2084 results about "Volume change" patented technology

Methods and devices are provided for reducing motion artifacts when monitoring volume changes in blood vessels. Light having a first wavelength and light having a second wavelength are transmitted through a human appendage, toward the epidermis of a patient, or through tissue within the body of a patient. A portion of the light having the first wavelength and a portion of the light having the second wavelength is received. A first signal is produced based on the received portion of light having the first wavelength. A second signal is produced based on the received portion of light having the second wavelength. One of the first and second signals is subtracted from the other to produce a plethysmography signal that is representative of volume changes in blood vessels of patient tissue.

Combinations of materials are described in which high energy density active materials for negative electrodes of lithium ion batteries. In general, metal alloy / intermetallic compositions can provide the high energy density. These materials can have moderate volume changes upon cycling in a lithium ion battery. The volume changes can be accommodated with less degradation upon cycling through the combination with highly porous electrically conductive materials, such as highly porous carbon and / or foamed current collectors. Whether or not combined with a highly porous electrically conductive material, metal alloy / intermetallic compositions with an average particle size of no more than a micron can be advantageously used in the negative electrodes to improve cycling properties.

A time-varying modulating signal is used as a plethysmography signal, rather than a time-varying detected optical power. The time-varying detected optical power is used (e.g., in a feedback loop) to adjust the source intensity. Light is transmitted from a light source, wherein an intensity of the transmitted light is based on a light control signal. A portion of the light transmitted from the light source is received at a light detector, the portion having an associated detected light intensity. A feedback signal is produced based the portion of light received at the light detector, the feedback signal indicative of the detected light intensity. The feedback signal is compared to a reference signal to produce a comparison signal. The light control signal is then adjusted based on the comparison signal, wherein at least one of the comparison signal and the light control signal is representative of volume changes in blood vessels.

The invention discloses a carbon / silicon / carbon nano composite structure cathode material and a preparation method thereof, belonging to the technical field of electrochemical power supply technologies. The cathode material consists of a carbon-based conductive substrate, nano silicon and a nano carbon coating layer, wherein the nano silicon is uniformly distributed on the carbon-based conductive substrate; the nano carbon coating layer is arranged on the surface of the nano silicon; the carbon-based conductive substrate is porous carbon, a carbon nanotube or graphene; the nano silicon exists in the state of nanoparticles or nano films; the weight percentage of the nano silicon in the cathode material is 10-90 percent; and the thickness of the nano carbon coating layer is 0.1-10 nanometers. The preparation method comprises the following steps of: depositing nano silicon on the carbon substrate in a reaction space in oxygen-free atmosphere by adopting a chemical vapor deposition process; and coating nano carbon on the surface of the nano silicon by adopting the chemical vapor deposition process. In the obtained carbon / silicon / carbon composite cathode material, the volume change of a silicon electrode material is controlled effectively in the charging and discharging processes, the electrode structure is kept complete, the circulation volume is large, the circulation service life is long, and the electrochemical performance is high.

Compositions are described that can provide high energy density active materials for use in negative electrodes of lithium ion batteries. These materials generally comprise silicon and / or tin, and may further comprise carbon and / or zinc as well as other elements in appropriate embodiments. The active materials can have moderate volume changes upon cycling in a lithium ion battery.

As an alternative technique to lead-acid batteries, the present invention provides an inexpensive 2 V non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery having excellent cycle life at a high rate by preventing volume change during charge and discharge. The non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery uses: a positive electrode active material having a layered structure, being represented by chemical formula Li1±α[Me]O2, where 0≦α<0.2, and Me is a transition metal including Ni and at least one selected from the group consisting of Mn, Fe, Co, Ti and Cu, and including elemental nickel and elemental cobalt in substantially the same ratio; and a negative electrode active material including Li4Ti5O12(Li[Li1 / 3Ti5 / 3]O4).

Example techniques are provided for controlling volume of A / V devices using an improved volume control. The volume control may be implemented as a slider, where the sliding element is temporarily slid in response to user input (e.g., touched and dragged by the user), but then automatically “snaps” back to the center of the slider's range when the user input ends (e.g., is released by the user). Movement of the element from the center is interpreted as a relative volume adjustment, with the rate of volume change being proportional to the distance between the center of the range and the temporary position of the element. An indicator is provided indicating the rate, to provide user feedback. The volume control may be utilized as a master volume control in a home automation system.

The present invention provides devices and structures and methods of use thereof in electrochemical actuation. This invention provides electrochemical actuators, which are based, inter-alia, on an electric field-driven intercalation or alloying of high-modulus inorganic compounds, which can produce large and reversible volume changes, providing high actuation energy density, high actuation authority and large free strain.

A valve actuator based on a conductive polymer gel is disclosed. A nonconductive housing is provided having two separate chambers separated by a porous frit. The conductive polymer is held in one chamber and an electrolyte solution, used as a source of charged ions, is held in the second chamber. The ends of the housing a sealed with a flexible elastomer. The polymer gel is further provide with electrodes with which to apply an electrical potential across the gel in order to initiate an oxidation reaction which in turn drives anions across the porous frit and into the polymer gel, swelling the volume of the gel and simultaneously contracting the volume of the electrolyte solution. Because the two end chambers are sealed the flexible elastomer expands or contracts with the chamber volume change. By manipulating the potential across the gel the motion of the elastomer can be controlled to act as a "gate" to open or close a fluid channel and thereby control flow through that channel.

Provided is a nanocomposite binder for an electrode mix of a secondary battery, comprising carbon nanotubes in a photo- and / or thermo-polymerizable material or polymer, or a mixture thereof; and a lithium secondary battery comprising the same. The carbon nanotube-containing composite binder according to the present invention and a lithium secondary battery comprising the same employs a novel nanocomposite, prepared by combination of carbon nanotubes with a conventional binder material, as a binder of an anode. As a result, the present invention provides advantages such as improved conductivity of the anode due to decreased electrical resistance of the binder, and enhanced mechanical properties of the binder and thereby being capable of preventing the separation of an anode active material layer from a current collector due to volume changes occurring upon charge / discharge cycles.

The invention relates to a method for acquiring several changing values and representing the acquired values on a monitoring screen, as well as to a device with a screen in order, on this, to represent changing values acquired during ventilation of the patient. The device comprises means for acquiring at least three changing values of different origin, and means for representing the values, which permit the acquired values to be qualitatively represented on the screen together in a single graphic element. This graphic element has a pictorial representation of a lung shape. The invention is characterised in that the means for representing the values are designed such that a volume change of the ventilated lung which is detected within each breath, is represented in an animated manner by way of size change of the lung shape corresponding to this corresponding volume change.

A semiconductor structure includes backside dummy plugs embedded in a substrate. The backside dummy plugs can be a conductive structure that enhances vertical thermal conductivity of the semiconductor structure and provides electrical decoupling of signals in through-substrate vias (TSVs) in the substrate. The backside dummy plug can include a cavity to accommodate volume changes in other components in the substrate, thereby alleviating mechanical stress in the substrate during thermal cycling and operation of the semiconductor chip. The backside dummy plug including the cavity can be composed of an insulator material or a conductive material. The inventive structures can be employed to form three-dimensional structures having vertical chip integration, in which inter-wafer thermal conductivity is enhanced, cross-talk between signals through TSVs is reduced, and / or mechanical stress to the TSVs is reduced.

Apparatus for measuring ventilation of a body having a surface that moves in response to the ventilation. The apparatus may include a first permanent magnet, a first magnet attachment mechanism configured to attach the first magnet to the surface, a first magnetic sensor having an output, a first sensor attachment mechanism configured to attach the first sensor to the surface, and a processing system configured to communicate with the magnetic sensor and to determine the ventilation based on the output of the magnetic sensor. An associated process is also disclosed, along with broader applications of the apparatus and process.

Negative active materials including metal nanocrystal composites comprising metal nanocrystals having an average particle diameter of about 20 nm or less and a carbon coating layer are provided. The negative active material includes metal nanocrystals coated by a carbon layer, which decreases the absolute value of the change in volume during charge / discharge and decreases the formation of cracks in the negative active material resulting from a difference in the volume change rate during charge / discharge between metal and carbon. Therefore, high charge / discharge capacities and improved capacity retention capabilities can be obtained.

Combinations of materials are described in which high energy density active materials for negative electrodes of lithium ion batteries. In general, metal alloy / intermetallic compositions can provide the high energy density. These materials can have moderate volume changes upon cycling in a lithium ion battery. The volume changes can be accommodated with less degradation upon cycling through the combination with highly porous electrically conductive materials, such as highly porous carbon and / or foamed current collectors. Whether or not combined with a highly porous electrically conductive material, metal alloy / intermetallic compositions with an average particle size of no more than a micron can be advantageously used in the negative electrodes to improve cycling properties.

The present invention discloses a preparation method of a complex lithium negative pole of a solid state battery, and belongs to the technical field of electrochemistry and new energy resources. The preparation method mainly comprises the steps: depositing lithium metal on three-dimensional carbon material or foam porous material gaps by using a heat infusing melting method or an electrodeposition method to obtain the complex lithium negative pole, wherein the application of a three-dimensional framework plays two roles, namely, providing adequate space for pre-storing lithium in the preparation process; providing a carrier for receiving metal lithium in a battery circulation process. The complex lithium negative pole can be widely applied in lithium metal batteries such as lithium ion batteries, lithium-air batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, and solid state batteries. In the assembled symmetric solid state battery, under large electric current density of 5mA cm-2, a stable voltage decay (200mV) can still be kept after circulation for 100 times, in the battery circulation, the growth of lithium dendrites can be inhibited and the pole volume change can be stabilized, and the advantages of being good in circulation stability, and long service life can be realized; in the present invention, a carrier material is rich, and low in price; the process is controlled, the cost is low, and the batch production can be realized.

A direct shear tester for both portable field test and indoor test and a sampling and testing method are provided. The tester comprises a sampling device, a portable vertical load system and a horizontal shear system. The testing method comprises burying a rigid frame together with a cruciform shear frame in the soil of a place to be test, digging out the whole soil containing the rigid frame and the cruciform shear frame to obtain an integrated sample with less interference, placing and fixing the integrated sample in a rigid frame base on a box-shaped frame, applying a vertical force by using the portable vertical load system on the box-shaped frame, and measuring the strength of the sample by using the shear frame. During the test process, the volume change of the sample in the vertical direction is not limited. The tester has simple structure, easy operation and good portability. The testing method employs flexible tension shear mode instead of the rigid top-bunt shear mode, overcomes the friction and sampling problems, and avoids the vertical pressure offset during the test process by using the portable vertical loading system, thereby increasing the test accuracy.

A method and apparatus for determining an initial flow rate in a conduit is disclosed. A known change is made to the flow to be measured, resulting changes (or values corresponding to these changes), or relative changes in the flow to be measured are monitored and the initial flow in the conduit is calculated from the value of the known change and monitored changes. Devices to practice the method include catheters having one or two sensors and one or two sites for introducing the volume change.

A method and apparatus for assessment of hemodynamic and functional state of the brain is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method and apparatus includes non-invasive measurement of intracranial pressure, assessment of the brain's electrical activity, and measurement of cerebral blood flow. In some embodiments, the method and apparatus include measuring the volume change in the intracranial vessels with a near-infrared spectroscopy or other optical method, measuring the volume change in the intracranial vessels with rheoencephalography or other electrical method, and measuring the brain's electrical activity using electroencephalography.

The present invention provides a method of laser processing of materials, specifically laser induced ablation processes for laser removal of material particularly important in medical and dental applications in which the laser removal of material should be done in such a way as to not damage any of the surrounding soft or hard biomaterial. The ablation process is achieved by impulsive heat deposition (IHD) by direct and specific excitation of short lived vibrations or phonons of the material in such a way as to not generate highly reactive and damaging ions through multiphoton absorption. The heat deposition and ensuing ablation process under prescribed time and wavelength conditions for laser irradiation is achieved faster than heat transfer to surrounding tissue by either acoustic or thermal expansion or thermal diffusion that otherwise would lead to excess heat related damage. The result is that all the deposited laser energy is optimally channelled into the ablation process in which the inertially confined stresses from both photomechanical expansion forces and thermally driven phase transitions and associated volume changes constructively interfere to drive the most efficient ablation process possible with minimal damage to surrounding areas by either ionizing radiation or heat effects. By choosing a specific range of wavelengths, spatial and temporal shaping of infrared laser pulses, the energy can be optimally deposited in a manner that further increases the efficiency of the ablation process with respect to minimizing collateral damage.

A battery electrode comprises an electrically conductive substrate having an electrochemically active electrode composition supported thereupon. The composition includes an active material capable of reversibly alloying with lithium, which material shows a volume change upon such reversible alloying. The composition includes a buffering agent which accommodates the volume change in the active material and minimizes mechanical strain in the composition. The active composition may further include materials such as carbon. The active material may comprise silicon, aluminum, antimony, antimony oxides, bismuth, bismuth oxides, tin, tin oxides, chromium, chromium oxides, tungsten, and tungsten oxides or lithium alloys of the foregoing. The buffering agent may comprise a metal or a metal oxide or lithium alloys of the foregoing. Also disclosed are batteries which incorporate these electrodes, methods for the fabrication of the electrodes and methods for the fabrication and operation of the batteries.

The invention discloses a device of synchronizing playing notification tone while inputting slide operation which is used to the mobile terminal of the two loudspeakers, the two loudspeakers are each provided on the top and bottom part. The device comprises: a testing module which is used to test real-timely inputting slide operation in the touch screen of the motive terminal; a notification tone broadcast module which is used to control the preset notification tone of the tow loudspeakers while the slide operation is tested; a direction judgment module which is used to judge real-timely the slide direction of the slide operation; a volume regulation module which is used to adjust the volume of the notification tone the two loudspeakers play according to the slide direction. The invention discloses a method of synchronizing playing notification tone while inputting slide operation. Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme realizes synchronizing playing notification tone while inputting slide operation, the notification tone volume variation rule is consistent with the slide direction of the slide operation, the slide operation is more interesting.

The electrode for a rechargeable lithium battery includes a current collector and an active material layer disposed on the current collector. The active material layer has pores inside the active material layer. Porosity of the active material layer is higher than 50% and equal to or less than 70%. The pores formed inside the active material layer buffer against volume change that occurs during charges and discharges, and thereby improve cycle-life characteristic of a rechargeable lithium battery.

A volume sensor-free microdosing device comprises a pressure chamber which is at least partly delimited by a displacer, an actuating device for actuating the displacer, the volume of the pressure chamber being adapted to the changed by actuating the displacer, a media reservoir which is in fluid communication with the pressure chamber, an outlet opening which is in fluid communication with the pressure chamber, and a control mechanism. The control mechanism drives the microdosing device in such a way that a small change of volume of the pressure chamber volume is effected per unit time by a movement of the displacer from a first position to a predetermined second position, the second position of the displacer defining a larger volume of the pressure chamber than the first position, so as to suck a fluid volume into the pressure chamber, and that, in a second phase, a large volume change of the pressure chamber volume is effected per unit time by a movement of the displacer from the second position to the first position, so as to eject a defined fluid volume from the outlet opening in this way.

The present invention provides devices and structures and methods of use thereof in electrochemical actuation. This invention provides electrochemical actuators, which are based, inter-alia, on an electric field-driven intercalation or alloying of high-modulus inorganic compounds, which can produce large and reversible volume changes, providing high actuation energy density, high actuation authority and large free strain.

The invention discloses a nanometer plural gel and a preparation method thereof. The preparation method comprises the following steps of: (1) preparing a polymer into a film in a mould, and then solidifying or cross-linking to obtain a polymer gel film; and (2) adding a nanometer material, N-isopropylacrylamide, a cross-linking agent and an initiating agent to water to obtain a mixed solution, adding the mixed solution to the mould with the polymer gel film, and carrying out polymerization reaction and cross-linking reaction under the irradiation of an ultraviolet lamp to obtain the nanometer plural gel. The nanometer plural gel provided by the invention has a double-layer structure; and PNIPAAm gel which contains nanometer particles can generate the temperature and volume change of a specific area under illumination due to photothermal effect and can integrally generate response behaviors, such as bending and the like.

The invention discloses a preparation method of a nano Ni3S2 material and belongs to the field of novel energy resources and electrochemistry. The preparation method of the nano Ni3S2 material is characterized by synthesizing the nano Ni3S2 material by taking a Ni net with a three-dimensional porous structure by virtue of a solvothermal method. A nano Ni3S2 active substance formed during the solvothermal process is directly loaded on an upper matrix of the Ni net, so that the active substance Ni3S2 is in relatively firm contact with a Ni net of a current collector; gaps of the porous Ni net can effectively buffer the volume change of the Ni3S2 in the processes of removing and embedding lithium, so that the cycle stability of the composite material can be improved; meanwhile, by virtue of a three-dimensional conductive network of the Ni net, the electronic conductivity of the composite material can be improved, so that the rate performance of the material is improved. The preparation method of the nano Ni3S2 material is simple, green, free from pollution, low in cost and suitable for industrial production. The Ni3S2 material prepared by adopting the method is small in particle size and uniform in particle distribution; according to an electrode prepared from the material, a polymer adhesive and a conductive agent do not need to be added in the electrode; the electrode has the high electrochemical performance and can be widely used in the fields of various portable electronic devices, electric automobiles, aeronautics and astronautics, and the like.

In an apparatus and method for detecting incipient heart failure of a patient. Impedance signals reflecting volume changes of the right ventricle and / or the right atrium of a heart of the patient are obtained. The impedance signals are processed to determine a first impedance parameter substantially reflecting a volume of the right ventricle, and a heart failure status is determined based on the first impedance parameter, wherein a decreasing first impedance parameter is determined to be an indication of a deterioration of the heart failure status.

An infusion pump and method are provided which combine flow rate measurements calibrated by accurate volume measurements over time.