printing while also allowing to double the spatial frequency of optical axis modulation of diffractive waveplates.