Surgery inventions 04/06

20060089520 - Delivery system and method for interstitial radiation therapy using custom end spacing: A delivery system and method for interstitial radiation therapy comprising a strand made of material, which is bio-absorbable in living tissue and a plurality of radioactive seeds dispersed in a predetermined array within the strand. The strands can have custom end spacings, which allow the optimal placing of seeds within...

20060089521 - Rotor driven linear flow blood pump: A rotor driven linear flow blood pump (LFBP) which completely separates the driving motor from the pumped blood is used as a vascular assist device (VAD). Without the possible hazard of blood contamination, a brushless d. c. motor (BLDC) is ideal to drive and to control the LFBP. Thus we...

20060089522 - Methods and devices for treating non-stuttering pathologies using frequency altered feedback: Methods and devices treat treating non-stuttering pathologies having impaired or decreased communication skills by administering a frequency altered auditory feedback signal to a subject having a non-stuttering pathology while the subject is speaking or talking to thereby improve the subject's communication skills. Certain methods for treating subjects having non-stuttering pathologies...

20060089523 - Embryo modification and implantation: The present invention relates to constructs and methods used to enhance the attachment and implantation of an embryo. It is shown that modified glycolipids and glycolipid-attachment molecule constructs can be used to modify embryos, or localised to target tissues, to enhance interaction between the embryo and the target tissue, (typically...

20060089524 - Systems and methods for sling delivery and placement: The present invention provides devices and methods for delivering an implantable sling to an atomical location in a patient....

20060089525 - Systems, methods and devices relating to implantable supportive slings: The invention provides, in various embodiments, aspects of soft tissue anchors, adjustable length/tension slings, interconnects between slings and soft tissue anchors, delivery devices and systems for implanting supportive slings, and methods relating to anchoring, adjusting and implanting supportive slings....

20060089526 - Self-sealing closure for an ophthalmic cannula: A self-sealing closure device adapted to selectively seal an extra-ocular end of a cannula. The closure is designed to prevent the flow of fluids through the cannula in the absence of an instrument being positioned within the cannula. The elastic closure includes a first portion that extends at least partially...

20060089527 - Surgical instrument system: The invention relates to a surgical instrument system encompassing a morcellator with a hollow shaft on whose distal end a cutting blade is configured, as well as a gripping instrument with a shaft on whose distal end a tool consisting of at least two jaw members and on whose proximal...

20060089529 - Endoscope with regidizable introducer sheath: An endoscope with guiding apparatus is described herein. A steerable endoscope is described having an elongate body with a manually or selectively steerable distal portion, an automatically controlled portion, a flexible and passively manipulated proximal portion, and an externally controlled and manipulatable tracking rod or guide. The tracking rod or...

20060089530 - Method and apparatus for advancing an instrument along an arbitrary path: An endoscope with guiding apparatus is described herein. A steerable endoscope is described having an elongate body with a manually or selectively steerable distal portion, an automatically controlled portion, a flexible and passively manipulated proximal portion, and an externally controlled and manipulatable tracking rod or guide. The tracking rod or...

20060089532 - Method and apparatus for advancing an instrument along an arbitrary path using an introducer sheath: An endoscope with guiding apparatus is described herein. A steerable endoscope is described having an elongate body with a manually or selectively steerable distal portion, an automatically controlled portion, a flexible and passively manipulated proximal portion, and an externally controlled and manipulatable tracking rod or guide. The tracking rod or...

20060089531 - Method and apparatus having an elongate guide and controllable portion: An endoscope with guiding apparatus is described herein. A steerable endoscope is described having an elongate body with a manually or selectively steerable distal portion, an automatically controlled portion, a flexible and passively manipulated proximal portion, and an externally controlled and manipulatable tracking rod or guide. The tracking rod or...

20060089528 - Method of navigating a therapeutic instrument with an apparatus having a handle coupled to an overtube: An endoscope with guiding apparatus is described herein. A steerable endoscope is described having an elongate body with a manually or selectively steerable distal portion, an automatically controlled portion, a flexible and passively manipulated proximal portion, and an externally controlled and manipulatable tracking rod or guide. The tracking rod or...

20060089533 - Self-propellable endoscopic apparatus and method: A self propelled, endoscopic apparatus formed of a flexible, fluid-filled toroid and a motorized or powerable frame The apparatus may be used to advance a variety of accessory devices into generally tubular spaces and environments for medical and non-medical applications. The apparatus when inserted into a tubular space or environment,...

20060089534 - Medical instrument, in particular uretero-renoscope: A medical instrument in particular a uretero-renoscope has a proximal head part and an elongate thin shaft for introduction into a small diameter elongate hollow organ. An instrument channel and at least one further channel is disposed within the shaft. The instrument channel is arranged centrally in the shaft....

20060089535 - Piston-actuated endoscopic steering system: Endoscopic steering apparatus is provided, including an endoscope (80) having distal (82) and proximal (98) ends thereof. In a preferred embodiment, at least one proximal cylinder (92) is disposed in a vicinity of the proximal end of the endoscope, and at least one proximal piston (94) is slidably coupled to...

20060089536 - Expandable surgical retractor system for minimal access surgery: A retractor for surgery includes a retractor body and an elongated and expandable structure attached to the retractor body. The expandable structure, when expanded, has an elongated open interior for the insertion of a portion of a surgical instrument. Drive structure is provided for expanding the expandable structure. A retractor...

20060089537 - Retractor for performing heart and thorax surgeries: A retractor has a rail, a first holding arm protruding from said rail at an angle at a second holding arm extending approximately parallel to the first holding arm. A distance between said two arms being modifiable. At least one functional element is mounted on one of said holding arms....

20060089544 - Data collection device, system, method, and computer program product for collecting data related to the dispensing of contrast media: The present invention comprises devices, systems, methods, and computer program products for managing data related to the dispensing of contrast media as part of a medical procedure. The device and system provide a controller that is capable of communicating with a dispensing device so as to extract, arrange, process, and...

20060089540 - Device for diabetes management: A device for assisting in managing food and medicine intake includes a plurality of alarms each set to correspond to a time for a patient to intake at least one of food and medicine; a display for displaying a time setting for each of the alarms; a mechanism for storing...

20060089538 - Device, system and method for detection activity of persons: A device, system and method for monitoring the activity of one or more residents in a habitable structure so as to ascertain whether the activity, or inactivity, is unusual. A variety of sensors distributed around the home collect data on activity in the home. The monitored person or persons wear...

20060089541 - General-purpose medical instrumentation: A general-purpose, low-cost system provides comprehensive physiological data collection, with extensive data object oriented programmability and configurability for a variety of medical as well as other analog data collection applications. In a preferred embodiment, programmable input signal acquisition and processing circuits are used so that virtually any analog and/or medical...

20060089539 - Integrated messages from multiple patient care devices: Techniques for integrating messages from a medical care devices used to monitor or treat a patient include receiving association data. The association data indicates an association between a particular patient and one portable communication device assigned to one primary medical caregiver. The association data also indicates multiple associations between the...

20060089543 - Method, medium, and apparatus generating health state based avatars: A method, medium, and apparatus extracting avatar parameters using an avatar transformation algorithm from health state information measured from a user and generating an avatar using the extracted parameters. In the apparatus, a state analysis unit receives at least one among a bio-signal and questionary information of a user and...

20060089542 - Mobile patient monitoring system with automatic data alerts: A system to increase compliance with patient monitoring protocols for patients with chronic disease. The system uses a wireless telecommunication device as the hub of the system. The hub is configured to increase patient compliance with a monitoring protocol by being integrated with a mobile device, such as a cellular...

20060089545 - System and method for presenting and distributing medication information: The present invention relates generally to a system for presenting and distributing information related to the medication of a patient comprising a terminal device and a method of presenting and distributing information related to the medication of the patient in such a system. The system comprises a terminal device communicating...

20060089546 - Measurement and treatment system and method: A non-intrusive physiological data measurement system and method, as well as an optically induced treatment system, are described. The measurement system includes a monitoring mechanism that includes light emitter modules capable of emitting light at at least two wavelengths. The light emitted from the light emitter modules is transmitted through...

20060089547 - Sensor for radiance based diagnostics: The present invention provides a sensor for radiance based diagnostics of body tissues comprising a performing component and an adhering component, the performing component comprising at least one radiance source for radiating a tissue and at least one detector for detecting rays emitted from the radiance source. The adhering component...

20060089548 - Correlation of concurrent non-invasively acquired signals: A non-invasive imaging and analysis system suitable for measuring attributes of a target, such as the blood glucose concentration of tissue, includes an optical processing system which provides a probe and reference beam. It also includes a means that applies the probe beam to the target to be analyzed, combines...

20060089549 - Signal processing apparatus: The present invention involves a method and an apparatus for analyzing measured signals, including the determination of a measurement of correlation in the measured signals during a calculation of a physiological parameter of a monitored patient. Use of this invention is described in particular detail with respect to blood oximetry...

20060089550 - Disposable container for use with an open magnetic resonance scanner: A disposable container (100) which can be used to examine excised material during a surgical procedure is adapted for use with an open magnetic resonance scanner. The container (100) has a receive coil (200), provided in or on the body of the container (100), and can be connected (directly or...

20060089551 - Objective determination of chronic pain in patients: A method for objectively determining if a patient suffers chronic pain by initially observing a multiplicity of persons who are free of chronic pain and subjecting them to a given pain stimulus. Radiofrequency (RF) emissions generated by the brains of the persons who are free of chronic pain while they...

20060089552 - Tracking system with scattering effect utilization, in particular with star effect and/or cross effect utilization: An image generating device for an optical, in particular medical tracking system, for determining the position of a recorded image point, includes a light scattering effect generating device, in particular a star and/or cross effect generating device. The invention further provides a tracking system including such an image generating device...

20060089553 - Method and apparatus for investigating histology of epithelial tissue: A method for monitoring the presence of selected chromophores in a sample of epithelial tissue, independent of the amount of a predetermined chromophore, the method comprising: illuminating an area of tissue by projecting light from a light source of at least two different wavelengths λ1, λ2; receiving light remitted by...

20060089554 - Image generating device for generating a fluorescence image: Excitation light λex is two-dimensionally scanned onto the living body tissue in the form of condensed light using an x-axis scanning mirror, a y-axis scanning mirror, and a condenser lens, whereby the excitation light λex is cast onto the living body tissue. This allows fluorescence observation with a relatively low...

20060089555 - Method for examining human hairs and an apparatus for implementing the method: Apparatus for examining human hairs (1) by means of a top illumination beam (2), in which a light beam (3) reflected from the hairs (1) is registered and used for an evaluation, comprising means for scanning at least part (W) of the width (4) of the number of human hairs...

20060089556 - Multi-modal optical tissue diagnostic system: An apparatus and method according to the invention combine more than one optical modality (spectroscopic method), including but not limited to fluorescence, absorption, reflectance, polarization anisotropy, and phase modulation, to decouple morphological and biochemical changes associated with tissue changes due to disease, and thus to provide an accurate diagnosis of...

20060089557 - Method and apparatus to facilitate heart rate detection: A plurality of sensor clusters are provided (61) wherein at least some of the sensor clusters are comprised of at least one light sensitive sensor and a plurality of light emitters. These sensor clusters are disposed (62) in close proximity to a subject user and, in a preferred approach, at...

20060089558 - Physiological parameter monitoring and data collection system and method: A physiological parameter monitoring system and method is described. The system includes a plurality of sensors configured to obtain from a subject at least one observable voltage containing two or more signals. The system also includes a data manager and a data auxiliary device. The data manager is in communication...

20060089559 - Realtime monitoring and analysis of heart-beat dynamics: A system for estimating a statistic associated with a cardiac signal having periodic events includes a clock and a digital filter. The clock determines an extent of a censored interval beginning at a most recent event and ending at a time selected from a continuum of times. The digital filter...

20060089560 - Method and device for automatically determining heart valve damage: A method and device for automatically detecting heart valve damage for four heart valves are proposed. The automatic determination method makes use of three or more heart tone microphones to simultaneously record heart tones of a patient's heart, and then separates the heart tones into four heart tone signals of...

20060089561 - Method and apparatus for measurement of evoked neural response: A method and device for measuring an evoked neural response comprising a sensor (25) for obtaining a sensed signal representing the evoked neural response, a high gain amplifier (30) having a signal input (31) for receiving the sensed signal and having a reference input (32), and means for altering or...

20060089562 - Modified hickman-type catheter with embedded thermistor: A long-term internal temperature measurement device includes a silastic, tunneled right-atrial catheter having a distal end adapted to be directed into the superior vena cava of a patient to reside within one of the superior vena cava and the right atrium of the patient's heart, an outer end extending outside...

20060089563 - Multiple biopsy apparatus and related method of use: An endoluminal biopsy device is provided with a proximal actuation mechanism attached to a distal sampler by at least one elongate member. The distal sampler includes a distal inner portion defining a plurality of chambers, each configured to receive a tissue sample, and a distal outer portion defining a cutting...

20060089564 - Aspiration needle with venting feature: An aspirating needle for collecting a specimen including an elongated hollow body that includes a first lumen portion and a second lumen portion. The first lumen portion is open at both ends for placement at a specimen site to collect and permit aspiration of the specimen from the specimen site....

20060089565 - Forward-fired automatic tissue sampling apparatus with safety lock: An apparatus for the automated and facilitated handling and operation of a biopsy needle system, having a first needle component and a second needle component. The first and second needles are provided with first and second handles, respectively, which are fitted into first and second yokes of the apparatus. The...

20060089566 - Blood expression device: A device for expressing blood from a wound site formed in dermal tissue is constructed, in one embodiment, in the shape of a cap which can be removably mounted onto a lancing instrument. The blood expression device includes an annular support member and a plurality of movable fingers integrally formed...

20060089567 - Aspiration needle with venting feature: An aspirating needle for collecting a specimen including an elongated hollow body that includes a first lumen portion and a second lumen portion. The first lumen portion is open at both ends for placement at a specimen site to collect and permit aspiration of the specimen from the specimen site....

20060089569 - Articulator with adjustable stiffness distal portion: Methods and devices for performing minimally invasive surgical procedures are disclosed. An articulator in accordance with one exemplary embodiment comprises a first wire, a second wire, and a third wire. The third wire being disposed within a first lumen defined by the first wire and the second wire being disposed...

20060089568 - Titanium molybdenum alloy guidewire: A guidewire for medical use such as in vascular and nonvascular systems. The guidewire made from a titanium molybdenum alloy wire with a composition of approximately 78% titanium 11.5% molybdenum 6% zinc and 4.5% tin by weight such that it is softer than stainless steel guidewires and stiffer than NiTi...

20060089570 - Methods and devices for cervix measurement: The present invention is directed to a system and method for measuring the dilatation and effacement of the uterine cervix in a manner that is non-invasive to the cervix. The system having a probe and a monitoring unit serve to measure the cervix dimensions during routine clinical visits and is...

20060089571 - Obesity treatment systems: In some embodiments, methods to sense parameters associated with restriction procedures and/or devices are disclosed. In some embodiments, the parameters are sensed directly from the region of the procedure and/or device and in other embodiments, associated neural pathways are sensed. Methods for further optimization of the obesity treatment regimens are...

20060084836 - Gas removal from a centrifugal pump: A centrifugal pump includes a system that removes gas that accumulates along the axis of rotation of the shaft and/or impeller of the pump. One or more vent inlets are placed in the region where the gas accumulates and a suction device draws the accumulated gas through the vent inlets...

20060084835 - Method and device for counteracting hypotension: Devices and methods are disclosed to address blood pressure control. More particularly, the present invention relates to correction of transient low blood pressure....

20060084837 - Phallic devices with audio features and related methods: A phallic device for sexual stimulation generally includes a housing and at least one end cap attached to the housing. The end cap includes a data access device for accessing audio data from a data device. The end cap further includes a sound emitter for emitting audio corresponding to the...

20060084838 - Instrument for re-insertion of a gastrostoma tube: A medical instrument provides assistance in reinserting a gastrostoma tube easily. The instrument includes a searching bar and a fistula expander. A main body of the searching bar is a tubular body, a front end of the searching bar presents a hemispherical shape, and a side hole is defined near...

20060084839 - Apparatus and methods for coronary sinus access: Apparatus and methods for locating morphological features within a body cavity using a catheter including proximal and distal ends, a transparent balloon carried on the distal end, and an optical imaging assembly carried on the distal end for imaging through the balloon. The balloon includes a channel extending therethrough to...

20060084840 - Endoscopic imaging with indication of gravity direction: A method is disclosed in for presenting an indicator of the upright orientation of an endoscopic image. An electronic rotation pick-up means is fixed to the housing of an endoscope. The electronic rotation pick-up means produces signals indicating rotations of the endoscope. A microprocessor uses these signals to calculate the...

20060084841 - Endoscope apparatus: An endoscope apparatus comprises: an insertion section including a distal end; a power changing movable lens that makes observational magnification variable, the power changing movable lens being movably built in an objective optical system provided at the distal end; a linear transmission member that drives the power changing movable lens,...

20060084842 - Surgical access system: The invention is directed to a hand access system that provides hand access to a surgical area while maintaining pneumoperitoneum during laparoscopic surgery. The hand access system comprises a sheath retractor adapted to dilate a wound stretchable to a desired diameter, the sheath retractor includes a first ring being adapted...

20060084843 - Disposable padding for a self-retaining retraction device: A disposable cover for a retractor of a self-retaining retractor system has an elastic sheath that can be easily placed and removed by elastically engaging the blade and a disposable pad attached on the elastic sheath. The elastic sheath can be an open cylinder (band shaped) or closed at one...

20060084844 - Retractor and distractor system for use in anterior cervical disc surgery: A retractor, a distractor, and a drill guide for use in performing anterior cervical discectomy and vertebral fusion. The distractor is located with respect to vertebrae to be fused by pins fastened in the vertebrae to be fused, and the retractor is mated mechanically with the distractor to hold the...

20060084846 - Homeostatic emergent biofeedback representations: A method to increase the ease and effectiveness of biofeedback by dynamically representing physiological indicators on a computer display using emergent systems and homeostatic equations. This display shows a number of similar objects that respond both to each other and to changes in physiological measurements. These objects are kept moving...

20060084845 - Method for determining the anxiety level of a human being: The invention relates to medicine and can be used for determining the anxiety level of a human being. According to said invention, in order to determine the anxiety level of a human being, the structures of a gas-discharge luminosity are fixed around the studied part of the same area of...

20060084847 - System and method for medical information mining and delivery: A method of monitoring health parameters of subjects within a defined space and over a period of time includes collecting first data corresponding to a physiological parameter of an ambulatory subject, collecting second data corresponding to a behavioral and cognitive parameter of the ambulatory subject, collecting third data corresponding to...

20060084848 - Apparatus and methods for monitoring subjects: This invention provides a device, and method and system for its use, for monitoring participants in clinical trials so that participant self-reporting, which is known to be notoriously inaccurate, can be minimized or eliminated. In preferred embodiments, the device is self-contained and self-powered, resides on or in a body cavity...

20060084849 - Method and apparatus for buffering electrophysiological signals during an mri porcedure: The subject invention overcomes the problem of electrical interference in signals taken during an MRI procedure by using a long cable and a unity gain buffer amplifier near the patient, with a low output impedance to drive the cable and thus greatly reduce the capacitively coupled interference. Passive low pass...

20060084851 - Method, medium, and apparatus for portably measuring calorie consumption: A measuring device for use in measuring calorie consumption includes a pulse input unit which detects a first heart rate of the user at a first point in an exercise period and a second heart rate of the user at a second point of the exercise period other than the...

20060084850 - System, method and apparatus for evaluating military personnel: A participant is evaluated to determine compatibility among different military disciplines. The participant is first subjected to physical, physiological, and psychological tests. The results of tests are compared with a database that contains the results of the same tests subjected to a set of elite military members from different military...

20060084852 - Flex circuit shielded optical sensor: A flex circuit optical sensor has an integrated Faraday shield. A conductive trace layer disposed on a substrate is used to form a conductive grid which shields the face of a photodetector. A conductive ink layer is formed on a substrate side opposite the trace layer. The back and sides...

20060084853 - Blood sugar level measuring apparatus: Blood sugar levels are measured non-invasively based on temperature measurement. Measurement data is stabilized by correcting blood sugar level measurement values obtained by a temperature measuring system in a non-invasive manner based on the blood oxygen saturation and the blood flow volume. An LCD portion 13 is raised from a...

20060084854 - Blood sugar level measuring apparatus: Blood sugar levels are measured non-invasively based on temperature measurement. Measurement data is stabilized by correcting a non-invasive blood sugar level measurement value obtained by a temperature measuring system on the basis of the blood oxygen saturation and the blood flow volume. A heat conducting member is provided in a...

20060084855 - Electrode belt for carrying out electrodiagnostic procedures on the human body: An electrode belt is provided for carrying out electrodiagnostic procedures on the human body. The electrode belt includes a belt (2), which is formed at least partially of an elastic material and surrounds the body of a test subject. A plurality of electrodes, are mechanically connected to the belt and...

20060084856 - Combination ophthalmic instrument: A combination ophthalmic instrument comprises a non-contact measurement system and a contact measurement system for measuring parameters of the eye. Measurement values from both systems are presented on a display of the instrument. A measurement value generated by one of the systems is automatically adjusted based on a measurement value...

20060084859 - Apparatus and method for imaging objects with wavefields: A transmission wave field imaging method, comprising the transmission of an incident wave field into an object, the incident wave field propagating into the object and, at least, partially scattering. Also includes the measuring of a wave field transmitted, at least in part, through an object to obtain a measured...

20060084858 - Brain function decoding process and system: A method of interpreting cognitive response to a stimulus is disclosed. The method includes collecting baseline neural activity data from a subject absent a stimulus. Neural activity data is collected while the subject is being stimulated through exposure to a stimulus. A unique three-dimensional cognitive engram is then plotted representative...

20060084857 - Enhancement magnetizer for magnetic resonance imaging screening: A method and apparatus for enhancing detection of a ferromagnetic threat object by magnetizing the threat object with a separate magnetic field, prior to scanning of the subject by a ferromagnetic-detecting sensor system....

20060084860 - Method and system for virtual endoscopy with guidance for biopsy: A method for virtual endoscopy in a lumen includes acquiring from a patient an imaging dataset exhibiting a lesion external to a lumen wall; deriving a three-dimensional (3-D) volume of the lesion; obtaining data on maximum bend characteristics for a given endoscope; and deriving projection criteria, based on the 3-D...

20060084861 - Magnet and coil configurations for mri probes: A probe, with a longitudinal axis, for use in an NMR system, the probe comprising: (a) a plurality of static magnetic field sources which create a static magnetic field that is non-axisymmetric about the longitudinal axis, in a region outside the probe; and (b) at least one antenna, compromising one...

20060084862 - Optimal view map v.0.01: A method is disclosed which allows for optimally viewing a portion of a patient vascular system to facilitate at least one of diagnosis and treatment the vascular system. The method includes acquiring a model of said vascular system based on image data generated by an imaging device, identifying a portion...

20060084863 - Positional verification: A method for detecting a change in position of at least one first marker or reference star relative to a first object, wherein the marker or reference star is attached to the first object. A position of at least one first characteristic point of the first object is ascertained via...

20060084864 - Device and method for monitoring body fluid and electrolyte disorders: Devices and methods for measuring body fluid-related metric using spectrophotometry that may be used to facilitate diagnosis and therapeutic interventions aimed at restoring body fluid balance. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a device for measuring a body-tissue water content metric as a fraction of the fat-free tissue content...

20060084865 - Imageable biopsy site marker: A biopsy site marker having at least one small marker body or pellet of bioresorbable material such as gelatin, collagen, polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid which has a radiopaque object, preferably with a non-biological configuration. The at least one bioresorbable body or pellet with a radiopaque object is deposited into the...

20060084866 - Expanding imaging probe: An imaging probe for imaging inside a cavity surrounded by a wall, the probe comprising: a) a probe body having a contracted state and an expanded state; and b) at least two imaging sensors, mounted on the probe body and having fields of view in different directions; wherein, when the...

20060084867 - Method and apparatus for surgical navigation: A surgical navigation system for tracking a procedure relative to a patient is disclosed. The system can track a portion of the patient, an instrument, both, and both or either relative to image data, a coordinate system, an atlas, a morphed atlas, or combinations thereof. The system can include a...

20060084868 - Apparatus for ultrasonic examination of deformable object: The present invention relates to an apparatus for an ultrasonic examination of a deformable object, particularly, the breast. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus capable of performing an ultrasonic examination by moving an ultrasonic probe while maintaining the position and shape of a deformable object to be...

20060084869 - Method and apparatus for enhancing image quality of a two-dimensional ultrasound image: The present invention relates a method and an apparatus for enhancing ultrasound image quality through a post-processing. A method for enhancing an image quality of a two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound image, comprises the steps of: a) decomposing the 2D ultrasound image into a plurality of images having a multi-resolution by N...

20060084871 - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus: An event signal is generated in response to a specific event as a trigger. A recording control unit controls the operation of an image recording unit on the basis of the event signal, thereby automatically forming, as a unit, and recording moving image information based on a unified standard. In...

20060084872 - Ultrasonic image processing apparatus: An ultrasonic image processing apparatus allowing an ultrasonic image of an inspection object to be displayed using echo data in a three-dimensional region constructs a three-dimensional image based on the echo data by an image construction section. An image operation input section performs an operation for changing the display state...

20060084870 - Ultrasound diagnostic system for providing elastic image with additional information: There is provided an ultrasound diagnostic system adapted to provide an elastic image with additional information. The ultrasound diagnostic system comprises: a probe for receiving echo signals from a target object, the probe being configured to transfer a pressure applied by an user to the target object; an elastic image...

20060084873 - Ultrasonic doppler measuring apparatus and control method therefor: A Doppler sensitivity measuring unit measures the Doppler sensitivity of Doppler spectrum data obtained by ultrasonic wave transmission/reception with respect to a predetermined region of an object to be examined. A spectrum shape model generating unit generates a spectrum shape model on the basis of a window function used when...

20060084874 - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and control method thereof: A combined wave having a plurality of frequencies and phases is transmitted to each of a plurality of scan lines in at least three rates by alternately inverting a phase by 180°. An obtained echo signal is received for each rate. The echo signals are added by using arbitrary weighting...

20060084875 - Integrated bias circuitry for ultrasound imaging devices: The systems and methods described herein allow for the application of a bias voltage to one or more transducers implemented within a medical ultrasound imaging system. Bias circuitry is placed within an imaging device and used to apply a DC bias to one or more transducers requiring a DC bias...

20060084876 - Method for reducing auto-fluorescence signals in confocal raman microscopy: The present invention relates to a method for reducing auto-fluorescence signals from a sample tissue in confocal Raman microscopy and to a method for diagnosing skin cancers using the same method. Raman spectroscopy has strong potential for providing non-invasive diagnosis of skin cancer. Auto-fluorescence signals from tissues, which interfere with...

20060084877 - Methods and apparatus for heart failure treatment: Methods and apparatus for assessing the condition of and treating patients for heart failure by the delivery of continuous positive airway pressure are disclosed. Airflow of the patient is measured to determine occurrences of central apneas. A heart failure index is calculated from a count of the number of central...

20060084878 - Personal computer-based vital signs monitor: The invention provides a system for measuring blood pressure from a patient that includes: 1) an optical module featuring systems for measuring signals from the patient, serial communication, and power management; 2) an external computing device configured to attach to the optical module, supply power to the optical module, and...

20060084879 - Motion cancellation of optical input signals for physiological pulse measurement: A pulse rate sensor that includes an accelerometer for measuring periodic motion and a piezo sensor for detecting erratic motion is capable of more accurately determining pulse rate by accounting for these types of motion. The pulse rate sensor in accordance with the present invention diminishes pulse rate signal degradation...

20060084881 - Monitoring physiological activity using partial state space reconstruction: Systems and techniques relating to monitoring physiological activity using partial state space reconstruction. In general, in one aspect, a partial state space is produced using an orthogonal, frequency-independent transform, such as Hilbert transform. The partial state space can then be analyzed using state space techniques to identify physiological information for...

20060084880 - System for bioelectrical interaction with an individual with a simplified electrode fixation: A wearable system (1) arranged to enable a bioelectrical interaction with an individual when being brought into a contact with the individual's skin (S). The system (1) comprises an electronic device with electrodes (3) to enable said interaction. The electrodes (3) are shaped to enable the fixation of the device...

20060084882 - Method and system for detecting and/or predicting biological anomalies: Biological anomalies are detected and/or predicted by analyzing input biological or physical data using a data processing routine. The data processing routine includes a set of application parameters associated with biological data correlating with the biological anomalies. The data processing routine uses an algorithm to produce a data series, e.g.,...

20060084883 - Long-term monitoring for detection of atrial fibrillation: A method and a system for detection of an arrhythmia, the method comprising determining a number of heart beat intervals; determining an instantaneous heart rate for each of the heart beat intervals; determining the variability of the instantaneous heart rates compared to a mean of the number of instantaneous heart...

20060084884 - Mapping electrophysiological data in a heart chamber: A method of acquiring and mapping electrophysiological data in a heart chamber includes inserting a catheter having an electrode into the heart chamber. Electrophysiological data in the heart chamber is acquired with the electrode, and the position of the electrode is determined by using an electromagnetic field source external to...

20060084885 - Endoscopic multiple biopsy forceps with swing member: A method and apparatus for mucosal biopsy including a stationary base clevis component, upon which an open frame jaw is actuated rotationally to engage tissue and retract samples. A rack and pinion mechanism drives the jaw motion, which can be controlled axially by the physician. A metal retriever component captures...

20060084886 - Endoscopic multiple biopsy forceps with swing member: A method and apparatus for mucosal biopsy including a stationary base clevis component, upon which an open frame jaw is actuated rotationally to engage tissue and retract samples. A rack and pinion mechanism drives the jaw motion, which can be controlled axially by the physician. A metal retriever component captures...

20060084887 - Rapid, simple and humane method of bleeding mice: A method and article for obtaining blood samples from a small animal wherein a disposable lancet device is used to optimize the humane collection of blood from the cheek-pouch of said small animal. The lancet device is a hand-held, generally flat lancet, having a handle portion at one end and...

20060084888 - Enhanced interstitial fluid collection: A sampling apparatus for interstitial fluid includes a pressure ring surrounding a collection needle. The pressure ring and needle are movable relative to one another for the ring to first engage a patient's skin surface prior to insertion of the needle....

20060084889 - Registering intraoperative scans: A device and method for registering a patient's hip, wherein the device includes markers and positioning elements which can be placed on characteristic points of the hip, and once placed on characteristic points of the hip, data for registering the hip can be ascertained from the position of the markers....

20060084890 - Method and apparatus for performing a computer-assisted orthopaedic procedure: A method of performing a computer-assisted orthopaedic procedure includes securing a sensor support instrument to the patient's bone. A number of sensors are secured to the support instrument. A computer-assisted orthopaedic surgical instrument is also disclosed....

20060079727 - Short term post surgical cavity treatment devices and methods: The present short-term post surgical cavity treatment device includes a first portion including an inflatable balloon at the distal end of the device and a second portion coupled to the first portion that defines at least an inflation lumen and a treatment lumen. The second portion may be configured such...

20060079728 - Apparatus for forming variable fluid meniscus configurations: Apparatus for providing a fluid meniscus with variable configurations by means of electrowetting. A fluid chamber (5) holds two different fluids (A, B) separated by a meniscus (14) of which the edge, having different sides, is constrained by the fluid chamber. A first electrowetting electrode (2a) is arranged to act...

20060079729 - Motion sickness reduction: Methods, apparatuses and systems for enabling a passenger in a moving vehicle to read text or view an image while avoiding or reducing the symptoms of motion sickness, by providing the passenger a view of the text or image simultaneously with a view of external stationary reference points. The methods,...

20060079730 - Cover for infant incubator: An infant incubator cover has a coverable opening located through the top portion of the incubator cover. A cover panel is locatable over the opening to allow the user to cover and uncover the opening. The incubator cover may be held in place by using straps or bands to securely...

20060079731 - Animal-use artificial inseminator: An improved animal-use artificial inseminator comprised of an insemination tube with a nozzle at its front extremity into which an insemination sheath is inserted and a connector at the rear extremity of the insemination tube having a check membrane. After the insemination tube penetrates the female animal body vagina and...

20060079732 - Computer-implemented method and system for providing feedback during sex play: A computer-implemented method and system for providing feedback during sex play using a sensor worn on a user's body part to input motion-dependent signals to a computer during free motion of the body part. A computer accesses a plurality of computer-accessible erotic movie sequences and displays on a display device...

20060079733 - Impotence treatment apparatus with connection device: A male sexual impotence treatment apparatus comprises a constriction device implanted in an impotent male patient and engaging the patient's penile tissue. The constriction device includes an elongate adjustable constriction member extending in a loop around the penile tissue or the prolongation thereof. A connection device releasably connects the end...

20060079734 - Airway tube guiding apparatus: A guiding apparatus to be used when inserting an airway tube from a mouth of a patient includes a body (A) and an endoscope (B) disposed through the body (A). The body (A) includes a blade (10). The blade (10) is inserted from the mouth of the patient to depress...

20060079735 - Endoscope assemblies having working channels with reduced bending and stretching resistance: Apparatus and methods for endoscope assemblies having working channels with reduced bending and stretching resistance are disclosed. In one embodiment, an endoscope assembly includes a sheath having a body portion adapted to at least partially encapsulate an endoscopic insertion tube, and a working channel attached to the body portion and...

20060079736 - Method and device for percutaneous left ventricular reconstruction: A method for reducing left ventricular volume, which comprises identifying infarcted tissue during open chest surgery; reducing left ventricle volume while preserving the ventricular apex; and realigning the ventricular apex, such that the realigning step comprises closing the lower or apical portion of said ventricle to achieve appropriate functional contractile...

20060079737 - Aerodynamic tissue driver: An apparatus for causing air flow to vibrate a selected tissue includes a tube and a deflector. The tube defines a passage for guiding air flow from an inlet to an outlet thereof. The deflector is disposed to receive the air flow from the outlet of the tube. The configuration...

20060079739 - Multifunctional portable medical measurement device and display method thereof: A multifunctional portable medical measurement device and the display method thereof are proposed. The multifunctional portable medical measurement device has a first medical measurement unit, a second medical measurement unit, a key unit, a display unit, and a microprocessor. The microprocessor selects either a first measured value or a second...

20060079738 - System for topical nerve diagnosis and neuroanatomical study: A system having a whole nerve pathway diagram data recording unit 1; a nerve finding data input unit 2; a responsible nerve pathway data extraction unit 3 by which the data of a nerve pathway responsible for a nerve finding item showing an abnormal finding is extracted from the data...

20060079740 - Sensors for detecting substances indicative of stroke, ischemia, or myocardial infarction: A sensor is disclosed, for implantation within a blood vessel to monitor a substance in or property of blood. In one embodiment, the sensor detects nitric oxide or a nitric oxide metabolite. In another embodiment, other substances such as glutamate, aspartate, arginine, citrulline, acetylcholine, calcium, potassium, or dopamine are monitored....

20060079741 - Living body information measuring apparatus: A living body information measuring apparatus includes an optical system for irradiating light to a subject and detecting light from the subject, a signal processing portion for acquiring information with regard to a tissue condition of the subject based on a detecting signal of light, and a position determining portion...

20060079742 - Method and apparatus for measuring blood sugar levels: A method and apparatus for non-invasively measuring blood sugar levels based on temperature measurement. A non-invasively determined blood sugar level measurement value is corrected on the basis of the blood oxygen saturation value and the blood flow volume, thereby stabilizing measurement data. A measurement portion is provided with a cover...

20060079746 - Apparatus and method for analysis of tissue classes along tubular structures: A method for analyzing tissue classes along a tubular structure defined by voxels is disclosed. A tubular shaped region of interest (ROI) is constructed along a predetermined centerline of the tubular structure according to the following: at least one point is defined along the centerline to define the extremities of...

20060079751 - Biomagnetic measurement apparatus: Disclosed herewith is a biomagnetic measurement apparatus capable of displaying electrical excitement as a planispheric map. (First processing 70) A CAM (current arrow map) 71 and another CAM 72 are obtained from magnetocardiogram waveforms measured from both front and back sides of a subject using the data at a point...

20060079749 - Frequency shift keying radar with ambiguity detection: A range detection apparatus comprising a transmitter adapted to transmit a microwave signal and a receiver adapted to receive an echo signal reflected from a target which corresponds to a portion of the transmitted signal; a signal generating means adapted to generate a drive signal to be applied to the...

20060079748 - Kit for image guided surgical procedures: An embodiment of the present invention provides a kit of parts for use in a surgical procedure performed under image guidance, and particularly under real time image guidance. The kit includes a sterilized drape for use with the chosen imaging machine and which can be used to provide a sterile...

20060079747 - Method and apparatus for detecting a load change upon a structure and analyzing characteristics of resulting damage: A sensor network is attached to a structure and employed to detect and analyze load changes. The sensor network has transducers, capable of acting as both passive sensors and active actuators, integrated within it. In a passive mode, the transducers detect load changes upon the structure, such as impacts. Upon...

20060079744 - Method and system for providing a noise based scan control: Method and system for scanning a patient using a medical imaging system is described. The described method includes measuring a signal-to-noise ratio of an acquired data and/or reconstructed image and comparing the same with a selectable signal-to-noise ratio threshold. The method further includes controlling a remainder of the scan based...

20060079743 - Methods and apparatus to facilitate visualization of anatomical shapes: A method includes generating a first response including a plurality of potential first objects of interest of a first shape from data regarding a region of interest (ROI), generating a second response including a plurality of second objects of interest for a second shape different than the first shape from...

20060079753 - Pre-acquisition identification of region for image acquisition time optimization for radiation imaging systems: A SPECT imaging system has at least one detector head, adapted for detecting a radioisotope emission from a patient, and a collimator, which directs said radioisotope emission towards said detector head, a movement subsystem, which moves at least one of a patient being imaged, or said detector heads, relative to...

20060079745 - Surgical navigation with overlay on anatomical images: A system and method are provided for control of a navigation system for deploying a medical device within a subject, and for enhancement of a display image of anatomical features for viewing the projected location and movement of medical devices, and projected locations of a variety of anatomical features and...

20060079752 - System for providing situation-dependent, real-time visual support to a surgeon, with associated documentation and archiving of visual representations: A system for providing the situation-dependent real-time visual support to a surgeon during a surgical operation, and for real-time documentation and archiving of the visual impressions generated by the support system and perceived by the surgeon during the operation, has a visualization device for outputting data, to the surgeon during...

20060079750 - Systems and methods for localizing vascular architecture, and evaluation and monitoring of functional behavior of same: A system is provided utilizing dynamic imaging protocol to localize vascular architecture, and to evaluate and monitor functional behavior of the vascular architecture for pre-operative, post-operative and diagnostic purposes. The system includes, among other things, a scanner having within its objective portion an assembly for capturing a photon beam emitted...

20060079755 - Method and apparatus for acquiring overlapped medical image slices: The disclosure describes a technique for medical imaging, referred to herein as the Rapid Interleave Overlap Technique (RIOT), wherein image data is acquired as a plurality of series sequences in a manner that allows for unlimited overlap. RIOT involves interleaving and overlapping 2D image slices of multiple series of image...

20060079754 - Motion correction of magnetic resonance images using moments of spatial projections: Magnetic resonance images reconstructed from a radial/projection acquisition are corrected for motion corruption caused by in-plane translational and in-plane rotational motion of an imaged subject using only the projection data itself. The method is based on the consistency properties of the 0th, 1st, and 2nd order moments of the spatial...

20060079756 - Method and system for positioning a tracking sensor for optimal accuracy: The present invention provides a method for positioning an electromagnetic tracking sensor. The method includes attaching a sensor to an anatomy, obtaining an image of the anatomy, indicating a size of each of a plurality of volumes on the image, where the volumes include a smaller and larger volume, and...

20060079757 - Image processing system for use with a patient positioning device: An image processing system (1-5) is provided which obtains images of a patient (8) from multiple view points and which then generates positioning instructions for a mechanical couch (7) to vary the position of a patient. A number of techniques are disclosed in order to calibrate the image processing system...

20060079758 - Non-magnetic medical infusion device: Liquid infusion apparatus includes non-magnetic materials in a pumping structure and drive motor therefor, and in a controller that supplies drive signals to the motor to facilitate convenient operation in intense magnetic fields without distorting the magnetic fields and without radiating objectionable radio-frequency interference. A non-MRI-compatible liquid infusion apparatus is...

20060079759 - Method and apparatus for registering 3d models of anatomical regions of a heart and a tracking system with projection images of an interventional fluoroscopic system: An imaging system for use in a medical intervention procedure is disclosed. A first image acquisition system is configured to produce a fluoroscopy image of an anatomical region. A second image acquisition system is configured to produce a 3D model of the anatomical region. An interventional tracking system, which includes...

20060079761 - Method for detecting polyps in a three dimensional image volume: A method for detecting target objects in a three dimensional (3D) image volume of an anatomical structure is disclosed. A set of candidate locations in the image volume are obtained. For each candidate location, sub-volumes of at least two different scales are cropped out. Each sub-volume comprises a plurality of...

20060079760 - Mr method and apparatus for determining coronal and sagittal image planes from an image data set of a shoulder joint: In a method for determination of coronal and sagittal planes for the subsequent acquisition of new magnetic resonance slice images or the representation of magnetic resonance slice images from an existing image data set of a shoulder joint starting from a data set representing a transversal slice image of a...

20060079762 - Integrated disease diagnosis and treatment system: Designs, implementations, and techniques for optically measuring a sample and integrated systems that provide CT-scan, optical probing and therapy by electromagnetic radiation treatment (e.g. laser, RF, or microwave). Light at different wavelength bands may be used to detect different absorption features in the sample. Multiple light sources may be used...

20060079763 - Backprojected patient multimedia display: An apparatus for prompting a patient includes a structure configured to be mounted to a patient support, a screen coupled to the structure, and a projector located at a distance away from the screen. A method of prompting a patient that is being supported on a patient support includes adjusting...

20060079764 - Systems and methods for real time tracking of targets in radiation therapy and other medical applications: Systems and methods for tracking targets in real time for radiation therapy and other applications. In one embodiment, a method includes collecting position information of a marker implanted within a patient at a site relative to the target at a time tn, and providing an objective output indicative of the...

20060079768 - Powerhead control in a power injection system: A dual head contrast media injection system performs a patency check or test injection, determining flow rate and/or flow volume from the programmed protocol. The tubing that connects syringes to a patient shares only a short common section near to the patient. Appropriate injection steps are taken to compensate for...

20060079765 - Powerhead of a power injection system: A contrast media injection system includes detects the absolute position of the syringe ram using a non-contact sensor. A series of magnets and Hall-Effect sensors may be used or an opto-reflective system. Illuminated knobs that are connected to the drive mechanism for the syringe ram rotate with the drive and...

20060079766 - Powerhead of a power injection system: A contrast media injection system includes detects the absolute position of the syringe ram using a non-contact sensor. A series of magnets and Hall-Effect sensors may be used or an opto-reflective system. Illuminated knobs that are connected to the drive mechanism for the syringe ram rotate with the drive and...

20060079767 - Powerhead of a power injection system: A contrast media injection system includes detects the absolute position of the syringe ram using a non-contact sensor. A series of magnets and Hall-Effect sensors may be used or an opto-reflective system. Illuminated knobs that are connected to the drive mechanism for the syringe ram rotate with the drive and...

20060079770 - Biopsy site marker: A biopsy localization device made according to the invention includes an intracorporeal delivery cannula and at least one marker disposed within an inner lumen of the delivery cannula. The marker includes an expandable fibrous body with at least one radiographically detectable marker element. The expandable fibrous body may also be...

20060079769 - Transmembrane access systems and methods: Systems and methods for penetrating a tissue membrane to gain access to a target site are disclosed. In some examples, systems and methods for accessing the left atrium from the right atrium of a patient's heart are carried out by puncturing the intra-atrial septal wall. One embodiment provides a system...

20060079771 - Method and system for selecting and recording biopsy sites in a body organ: The present invention relates to methods and systems for selecting and recording biopsy sites in a body tissue or organ. More in particular the present invention provides a method for selecting and recording biopsy sites in a body organ comprising: a) obtaining a three-dimensional volume of backscattered Ultrasound data grid...

20060079772 - Ultrasonic image generating method: An ultrasonic image generating method for generating an ultrasonic image based on ultrasonic echo data obtained by transmitting/receiving ultrasonic waves to/from an inspection object, according to the present invention, includes reference position setting steps for determining the reference position on each image with respect to a plurality of consecutive two-dimensional...

20060079773 - Systems and methods for making non-invasive physiological assessments by detecting induced acoustic emissions: Systems and methods for assessing a physiological parameter of a target tissue wherein a pulse of focused ultrasound is applied to a target tissue site thereby inducing oscillation of the target tissue. By these systems and methods, a property of an acoustic signal emitted from the oscillating target tissue is...

20060079774 - Microwave biopsy probe: A biopsy probe includes an impedance probe slidably disposed within a biopsy needle....

20060079775 - Systems and methods for quantification and classification of fluids in human cavities in ultrasound images: Ultrasound imaging systems and methods are disclosed. In one embodiment, an ultrasongraphy method includes creating a database that is representative of a tissue, a fluid, or a cavity of a body, and transmitting ultrasound pulses into a region-of-interest in a patient. Echoes are received from the region of interest, and...

20060079777 - Ultrasonic image boundary extracting method, ultrasonic image boundary extracting apparatus, and ultrasonic imaging apparatus: An ultrasonic image boundary extracting apparatus capable of accurately extracting outlines of tissues based on reception signals respectively output from ultrasonic transducers by receiving ultrasonic echoes. The ultrasonic image boundary extracting apparatus includes: an analysis unit for obtaining an interrelationship among plural reception signals with respect to a region within...

20060079776 - Ultrasonic imaging apparatus: Tissue property of a reflector is detected based on plural reception signals outputted from plural ultrasonic transducers by receiving ultrasonic echoes. An ultrasonic imaging apparatus includes: an ultrasonic probe including plural ultrasonic transducers for transmitting ultrasonic waves toward an object to be inspected and receiving ultrasonic waves reflected from the...

20060079779 - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and image data generating method: An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprises a driving unit, a nonlinear component extracting unit, a first image data generating unit, a second image data generating unit and a control unit. The driving unit drives an ultrasonic transducer to transmit an ultrasonic wave to a subject. The nonlinear component extracting unit extracts...

20060079780 - Ultrasonic imaging apparatus: An ultrasonic imaging apparatus capable of generating ultrasonic images including boundaries between different tissues and regions divided by the boundaries in which property of boundaries and the respective tissues can be distinctly identified. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus includes ultrasonic transducers for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to output reception signals;...

20060079778 - Ultrasound imaging system parameter optimization via fuzzy logic: An ultrasound scanner is equipped with one or more fuzzy control units that can perform adaptive system parameter optimization anywhere in the system. In one embodiment, an ultrasound system comprises a plurality of ultrasound image generating subsystems configured to generate an ultrasound image, the plurality of ultrasound image generating subsystems...

20060079783 - Method and system for deriving a fetal heart rate without the use of an electrocardiogram in non-3d imaging applications: A system and method are provided for determining a fetal heart rate from ultrasound imaging data in near real-time. The heart rate is determined by analyzing spatial points on ultrasound cardiac volumes and calculating the peak spectral frequency of the changes in ultrasonic characteristics of the spatial points....

20060079781 - Ultrasonic apparatus for estimating artery parameters: The invention relates to an ultrasonic image processing system, for processing images in an image sequence representing a segment of artery explored along its longitudinal axis, said artery segment showing moving walls; this system comprising: acquisition means (21) for acquiring an ultrasonic image sequence of a segment of artery explored...

20060079782 - Ultrasonic technique for assessing wall vibrations in stenosed blood vessels: A real-time signal processing technique for ultrasonic imaging of tissue vibrations for localizing the source of a bruit in a 2D image with respect to the anatomy and/or for obtaining simultaneous information about vibrations and the underlying blood flow. The bruit can be quantitatively assessed using an ensemble of ultrasound...

20060079784 - Low-noise ultrasound method and beamformer system for doppler processing: An ultrasonic low-noise analog beamformer for Doppler acquisition achieves high sensitivity by translating the frequency of the ultrasound echoes to an intermediate frequency, which is well above of the 1/f corner. This is accomplished by beamforming the downconverted RF signals instead of using their baseband representation. The baseband conversion, succeeding...

20060079785 - Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus: The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe including a piezoelectric element, a first acoustic matching layer provided on the front face of the piezoelectric element and formed of a solid inorganic material, and a second acoustic matching layer provided on the first acoustic matching layer and formed of a...

20060079786 - Blood flow meter and flow probe therefor: Flow probe designs that are relatively atraumatic to blood vessels and therefore are suitable for chronic implantation....

20060079787 - Transmembrane access systems and methods: Systems and methods for penetrating a tissue membrane to gain access to a target site are disclosed. In some examples, systems and methods for accessing the left atrium from the right atrium of a patient's heart are carried out by puncturing the intra-atrial septal wall. One embodiment provides a system...

20060079788 - Resonant converter tuning for maintaining substantial constant phaco handpiece power under increased load: A phacoemulsification system includes a phacoemulsification handpiece including a cutting tip ultrasonically vibrated by an ultrasonic transducer. A power supply is provided for driving the ultrasonic transducer at a resonant frequency of the transducer and cutting tip and varying power to the transducer, in response to loading of the cutting...

20060079789 - Apparatus and method for measuring fat: A method and apparatus for measuring fat thickness in a target body part are provided. The apparatus includes a light emitter emitting near infrared rays, an inner reflector having a reflecting plane outside to reflect the near infrared rays emitted by the light emitter, an outer reflector surrounding the inner...

20060079790 - Method and system for producing a time-limited image of a moving organ: In a method, sensor and system for producing time-limited images of a moving organ of a human or animal body, an imaging apparatus acquires image data and, using a sensor situated outside the body, a signal is registered that represents the movement of the organ that is to be imaged....

20060079792 - Compact apparatus and methods for non-invasively measuring hemodynamic parameters: Improved apparatus and methods for non-invasively assessing one or more hemodynamic parameters associated with the circulatory system of a living organism. In one aspect, the invention comprises spatially compact “bracelet” embodiment adapted to accurately place and maintain a sensor (e.g., tonometric pressure sensor) with respect to the anatomy of the...

20060079791 - Micro blood pressure sensor and measuring instrument using same: The invention relates to a blood pressure microsensor comprising means of holding and positioning a chip of piezoresistive material (10) on the inside face of a practitioner's finger, the chip dimensions being smaller than the diameter of the artery in which the pressure is to be measured, the microsensor also...

20060079793 - Patient signaling method for treating cardiovascular disease: A method of treating cardiovascular disease in a medical patient is provided. The method includes the steps of generating a sensor signal indicative of a fluid pressure within the left atrium of the patient's heart, and delivering an electrical stimulus to a location in the heart. The electrical stimulus is...

20060079794 - Monitoring device, method and system: A monitoring device (20) and method (200) for monitoring the health of a user is disclosed herein. The monitoring device (20) is preferably a glove with an embedded optical sensor (30), a circuitry assembly (35) a display member (40) and a control component (43). The monitoring device (20) preferably displays...

20060079796 - Method and system for verifying the integrity of normal sinus rhythm templates: A method and system for verifying the integrity of normal sinus rhythm (NSR) templates and updating the NSR template after selected time intervals. At selected time intervals after establishing a NSR template, cardiac complexes are sensed and values for one or more cardiac parameters are measured. The values of the...

20060079795 - System and method for interpreting electrocardiograms: A system and method for interpreting electrocardiogram data. A system is provided that clusters raw electrocardiogram (EKG) data into clusters of EKG data; generates a predictive model for each cluster of EKG data; compares inputted patient EKG data with the clusters of EKG data to identify a matching cluster of...

20060079797 - Cardiac rhythm monitoring device: The present invention is a cardiac rhythm-monitoring device, which allows patients to perform a preliminary screening for supraventricular arrhythmia. The device detects beat-to-beat heart rhythms (i.e. the R-R interval between individual heart beats) and performs a screening test to determine if there are indications of arrhythmia. The test looks for...

20060079798 - Cardiac rhythm monitoring device: The present invention is a cardiac rhythm-monitoring device, which allows patients to perform a preliminary screening for supraventricular arrhythmia. The device detects beat-to-beat heart rhythms (i.e. the R-R interval between individual heart beats) and performs a screening test to determine if there are indications of arrhythmia. The test looks for...

20060079799 - Ventilator patient synchronization: A method and apparatus that provides an expert system for determining respiratory phase during ventilatory support of a subject. Discrete phase states are partitioned and prior probability functions and observed probability functions for each state are defined. The probability functions are based upon relative duration of each state as well...

20060079800 - Method and device for measuring exercise level during exercise and for measuring fatigue: The present invention relates to a method for measuring exercise level during exercise and for measuring fatigue, in which method electrical signals produced by active muscles are measured with a measuring device and feedback is given from an exercise with a perceivable signal from a feedback device. In addition, the...

20060079801 - Sensor system for detecting and processing emg signals: A sensor system for detecting and processing EMG signals including a substrate having a bottom surface adapted for attachment to skin; a plurality of spaced apart electrode arrays projecting from the bottom surface so as to engage the skin and detect EMG signals in muscles located under the substrate; and...

20060079802 - Method and apparatus to detect and monitor the frequency of obstructive sleep apnea: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for detecting and monitoring obstructive sleep apnea. The apparatus includes an intracardiac impedance sensor to measure intracardiac impedance, a movement sensor to measure an amount of movement of a patient, and a controller operatively coupled to said intracardiac impedance sensor and said...

20060079803 - Method for improving the presentation of test stimuli during one-on-one clinical psychological tests: A method for improving the administration of clinical psychological tests by storing multiple sets of visual stimuli and instructions in a computer that is operated and controlled by an examiner. The examiner selects desired stimuli or instructions from the sets and present them in a desired order, rate and format...

20060079804 - Intra-abdominal pressure monitoring urinary catheter: A urinary catheter apparatus for measuring the internal pressure of a human or other mammal comprising an elongated urinary catheter having at least two lumen extending longitudinally there-through, at least one channel where the wall is composed of a material being substantially impermeable to liquid, where the interior of the...

20060079805 - Site marker visable under multiple modalities: An intracorporeal site marker that is adapted to be implanted into a biopsy cavity includes a plurality of balls or particles. The balls or particles are either sintered together or bonded together. Other alternative embodiments of site markers visible under various imaging modes are also disclosed....

20060079806 - Method and apparatus for measuring factors in mammary fluids: The present invention relates generally to breast fluid aspirators, and more specifically to an apparatus, a system, and a method for determining the risk of breast disease in a biological sample obtained for the breast by means of a breast fluid aspirator....

20060079807 - Blood collecting syringe with retractable needle: A blood-taking syringe having a retractable needle, releasable upon demand, having a needle assembly, under tension from a compressed spring, with a needle holding head supporting a double ended needle axially aligned with the central axis of the syringe, which is held in equilibrium by a releasable wedge interposed between...

20060079808 - Blood collecting syringe with retractable needle: A blood-taking syringe having a retractable needle, releasable upon demand, having a needle assembly, under tension from a compressed spring, with a needle holding head supporting a double ended needle axially aligned with the central axis of the syringe, which is held in equilibrium by a releasable annular ring interposed...

20060079809 - Blood monitoring system: The present invention is directed towards apparatuses and methods for the automated measurement of blood analytes and blood parameters for bedside monitoring of patient blood chemistry. Particularly, the current invention discloses a programmable system that can automatically draw blood samples at a suitable programmable time frequency (or at predetermined timing),...

20060079810 - Integrated lancing test strip with capillary transfer sheet: An integrated bodily fluid sampling device includes a lancet, a test strip attached to the lancet, and a flexible sheet extending from the test strip. The lancet and the flexible sheet form a gap sized to draw bodily fluid onto the test strip via capillary action. Further, a sampling end...

20060079811 - Test media cassette for bodily fluid testing device: A bodily fluid sampling device includes a piercing device and a sensor enclosed in a housing. A cassette, which contains test media, is positioned proximal to the sensor so that the sensor is able to analyze a bodily fluid sample collected on the test media. The cassette includes a supply...

20060079812 - Magnetic guidewire for lesion crossing: The invented guidewire relates to improvements in a magnetically navigable medical guidewire to enable passage through an occluded or partially occluded vessel. The guidewire comprises an elongate wire having a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the distal end further comprises a magnetically responsive element and a helical thread...

20060079813 - Multifunctional catheter probe: A multifunctional catheter probe for carrying out intracorporal measurements, including a multiluminal flexible tubing divided into sections and joined together by coupling pieces and forming a multifunctional catheter probe. Each coupling piece has a central body with a central feed lumen lead-through and measurement lumen lead-throughs which are arranged around....

20060079814 - Pacifier system for stimulating and entraining the human orofacial system: This application discusses systems and method for entraining oromotor pattern development, such as the suck, in the orofacial system of an infant having neurological impairments or developmental disabilities. The system includes a baglet, an entrainment device, and a processor. In varying examples, the system additionally includes one or a combination...

20060074270 - Delivery system and method for interstitial radiation therapy using seed strands with custom end spacing: A delivery system and method for interstitial radiation therapy comprising a substantially axially stiff and longitudinally flexible elongated strand made of material, which is bio-absorbable in living tissue and a plurality of radioactive seeds dispersed in a predetermined array within the strand. The delivery system and method further customize the...

20060074271 - Heart pump connector: A heart assist device connection system comprises an inflow connector in fluid-tight communication with an inflow section of a heart assist device. The connector is configured to be releasably connected to an inlet extension inserted into a patient's ventricle. The connector has one or more recesses configured to match a...

20060074272 - Portable system for assessing urinary function and peforming endometrial ablation: A medical system is provided that includes a control device and a plurality of modules each capable of being removably coupled to the control device. When a first one of the plurality of modules is removably coupled to the control device, the medical system is capable of performing a test...

20060074273 - Sexual therapy device: The current invention consists of a device for sexual therapy that consists of a handle connected to a long tear shaped flat surface which curves downward at the largest end of the tear. On the flat inward side of the downward part of the tear there is a raised platform...

20060074274 - Medical device sheath apparatus and method of making and using same: A medical device sheath apparatus and a method for using the apparatus is described. The sheath may include a self sealing fitting suitable for receiving a medical device, a first sheath for receiving the medical device as it passes through the fitting, and a second sheath surrounding the first sheath....

20060074275 - System and method for editing an image stream captured in vivo: A system and method may allow editing of an image stream, which may be produced by, for example, an ingestible capsule. A workstation accepts images acquired by the capsule and displays the images on a monitor as a moving image. The editing method may include, for example, selecting images which...

20060074276 - Dual blade laryngoscope with esophageal obturator: A dual bladed laryngoscope for quickly and easily intubating a patient. The invention has two blades pivotally hinged on one side while the opposing side is open allowing the laryngoscope to be easily removed after intubating a patient. The proximal end of the upper blade has a grip portion which...

20060074277 - Retractor: The object of the present invention is to provide a retractor with a remarkably simple structure which can be adapted to and used for different sites of living tissues. The retractor 10 is provided with a holding part 12 for holding a living tissue, and holding part 12 is comprised...

20060074278 - Tissue retractor producing a widened operating channel: The present invention relates to a retractor for retracting a patient's tissues, of the type comprising two blades each exhibiting a proximal end and a distal end, said blades being arranged in such a way as to form an operating channel open at the proximal ends and at the distal...

20060074279 - Interactive dieting and exercise system: A system for providing a user with a diet and exercise program and on-line support, comprises: a central server having a diet and exercise model, a database of personal profiles of a plurality of users, a communication unit for communicating with said plurality of users over a network, an advice...

20060074282 - Nitric-oxide detection using raman spectroscopy: In an emergency medicine patient, accurate measurement of change or lack thereof from non-shock, non-ischemimc, non-inflammation, non-tissue injury, non-immune dysfunction conditions is important and is provided, as practical, real-time approaches for accurately characterizing a patient's condition, using Raman spectroscopy with a high degree of accuracy, Resonance Raman spectroscopy is used...

20060074280 - Patient identification system: A patient identification device is disclosed. The device includes a first sensor, a second sensor, and a processor. The first sensor may be configured to be positioned on the patient's finger. The device may include a camera. The device may include an identifier. The identifier displays a randomly generated alphanumeric...

20060074281 - Variable wavelength generating method and apparatus thereof, for use in measuring body fluids constituent concentration: A variable wavelength generating method and an apparatus thereof, for use in measuring a body fluid constituent concentration. The apparatus includes: a thermo-electric cooler (TEC) whose temperature is varied depending on a change in a supplied current; a light source section generating a wavelength that is varied depending on a...

20060074283 - Apparatuses and methods for non-invasively monitoring blood parameters: An apparatus for monitoring vital sign parameters in a biological entity is disclosed. In an embodiment, the apparatus includes at least one light source for transmitting light through the biological entity and at least one photodetector for receiving light transmitted through the biological entity. At least one light source and...

20060074284 -