text:
- www.alcwin.org/ - review this website
- www.spaceposters.co.uk - review this website
- spacestation-shuttle.blogspot.com/ - review this website
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- www.yanko.it - review this website
- thebiblegeek.org - review this website
- www.usefulref.com/directory/wp/index/subject.Science.Physics.Space_Astronomy.htm - review this website
- www.godsmetaphysicsandphilosophyinmodernhistory.net - review this website
- www.space-settlement-institute.org - review this website
- www.spacetime.com.au - review this website
- www.qvessel.com - review this website
- download.earth.googlepages.com - review this website
- www.12vn.net - review this website
- www.messianic-literary.com/comet1.htm - review this website
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- www.ac-b.de - review this website
- www.spacesettlement.org - review this website
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- telescope-for-u.blogspot.com/ - review this website
Planet Dictionary
Site listing several types of dictionaries related to the sciences.
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It is long believed that the Moon phases are closely connected with our life. People have thought out definite meanings of the lunar days and many moon facts.
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a resource website dedicated to the theme of ufology.The best ufo links on the web with ufo video,ufo photos,news & daily updates.
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Rocketstar Robotics is a company that designs and manufactures motors, gearboxes, actuators, twist capsules and mechanisms for spacecraft. Spaceflight applications include; antenna pointing systems, instruments, camera pointing systems, rover wheels and steering, robotic articulation, sampling systems, and solar array drives.
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A non-profit organization dedicated to finding ways to make space settlement happen in our lifetimes
Educational space related merchandise and services
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UFO footage - Paranormal Chatroom.
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The bitterness produced by the Wormwood Star upon a third of the Earth's potable waters could be the Biblical prediction of "acid rain" from the "heat shock" of a large comet or asteroid's impact with Earth.
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LOGOS IBbala Malende, the Word of God, One Universal Religion of Spiritual Travel
My Telescope
Information on the reflecting and refracting telescope and other types of astronomical telescopes.


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Gay Party In Uniform - Scene 4
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Now these studs really love a man in uniform. They just get so hard thinking about a sweaty soldier coming in from a hard day of military combat, that they just have to tear of the fatigues and get a piece of that hard cock and chiseled ass. You won"t believe the action that happens. And remember - what happens in the barracks stays in the barracks!!
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Other Services
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Main Gate Decoration
Mandap Decoration
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We offer a wide range of tent arrangement in a multitude of colors and designs to suit the needs of virtually all the social occasions and gatherings, keeping in view the latest trends and designs. We have a courteous and experienced staff to carry out all the arrangements. Since, marriages and receptions are once in a lifetime occasions, we strive to serve with utmost quality and elegance to make the moments memorable. We cater to serve all the requirements related to all sorts of occasions such as marriage, reception & birthday parties. We offer a wide range of tents in varying sizes, colors, and designs to suit the need of virtually all the social occasions and gatherings. The tents are erected reliably by trained people to stand all weather conditions. Also, the lighting are done in a variety of colors, designs, and arrangements to suit all moods.
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Catering Service
To,Arora Tent House


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Being too lazy to bother seeing any new releases, Mike and Jay discuss the semi-cult classic film Zaat, about a scientist that turns himself into a giant catfish monster.
Everybody and their mom has a movie review show, but these guys do it the right way. This show is great, not to take anything away from your mom's show.
Discover the best in original web series.
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American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Family Doctor—American Academy of Family Physicians
Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada
Women's Health Matters
Coco AS. Primary dysmenorrhea.
Am Fam Physician. 1999;60:489-496.
Dysmenorrhea. Cleveland Clinic website. Available at:
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/dysmenorrhea/hic%5Fdysmenorrhea.aspx. Accessed August 25, 2014.
Dysmenorrhea. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at:
http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed. Updated June 6, 2014. Accessed August 25, 2014.
Menstrual cycle problems. American Academy of Family Physicians website. Available at:
http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/health-tools/search-by-symptom/menstrual-cycle-problems.html. Accessed August 25, 2014.
Dysmenorrhea: symptoms. American Academy of Family Physicians' Family Doctor website. Available at:
http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/diseases-conditions/dysmenorrhea.html. Updated April 2014. Accessed August 25, 2014.
French L. Dysmenorrhea.
Am Fam Physician. 2005;71:285-291.
Available at:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/2005/0115/p285.html. Accessed August 25, 2014.
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID): CDC fact sheet. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Available at:
http://www.cdc.gov/std/pid/stdfact-pid.htm. Updated July 1, 2014. Accessed August 25, 2014.
9/30/2008 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance
http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed: Witt CM, Reinhold T, Brinkhaus B, et al. Acupuncture in patients with dysmenorrhea: a randomized study on clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in usual care.
Am J Obstet Gynecol.
4/15/2014 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance
http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed: Osayande AS, Mehulic S. Diagnosis and initial management of dysmenorrhea. Am Fam Physician. 2014;89(5):341-346.
6/18/2014 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance
http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed: Kannan P, Claydon LS. Some physiotherapy treatments may relieve menstrual pain in women with primary dysmenorrhea: a systematic review. J Physiother. 2014;60(1):13-21.
This content is reviewed regularly and is updated when new and relevant evidence is made available. This information is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with questions regarding a medical condition.
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ARE YOU LOOKING FOR ONE OF THE RAREST AND MOST DOCUMENTED MOPARS IN THE WORLD!?!?! We are very proud to be offering one the the... More
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text:
An interactive table has a display surface on which a physical object is disposed. A camera within the interactive table responds to infrared (IR) light reflected from the physical object enabling a location of the physical object on the display surface to be determined, so that the physical object appear part of a virtual environment displayed thereon. The physical object can be passive or active. An active object performs an active function, e.g., it can be self-propelled to move about on the display surface, or emit light or sound, or vibrate. The active object can be controlled by a user or the processor. The interactive table can project an image through a physical object on the display surface so the image appears part of the object. A virtual entity is preferably displayed at a position (and a size) to avoid visually interference with any physical object on the display surface.
1. A method for enabling interaction between a virtual environment and a physical object, comprising the steps of:
(a) detecting the physical object and its location when the physical object is placed adjacent a display surface on which the virtual environment is displayed, said physical object being detected on the display surface by optically sensing light reflected from the physical object from an opposite side of the display surface;
(b) within the virtual environment, producing a response to the physical object as if the physical object were included in the virtual environment, enabling an interaction between the physical object and the virtual environment in each of a first mode as well as a second mode, wherein utilizing the first mode or second mode depends upon a type of the physical object placed adjacent the display surface, said two different modes including:
(i) a first mode in which the virtual environment responds to a presence of the physical object adjacent the display surface; and
(ii) a second mode in which the physical object that is placed adjacent the display surface comprises an active object that is electrically powered and that is capable of performing an active function perceptible to a user, automatically in response to the virtual environment, and wherein the active object, which is placed adjacent the display surface, interacts with the virtual environment in the second mode by performing said active function adjacent the display surface automatically in response to the virtual environment producing a signal that is detected by the active object and which causes the active object to perform the active function as if the physical object were included in the virtual environment.
2. The method of
(c) changing a value of at least one parameter in the virtual environment in response to the movement of the physical object relative to the display surface.
3. The method of
4. The method of
5. The method of
6. The method of
7. The method of
8. The method of
9. The method of
10. The method of
11. The method of
(a) displaying a virtual entity, wherein the virtual entity comprises one of a virtual object and information on the display surface; and
(b) displaying the virtual entity at a position selected to avoid a visual interference between the virtual object and the physical object disposed on the display surface.
12. The method of
13. The method of
14. The method of
15. The method of
16. A method for enabling interaction between a virtual environment and a physical object, comprising the steps of:
(a) detecting the physical object and its location when the physical object is placed adjacent a display surface on which the virtual environment is displayed, said physical object being detected on the display surface by optically sensing light reflected from the physical object through the display surface;
(b) within the virtual environment, producing a response to the physical object as if the physical object were included in the virtual environment, enabling an interaction between the physical object and the virtual environment in each of a first mode as well as a second mode, wherein utilizing the first mode or second mode depends upon a type of the physical object placed adjacent the display surface, said two different modes including:
(i) a first mode in which the virtual environment responds to a presence of the physical object adjacent the display surface; and
(ii) a second mode in which the physical object that is placed adjacent the display surface comprises an active object that is electrically powered and that is capable of performing an active function perceptible to a user, automatically in response to the virtual environment,
wherein the active function comprises at least one of vibrating, generating sound or emitting light, and
wherein the active object, which is placed adjacent the display surface, interacts with the virtual environment in the second mode by performing said active function adjacent the display surface automatically in response to the virtual environment producing a signal that is detected by the active object and which causes the active object to perform the active function as if the physical object were included in the virtual environment.
17. A method as recited in
18. A method as recited in
19. A method as recited in
20. A method for enabling interaction between a virtual environment and a physical object, comprising the steps of:
detecting the physical object and its location when the physical object is placed in a location atop a display surface that is displaying the virtual environment, said physical object being detected on the display surface by optically sensing light reflected from the physical object from below the display surface, wherein the physical object includes an IR encoded pattern that makes the physical object distinguishable from at least one other physical object placed on the display surface, and wherein the IR encoded pattern is substantially invisible to a human eye; and
displaying a projected image limited to the location of the physical object, the projected image being visible through the physical object at said location and such that the projected image visible through the physical object appears to be part of the physical object, even though it is part of an overall image of the virtual environment that is displayed on the display surface.
21. A method as recited in
22. A method as recited in
23. A method as recited in
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/834,675, filed Apr. 29, 2004, entitled INTERACTION BETWEEN OBJECTS AND A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT DISPLAY, and incorporates the foregoing application by reference in its entirety.
This invention generally pertains to a method and apparatus wherein an interaction occurs between a virtual environment displayed on a surface and objects placed on the display surface, and more specifically, pertains to facilitating an interaction between graphic images displayed on a display surface and passive and/or active objects that are placed on or positioned near the display surface.
Virtual environments are typically employed in electronic games that are played on game consoles, personal computers, and other types of computing devices, as well as in other types of applications. A user usually interacts with objects in a virtual environment by manipulating a mouse, joystick, wheel, game pad, track ball, or other user input device that causes the virtual object to move in a specific manner or carry out some other action or function as defined by the software program that produces the virtual environment. The effects of a user interaction with an object in the virtual environment are generally visible on a display. For example, a user might be controlling a virtual object such as a spaceship or race car that is displayed in the virtual environment, so that the virtual object carries out some task. If the virtual object being controlled by the user strikes another virtual object, it may be "destroyed," as shown by graphic images indicating the destruction on the display. In certain games, the game console or computer may control other virtual objects in the environment, either in support of the user's task, or to oppose its completion. Thus, the interaction between virtual objects in a virtual environment is well known.
Another form of user input employs displays that are responsive to the touch of a user's finger or a stylus. Touch responsive displays can be pressure activated, responsive to electrical capacitance, changes in magnetic field intensity, employ surface acoustic waves, or respond to other variables that indicate the location of a finger or stylus on the display. Another type of touch sensitive display includes a plurality of optical sensors spaced-apart around the periphery of the display screen so that the location of a finger or stylus touching the screen can be detected. Using one of these touch sensitive displays, a user can more directly control a virtual object that is displayed. For example, the user may touch the displayed virtual object to select it and then drag the object to a new position on the touch-sensitive display.
However, in most such touch-sensitive displays, the response is only to the touch of the finger or stylus at a point. There is another type of interaction with a virtual environment that might provide a much richer experience for the user. While virtual environments, such as games, often include virtual objects that are displayed on a screen, it would be desirable for the virtual environment to also respond to physical objects that are placed on the display surface. In most prior art touch-sensitive displays, the finger or stylus is not treated as a physical object that is actually within the virtual environment, but instead, is simply an alternative type of pointing device used to make selections or drag elements about on the screen. To be truly interactive to physical objects that are placed on it, a display surface should also be able to detect where a plurality of physical objects are placed on it, as well as detect different types of physical objects, each of which might provide a different interactive experience for the user. However, the capacitive, electro-magnetic, optical, or other types of sensors used in conventional touch-sensitive displays typically cannot simultaneously detect the location of more than one finger or object touching the display screen at a time, and thus, would be unable to detect the location or each different type of a plurality of different types of physical objects placed thereon. These prior art touch-sensing systems are generally incapable of detecting more than a point of contact and are unable to detect the shape of an object proximate to or touching the display surface. Even capacitive or resistive, or acoustic surface wave sensing display surfaces that can detect multiple points of contact are unable to image objects on a display surface to any reasonable degree of resolution. Prior art systems of these types cannot detect patterns on an object or detailed shapes that might be used to identify each object among a plurality of different objects that are placed on a display surface.
Another approach that has been developed in the prior art uses cameras mounted to the side and above a horizontal display screen to visually capture an image of a user's finger or other objects that are touching the display screen. This multiple camera mounting configuration is clearly not a compact system that most people would want to use in a residential setting. In addition, the accuracy of this type of multi-camera system in responding to an object that is on or proximate to the display surface depends upon the capability of the software used with the system to visually recognize objects and their location in three-dimensional space. Furthermore, the view of one object by one of the cameras may be blocked by an intervening object.
To address many of the problems inherent in the types of touch-sensitive displays discussed above, a user interface platform was developed in the MIT Media Lab, as reported by Brygg Ullmer and Hiroshi Ishii in "The metaDESK: Models and Prototypes for Tangible User Interfaces," Proceedings of UIST 10/1997:14-17. The metaDESK includes a near-horizontal graphical surface used to display two-dimensional geographical information. Above the graphical surface is disposed an arm-mounted flat-panel display that serves as an "active lens" for use in displaying three dimensional geographical information. A computer vision system inside the desk unit (i.e., below the graphical surface) includes infrared (IR) lamps, an IR camera, a video camera, a video projector, and mirrors. The mirrors reflect the graphical image projected by the projector onto the underside of the graphical display surface. The IR camera can detect a distinctive pattern provided on the undersurface of passive objects called "phicons" that are placed on the graphical surface. Magnetic-field position sensors and electrical-contact sensors are also included in the metaDESK. For example, in response to the IR camera detecting the IR pattern (which is transparent to visible light) applied to the bottom of a "Great Dome phicon," a map of the MIT campus is displayed on the graphical surface, with the actual location of the Great Dome in the map positioned where the Great Dome phicon is located. Moving the Great Dome phicon over the graphical surface manipulates the displayed map by rotating or translating the map in correspondence to the movement of the phicon by a user. This paper notes that all of the objects or phicons used with the graphical display surface are passive, so that the display system simply responds to a phicon by producing a specific graphic image, but the phicon does not itself respond to the virtual environment.
A similar approach to sensing objects on a display surface is disclosed in several papers published by Jun Rekimoto of Sony Computer Science Laboratory, Inc. in collaboration with others. These papers briefly describe a "HoloWall" and a "HoloTable," both of which use IR light to detect objects that are proximate to or in contact with a display surface on which a rear-projected image is visible. The rear-projection panel, which is vertical in the HoloWall and horizontal in the HoloTable, is semi-opaque and diffusive, so that objects become more clearly visible as they approach and then contact the panel. The objects thus detected can be a user's fingers or hands, or other objects. However, there is no discussion of active objects being placed on the surface of the display panel to carry out some active function involving an interaction with a virtual environment displayed on the screen.
It would be desirable to enable interaction within the virtual environment between physical objects that are placed on a display surface and virtual objects within the virtual environment, and to enable certain types of physical objects to respond to the virtual environment being displayed in an active and perceivable manner. Ideally, the interaction should go well beyond the use of a physical object to simply select and move a virtual object on a touch-sensitive screen. Although some types of objects placed on a display surface will be passive and only capable of being moved about on the display surface by the user's hand, other types of physical objects should be active and capable of responding to the virtual environment in an interactive manner. For example, it would be preferable if a physical object that looks like some form of vehicle were capable of moving over the display surface without being picked up and replaced at a different position by the user. Thus, a physical object that includes a small electric motor drivingly coupled to drive wheels on the object might be caused by either the user or the computing device creating the virtual environment to move around on the display surface and interact with virtual objects that are displayed thereon. It would also be desirable to employ other types of active functions in different types of active objects to respond to the virtual environment being displayed.
The interaction between physical objects and virtual objects in a displayed virtual environment might take different forms. For example, it would be desirable to be able to position a physical object on the display surface, have the software program executing the virtual environment recognize the physical object and its location, and then respond to the presence of the physical object when moving virtual objects within the virtual environment. Also, the virtual environment might respond to changes that are caused by the user, in the position of the physical object in the virtual environment. Thus, if the user moves a physical object to change its position or orientation on the display surface, in response, the virtual environment software program might respond by changing some function, parameter, or feature related to the virtual environment, such as the volume of sound produced by the virtual environment software.
Sensing the changing area and location of contact of a physical object with the display surface should also preferably result in a corresponding interaction with the displayed virtual environment. For example, if the physical object changes shape with varying pressure, the movement by the user of the object over the display surface should produce a corresponding stroke in the display that represents the changing shape of the object that is in contact with the display surface. These and other forms of interaction between a physical object on the display surface and the graphic images and virtual environment that are displayed thereon can provide a much more enjoyable and realistic experience for the user.
The present invention enables a blurring of the distinction between the real world of physical objects and a virtual environment in which virtual objects and graphic images are displayed on a display screen. To achieve this result, an interactive display has been developed that includes a display surface formed as the central part of a table top. A virtual environment is projected from below and viewed on the display surface. Any physical object that is disposed on the display surface can be optically detected by an IR camera that is disposed below the display surface and which is responsive to IR light that is reflected from the physical object. Once the physical object has been detected at a specific position using the camera, a software program controlling the virtual environment or graphic images being displayed then facilitates an interaction between the physical object and the virtual environment just as if the physical object were included within the virtual environment. Depending upon the type of physical object that is positioned atop the display surface, the interaction can be in two different modes. Specifically, in a first mode, the virtual environment that is displayed responds to the presence of the physical object on the display surface. In the second mode, the physical object responds to the virtual environment that is displayed, particularly, to changes in the virtual environment or graphic images that are displayed on the displayed surface.
Any movement of the physical object relative to the display surface is tracked by sensing changes in the location of the physical object on the display surface. Accordingly, the response to the physical object may then include changing a value of a parameter in the virtual environment in response to the movement of the physical object relative to the display surface.
The response to the physical object can also be implemented by the interaction of a virtual object in the virtual environment with the physical object. Thus, for example, the virtual object can be prevented from moving through a region in the virtual environment where the physical object is located on the display surface. If the physical object represents a wall in the virtual environment, a virtual object corresponding to a car controlled by a software program displaying the virtual environment would be caused to steer away from and avoid colliding with the wall at the location of the physical object on the display screen. This method can also detect at least one of a size and a shape of the physical object at a specific location on the display surface to enable the predefined response to the physical object within the virtual environment.
The method can also identify the physical object based upon IR light reflected from the physical object. For example, the IR light that is reflected may be encoded with a predefined pattern that is optically detected by the IR camera disposed below the display surface. The physical object can be a passive object that does not perform any active function that is perceptible to the user, or an active object that does. The active object might detect a signal produced within the virtual environment, such as a specific optical signal, causing the active object to perform the active function.
The active function can include producing one or more different types of perceptible conditions, such as emitting light, or producing a tone, or vibrating, or movement of the active object over the display surface. An active object that is mobile will be able to move itself over the display surface and interact with the virtual environment. For example, the active object can be a radio-controlled (RC) toy tank that moves about on the display surface as an electric motor drives treads on the toy tank. Or the toy tank might instead be controlled by modulating IR light from an IR source such as an IR light emitting diode (LED) that is disposed under the display surface, or by visible light pulses or modulation of the visible light produced by the image source used for producing the display seen on the display surface. For this and other types of active object, the active function of the active object can be controlled by the user, or alternatively, by the software program that produces the virtual environment. Electrical power can be provided to the active object by either a battery or a charged capacitor to enable the active object to perform certain active functions. A computing device executing the software can thus control an active object, which can in turn effect the behavior of a virtual object, and further effect the user, or vice versa. Many different interactive scenarios are clearly readily imaginable.
Other types of interaction are possible between a passive object and the virtual environment. For example, an image that is specific to the physical object and is visible through the physical object can be projected on the display surface where the physical object is disposed. The projected image will then be visible through the physical object and will appear to be part of the physical object, since the projected image will move about as the passive object is moved over the display surface.
Since a location of the physical object is determined in this method, a virtual entity can be displayed at a position on the display surface selected to avoid a visual interference between the virtual object and the physical object. The virtual entity comprises either a virtual object or information. Preferably, a plurality of prioritized or ordered positions are determined at which the virtual entity can be selectively displayed to avoid the interference with the physical object. A position that avoids the interference with the physical entity and having a highest priority is selected for display of the virtual entity. Also, the method preferably determines a location of a specific user who will be visually perceiving the virtual entity, so that the virtual entity is oriented and displayed at a position selected to enable the specific user to easily visually perceive the virtual entity. This position will be selected to avoid visual interference between the physical object and the virtual entity. If the virtual entity cannot be displayed without interference with the physical object at a highest priority location, a size of the virtual entity can be reduced to avoid the interference with the physical object.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a memory medium on which are stored machine executable instructions for carrying out the steps of the method.
Yet another aspect of the invention is directed to a system for enabling interaction between a virtual environment and a physical object. The system comprises an interactive display that includes a display surface on which the virtual environment is displayed, and a sensor for detecting a physical object placed on the display surface. A processor is coupled to the interactive display and to a memory in which are stored machine instructions. When executed by the processor, the machine instructions cause the processor to carry out a plurality of functions that are generally consistent with the steps of the method described above.
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
With reference to
A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk, magnetic disk 29, optical disk 31, ROM 24, or RAM 25, including an operating system 35, one or more application programs 36, other program modules 37, and program data 38. A user may enter commands and information in to PC 20, and provide control input through input devices such as a keyboard 40 and a pointing device 42. Pointing device 42 may include a mouse, stylus, wireless remote control, or other pointer, but in connection with the present invention, such conventional pointing devices may be omitted, since the user can employ the interactive display for input and control. As used hereinafter, the term "mouse" is intended to encompass virtually any pointing device that is useful for controlling the position of a cursor on the screen. Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, haptic joystick, yoke, foot pedals, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input/output (I/O) devices are often connected to processing unit 21 through an I/O interface 46 that is coupled to the system bus 23. The term I/O interface is intended to encompass each interface specifically used for a serial port, a parallel port, a game port, a keyboard port, and/or a universal serial bus (USB). System bus 23 is also connected to a camera interface 59, which is coupled to an interactive display 60 to receive signals form a digital video camera that is included therein, as discussed below. The digital video camera may be instead coupled to an appropriate serial I/O port, such as to a USB version 2.0 port. Optionally, a monitor 47 can be connected to system bus 23 via an appropriate interface, such as a video adapter 48; however, the interactive display of the present invention can provide a much richer display and interaction with the user for display and input of information and control of software applications and is therefore coupled to the video adaptor. In addition to the monitor, PCs are often coupled to other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers (through a sound card or other audio interface—not shown) and printers. It is also contemplated that PC 20 may be coupled to active objects placed on the display surface through a peer-to-peer radio (e.g. Bluetooth) system (not shown) which would allow it to communicate with the active objects. Alternatively, a controller can be coupled to the PC through an appropriate I/O port, and the controller can be coupled to one more active objects through an appropriate wired, RF link, or other type of wireless link, including through light signals—either visible or IR, which are produced by sources included in the interactive table, as discussed below.
The present invention may be practiced on a single machine, however, PC 20 can also operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 49. Remote computer 49 may be another PC, a server (which is typically generally configured much like PC 20), a router, a network PC, a peer device, or a satellite or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above in connection with PC 20, although only an external memory storage device 50 has been illustrated in
When used in a LAN networking environment, PC 20 is connected to LAN 51 through a network interface or adapter 53. When used in a WAN networking environment, PC 20 typically includes a modem 54, or other means such as a cable modem, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) interface, or an Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN) interface for establishing communications over WAN 52, such as the Internet. Modem 54, which may be internal or external, is connected to the system bus 23 or coupled to the bus via I/O device interface 46, i.e., through a serial port. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to PC 20, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used, such as wireless communication and wide band network links.
Exemplary Interactive Table
IR light sources 66 preferably comprise a plurality of IR light emitting diodes (LEDs) and are mounted on the interior side of frame 62. The IR light that is produced by IR light sources 66 is directed upwardly toward the underside of display surface 64 a, as indicated by dash lines 78 a, 78 b, and 78 c. The IR light from IR light sources 66 is reflected from any objects that are atop or proximate to the display surface after passing through a translucent layer 64 b of the table comprising a sheet of vellum or other suitable material with light diffusing properties. A sheet of a transparent material, such as clear plastic, can be used to support the light diffusing material employed for translucent layer 64 b, if needed. Although only one IR source 66 is shown, it will be appreciated that a plurality of such IR sources may be mounted at spaced-apart locations around the interior sides of frame 62 to prove an even illumination of display surface 64 a. The infrared light produced by the IR sources may:
Objects above display surface 64 a include a "touch" object 76 a that rests atop the display surface and a "hover" object 76 b that is close to but not in actual contact with the display surface. As a result of using translucent layer 64 b under the display surface to diffuse the IR light passing through the display surface, as an object approaches the top of display surface 64 a, the amount of IR light that is reflected by the object increases to a maximum level that is achieved when the object is actually in contact with display surface 64 a.
A digital video camera 68 is mounted to frame 62 below display surface 64 a in a position appropriate to receive IR light that is reflected from any touch object or hover object disposed above display surface 64 a. Digital video camera 68 is equipped with an IR pass filter 86 a that transmits only IR light and blocks ambient visible light traveling through display surface 64 a along dotted line 84 a. A baffle 79 is disposed IR source 66 and the digital video camera to prevent IR light that is directly emitted from the IR source from entering the digital video camera, since it is important that this digital video camera should produce an output signal that is responsive to the IR light reflected from objects that are a short distance above or in contact with display surface 64 a. Care was taken in selecting the positions of these IR LEDs to avoid specular reflections caused as a result of secondary reflections from mirror 72 b (
IR light reflected from objects on or above the table surface may be:
Translucent layer 64 b diffuses both incident and reflected IR light. Thus, as explained above, "hover" objects that are closer to display surface 64 a will reflect more IR light back to digital video camera 68 than objects of the same reflectivity that are farther away from the display surface. Digital video camera 68 senses the infrared light reflected from "touch" and "hover" objects within its imaging field and produces a digital signal corresponding to images of the reflected IR light that is input to PC 20 for processing to determine a location of each such object, and optionally, the size, orientation, and shape of the object. It should be noted that a portion of an object (such as a user's forearm) may be above the table while another portion (such as the user's finger) is in contact with the display surface. In addition, an object may include an IR light reflective pattern or code (e.g., a bar code) on its bottom surface that is specific to that object or to a class of related objects of which that object is a member. Accordingly, the imaging signal from digital video camera 68 can also be used for detecting such specific object, as well as determining its orientation, based on the IR light reflected from its reflective pattern.
PC 20 may be integral to interactive table 60 as shown in
An important and powerful feature of the interactive table (either of the embodiments discussed above) is its ability to display graphic images or a virtual environment for games or other software applications and to enable an interaction between the graphic image or virtual environment visible on display surface 64 a and objects that are resting atop the display surface or are hovering just above it.
Again referring to
Alignment devices 74 a and 74 b are provided and include threaded rods and rotatable adjustment nuts 74 c for adjusting the angles of the first and second mirror assemblies to ensure that the image projected onto the display surface is aligned with the display surface. In addition to directing the projected image in a desired direction, the use of these two mirror assemblies provides a longer path between projector 70 and translucent layer 64 b, and more importantly, helps in achieving a desired size and shape of the interactive display table, so that the interactive display table is not too large and is sized and shaped so as to enable the user to sit comfortably next to it.
Interaction Between Physical and Virtual Objects within a Virtual Environment
A functional block diagram 130 in
A functional block diagram 150 in
As noted above, one form of active function of which certain types of active physical objects are capable is moving about on the display surface. However, active objects 154 can implement other active functions that are perceptible to user 132. For example, active objects 154 can emit light, possibly of one or more different color lights in response to conditions in the virtual environment. Similarly, active objects 154 can produce audible signals or tones, perhaps of different pitches depending upon the status of a virtual object or other graphic images within the virtual environment being displayed. Instead of producing an audible tone, active objects 154 might vibrate. In each of these examples of active functions, active objects 154 interact with the virtual environment, so that the active object appears to be a part of the virtual environment and not a discrete and separate entity.
The virtual environment that is displayed can control active objects 154 and the active functions they implement in a number of different ways. Within the virtual environment, the IR video camera is used to "close the loop" such that errors in the controlled movement of an object can be corrected, using standard techniques in control theory. For example, a user of the PC can control an active object to move in a straight line across the display surface, even though the motors on the active object may not be capable of such precise control, without the benefit of the vision system feedback. As indicated in a block 160, the virtual environment (or the CPU producing it) can communicate with the active object by using light to which the active object responds and which is part of the displayed image, or produce an RF signal, or use IR light, or some other signal to communicate with the active object. Thus, if the virtual environment includes a spot of visible light that moves around on the display surface, active object 154 can effectively follow the spot of light, being controlled by the software application program that produces the displayed images. In a game that is played using the interactive display, the CPU creating the virtual environment may control one or more active objects while the users control other active objects. The active objects may also function as passive objects, since the mere presence of the active object on the display surface can cause the virtual environment to appropriately respond to the mere presence of the active physical object at that location.
Some examples may help to illustrate how various interactions can occur between passive objects and the virtual environment, and between active objects and the virtual environment. For example, if a user is playing a pinball arcade game in which a pinball game layout comprises the virtual environment that appears upon the display surface, the user may place a passive object configured as a bumper within the pinball game image appearing on the display surface. If a virtual object representing a pinball is launched and "strikes" the bumper placed by the user, the virtual image will be caused to rebound and a virtual flash of light made to appear along with a sound being generated by the virtual environment. If the user repositions the passive object serving as a bumper, the virtual game environment will sense the new position and orientation of the passive object and the response of the pinball "striking" the bumper in its new position will again produce a predefined response.
If the user then positions an active object representing a round bumper on the pinball game board displayed as the virtual environment, a different type of response can be created. If the virtual pinball "strikes" the round bumper, the virtual environment can produce a light signal under the active object to which it responds by vibrating and producing a pulse of light from a light source contained within the active object, and/or by producing a predefined ringing sound. The virtual environment can produce other visual lighting effects or flashes under the active object when the pinball strikes the active agent.
The pinball can be made to move within the virtual environment of the pinball game in a direction and with a force appropriate for the motion of the pinball when "striking" active or passive objects, so that the virtual pinball rebounds off the physical object in a direction defined by the laws of physics. To make the active object light up or emit sound, or vibrate, the virtual environment can direct a visible or IR light pulse to a receptor on the undersurface of the active object at the time the virtual object impacts the active object, causing the active object to implement its active function. Furthermore, the light signal that is transmitted to the active object within the virtual environment can be encoded to cause the active object to carry out different active functions, depending upon the particular code sequence that is received by a sensor disposed on the undersurface of the active object.
A tank 194 b in
In this example, the user has placed passive object 194 a in the path of tank 194 e, and it represents a massive wall that would stop an actual tank in the virtual environment. The virtual environment will respond to the detection of passive object 194 a, its shape, location, and orientation. Since passive object 194 a represents a wall at the location in the virtual environment where its position is sensed, the virtual environment will not permit tank 194 e to advance through the region occupied by passive object 194 a within the virtual environment. Thus, the passive object representing a wall is treated as a part of the virtual environment that effects the movement of a physical object 194 e controlled by the virtual environment.
Physical objects can also respond to virtual objects such as a shell 196 c fired by tank 194 b. In response to being struck by such a shell, a virtual explosion 196 d can be made to visibly appear around tank 194 e, indicating that the virtual shell has struck the tank.
Active objects 194 c and 194 d correspond to cars or other vehicles that are also controlled either by the user using an RF or wired control (not shown) or by the virtual environment using either a RF control, a pulsed IR light signal source to which a light sensor on the active object is responsive when the IR light signal is projected through display surface 192, or visible light 196 b. Any of these signals can be used to control the direction in which active object 194 c moves on display surface 192.
Active objects 194 b, 194 c, 194 d, and 194 e, which carry out functions requiring electrical power to energize the active object, will typically either include a rechargeable (or non-rechargeable) battery or use a capacitive charge power source (if only a minimal amount of electrical power is required).
Another feature of passive objects as used in the present invention, that has not yet been discussed is that a specific portion of a displayed image can be projected onto the display surface occupied by a passive object so that the portion of the displayed image appears to be part of the passive object, i.e., as if affixed to the bottom surface of the passive object.
Another interaction between physical objects and virtual objects that are displayed within the virtual environment relates to avoiding the display of a virtual object where at least a portion of it would be obscured by a physical object placed on the display surface by a user or the software. It is assumed that the physical object is not transparent. The interference between the display of a virtual object and a physical object that has been positioned on the board requires that the virtual environment be aware of the location and size of the physical object. It is generally preferable to create a prioritized list of locations for displaying a virtual object to avoid interference not only with physical objects that have been moved about or positioned on the display surface, but also with other aspects of the virtual display.
A flow chart 100 in
A step 108 then determines for each location in the prioritized list whether the virtual object should be displayed there. In step 110, the program orients the virtual object toward the player as it will be displayed. A decision step 112 then determines if any physical object is disposed on the display surface at that location, so as to at least partially interfere with the virtual object. If so, a step 114 resizes the virtual object so that it is smaller, or alternatively, reformats the virtual object by changing either its size or shape to fit around the physical object. Then again, a decision step 116 determines if any physical object will obscure the virtual object as thus resized or reformatted. If so, the logic proceeds with step 118, which then evaluates the next location in the prioritized or ordered list of possible locations. If either the determination in decision step 112 or in decision step 116 is negative, the logic proceeds to a step 120, which places the virtual object at the then current location either in its original size if the logic has come from decision step 112, or in its reduced size (or altered format) if the logic has come from decision step 116. Following an affirmative response to decision step 116, step 118 proceeds back to step 110 to repeat the process for the next location in the ordered list. Once the virtual object has been placed (i.e., displayed) on the display surface in decision step 120, the logic is completed in step 122. The logic discussed above that employs a prioritized list of positions is simply exemplary, and it will be appreciated that other constraint satisfaction or optimization techniques for displaying virtual images to avoid interference with physical objects that have been placed on the display surface can instead be used.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred form of practicing it, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that many modifications can be made thereto within the scope of the claims that follow. Accordingly, it is not intended that the scope of the invention in any way be limited by the above description, but instead be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.
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Hall, Macumber, Nunn, Webb Look to Build on Rod McCravy Performances
Feb. 4, 2011
Virginia Tech Elite Meet Start List
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky track and field team will venture away from the friendly confines of E.J. Nutter Field House for the first time this season, as they compete at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet on Friday and Saturday in Blacksburg, Va.The event begins at 5 p.m. ET Friday and continues at 11 a.m. ET Saturday. Live results will be available athttp://www.flashresults.com/2011_Meets/indoor/02-04-VT_Elite.The Wildcats are coming off an impressive four-win outing at the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet that included victories from senior Keenan Hall, sophomore Cally Macumber, freshman Julie Nunn and senior Sharif Webb. Macumber notched her first-career victory in the women's one-mile run with a personal-best time of 4:48.70 and was followed closely by freshman Taylor Wendler who claimed a seventh-place finish in 4:56.56. Nunn picked up the Wildcats second win of the day and the first of her young career in the women's 400m dash with a time of 54.78. Another solid performance for a young female wildcat came from sophomore Shiara Robinson who set a personal-best time of 55.81 to finish seventh in the 400m dash, marking the second-straight meet she has put together career-best performances.In contrast to the young women's side, the men won with experience. Webb, the only returning indoor All-America honoree on the men's side, won the 800-meter run in his first try at the event this season, with a time of 1:50.59. In addition to Webb, Hall won his first long jump title, landing in the pit 23-07.25/7.19m from the launching board.Other notable performances from the Rod McCravy included junior Josh Nadzam, who was coming off his first career victory at the Kentucky Invitational, placing second while posting his second consecutive personal-best time in the mile at 4:06.70. Also in the men's mile was junior Luis Orta who finished 11th overall in the men's one-mile run with a time of 4:10.49, roughly three seconds away from his personal-best time of 4:07.30.Junior transfer Keith Hayes backed up his win in the 60m hurdles at the Kentucky Invite with a second-place finish at the Rod McCravy in 7.80. Hayes currently sits second on UK's all-time list in the 60m hurdles, trailing Mikel Thomas by .06. The men's 4x400m relay team that includes Kadeem Kushimo, Hayes, Cody Miller and Webb finished second in the event with a time of 3:12.22. It was their best mark of the season after posting a 3:14.14 at the Kentucky Invite, also grabbing a second-place finish.For continuous updates follow the UK track and field team on twitter @KentuckyTrack, and at Ukathletics.com.


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A device and method for reducing ventricular dilation by placing one or more cardiac bridges into vessels extending along a length of the ventricle. Each cardiac bridge preferably includes a pair of anchors and a bridge member secured therebetween. The tension in the bridge member is increased to compress the ventricle and thereby reduce the dilation. In another embodiment, the bridge member is tensioned to reshape the left ventricle for reducing tension on the chordae tendinae in the heart to improve valve function.
1. A method of reducing left ventricular dilation, comprising:
advancing at least a portion of a cardiac bridge into a posterior vein of a left ventricle, the cardiac bridge including a proximal anchor, a distal anchor and a bridge member connecting the proximal and distal anchors;
expanding the proximal and distal anchors; and
altering a curvature of the bridge member between the proximal and distal anchors such that the bridge member applies a compressive force to a wall of the left ventricle.
2. The method of
3. The method of
4. The method of
5. The method of
6. A method of reducing ventricular dilation, comprising:
advancing at least a portion of a first cardiac bridge into a first vein that branches from a coronary sinus and extends along a length of a left ventricle, the first cardiac bridge including a first proximal anchor, a first distal anchor and a first bridge member;
advancing at least a portion of a second cardiac bridge into a second vein that branches from the coronary sinus and extends along the length of the left ventricle, the second cardiac bridge including a second proximal anchor, a second distal anchor and a second bridge member;
joining the first and second bridge members; and
increasing tension in the first and second bridge members such that the bridge members applies a compressive force to the ventricular wall.
7. The method of
8. The method of
9. The method of
10. The method of
11. The method of
12. The method of
13. A method for improving coaption of leaflets of a mitral valve, comprising:
advancing at least a portion of a cardiac bridge into a posterior vein of the left ventricle, the cardiac bridge including a proximal anchor, a distal anchor and a bridge member connecting the proximal and distal anchors;
expanding the proximal and distal anchors; and
applying tension to the bridge member for reducing a height of a left ventricle and thereby reducing tension on the chordae tendinae.
The following disclosure relates generally to medical devices and methods of use. More particularly, the following disclosure relates to devices and methods for treating ventricular dilation.
Ventricular dilation (also referred to as ventricular dilatation) is a condition wherein the wall of the heart muscle thins and/or expands as compared to a healthy heart. For a variety of reasons, a dilated ventricle often exhibits a reduced ability to pump blood. As a result, this condition typically increases the load on the heart while decreasing cardiac efficiency. One reason for the increased load on the heart is that blood is pumped in a direction other than directly towards the heart valve (e.g., aortic valve). Another reason for the increased load on the heart is that the enlarged ventricle can negatively affect the operation of one or more heart valves. More particularly, if the leaflets of a heart valve are not aligned properly due to an enlarged valve annulus, the leaflets may not close tightly. Incomplete leaflet closure leads to regurgitation of blood through the valve.
In recent years, it has been discovered that ventricular dilation is a relatively common condition in elderly people that contributes to fatigue when performing physical activities such as walking. Unfortunately, in many cases, patients having this condition lead very limited lives. Due to the prevalence of this condition, a number of treatments have been proposed for treating ventricular dilation.
Certain proposed treatments utilize external supports, such as sacs or wraps, which are configured to be placed around the exterior of the heart to shore up the ventricular walls in an effort to improve its pumping efficiency. Other treatments involve surgically remodeling the ventricle by removing a portion of the muscular wall. Still other treatments involve pharmacological treatments, such as diuretics, and mechanical pumps for reducing the load on the heart by assisting with the pumping function which is normally performed by the heart. Although many of these treatments have been studied extensively, none of these treatments has met with great success. Furthermore, many of these treatments are highly invasive and may not be appropriate for patients that are already in a weakened cardiac condition. In fact, many believe that the risks of the existing procedures outweigh the potential benefits. As a result, the growing patient population afflicted with this condition is not being adequately treated. Therefore, an urgent need exists for a less invasive and more effective technique for treating ventricular dilation.
The present disclosure relates to a minimally invasive technique for treating ventricular dilation. In one embodiment, an implantable device is placed within a blood vessel extending along a length of the dilated ventricle. The implantable device includes at least one anchor positioned within the vessel and a bridge member secured to the anchor. A second anchor may be positioned within or outside the vessel. The bridge member is tensioned between the anchors for applying a compressive force along the dilated ventricular wall. The bridge member may include a bioabsorbable material that allows the bridge member to gradually contract over time after it is implanted into the body.
In one embodiment, the implantable bridge takes the form of a cardiac bridge which is placed in a vein along the heart muscle. The cardiac bridge is preferably deployed by advancing a delivery catheter through the inferior or superior vena cava to the right atrium of the heart, through the coronary ostium and into the coronary sinus to allow the vein to be reached. One or more anchors are inserted into the vein and the bridge member is tensioned to reduce the dilation and restore the heart to a more normal shape. In various preferred embodiments, a cardiac bridge may be deployed in the middle cardiac vein, the posterior vein of the left ventricle, or the left marginal vein. In other embodiments, the cardiac bridge may be deployed in the great cardiac vein or the diagonal vein.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosed technology, a cardiac bridge includes a distal anchor that is placed in a cardiac vessel and a bridge member that extends out of the body when the distal anchor is deployed. A second anchor is advanced over two or more bridge members to secure the two or more bridge members together.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the disclosed technology, a deployment device includes a catheter having a proximal anchor on an outer surface thereof. Within the catheter is a pair of sheaths each having a distal anchor thereon and a cover of the sheaths. The distal anchors are connected together by a bridge member and to the proximal anchor by a tether.
In accordance with yet another embodiment, the disclosed technology is used to improve the operation of valves in the heart. In one preferred configuration, one or more cardiac bridges are configured to reshape the heart for reducing undesirable tension on the chordae tendinae. The chordae tendineae are cord-like tendons that connect the papillary muscles to the mitral valve and the tricuspid valve in the heart. A dilated ventricle can increase the tension in the chordae tendinae, thereby negatively impacting the operation of the mitral or triscupid valve. By reshaping the heart with cardiac bridges, the tension in the chordae tendinae is relieved and the function of the heart valve is improved.
The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying figures.
With reference now to
Surrounding the heart ventricle 54 are a number of arteries (not shown) that supply oxygenated blood to the heart muscle and a number of veins that return the blood from the heart muscle to the right atrium. The coronary sinus 60 is a relatively large vein that extends generally around the upper portion of the left ventricle 54 and provides a return conduit for blood returning to the right atrium. The coronary sinus terminates at the coronary ostium (not shown) at which point the blood enters the right atrium. As illustrated, a number of smaller veins deliver blood from the heart muscle to the coronary sinus. These veins include the middle cardiac vein 62, the posterior vein of the left ventricle 64 and the left marginal vein 66. Each of these veins extends generally upward along a length of the left ventricle from a location near the apex 68 of the heart to the coronary sinus 60.
Ventricular dilation occurs when a ventricle of the heart becomes enlarged as compared with a healthy heart muscle. According to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, one or more cardiac bridges are configured to be positioned in veins that extend along the outside of the heart for treating ventricular dilation. As will be explained below, the cardiac bridge is adapted to exert a compressive force on the ventricle, thereby reducing the dilation of the heart wall. Although the following disclosure describes positioning cardiac bridges within veins extending along a length of the left ventricle, it will be appreciated that one or more cardiac bridges could also be placed in vessels extending along a length of the right ventricle of the heart or extending along a length of both the left and right ventricles or other vessels such as the great cardiac vein or the diagonal vein. Furthermore, although the following disclosure describes deploying cardiac bridges within the veins of heart muscle, one or more the cardiac bridges may also be placed in the arteries of the heart without departing from the scope of the invention. However, great care must be taken when deploying the cardiac bridges within arteries of the heart because any restriction of blood flow or possible blockage in an artery is a serious patient complication. Nonetheless, for the purpose of this application, the term "cardiac vessel" is intended to mean either a vein or an artery.
With reference now to
In one embodiment, the coupling member 218 includes one or more locking mechanisms that allow the bridge members 208, 210 or 212 to be selectively tightened as necessary to apply a sufficient inward force to the walls of the heart to reduce ventricular dilation. In one preferred configuration, the coupling member takes the form of a slideable clip. The clip may be advanced over the bridge members in an open condition and then adjusted to a closed condition to couple the ends of the bridge members together. In one construction, the clip may be formed of a shape memory material which is biased toward the closed condition. Alternatively, the bridge members could be configured to be attached without the use of a coupling member. For example, the bridge members could be twisted or tied together.
The cardiac bridge 220 includes a proximal anchor 222 and a distal anchor 224 that are joined by a bridge member 226. In one embodiment, the bridge member 226 is constructed with a shape-memory material or a spring-like structure that gradually foreshortens to increase the tension between the proximal and distal anchors after the cardiac bridge has been implanted. The bridge member is selected to have a length and stiffness such that it can exert sufficient force on the heart wall to reduce ventricular dilation as desired. In the illustrated embodiment, the resorbable material 230 is disposed between individual links of the bridge member 226. The resorbable material 230 holds the links of the bridge member 226 in an elongated state during delivery and deployment. However, over time, the material 230 is reabsorbed thereby allowing the links to collapse such that the bridge member is allowed to shorten.
Resorbable materials are those that, when implanted into a human body, are absorbed by the body by means of an enzymatic degradation, hydrolysis and/or by active absorption by blood cells and tissue cells in the human body. Examples of resorbable materials are PDS (Polydioxanone) Pronova (Poly-hexafluoropropylen-DDF), Maxon (Polyglyconat), Dexon (polyglycolic acid) and Vicryl (Polyglactin). As explained in more detail below, a resorbable material may be used in combination with a shape memory material such as Nitinol, Elgiloy or spring steel to allow the super elastic material to return to a predetermined shape over a period of time.
In one embodiment as shown in
The proximal and distal anchors 222, 224 each have a compressed state and an expanded state. In a compressed state, the anchors 222, 224 have a diameter that is less than the diameter of the vessel in which the cardiac bridge is to be deployed. In a compressed state, the anchors 222, 224 preferably have a substantially uniform diameter of about between 1.5 mm and 4 mm. In the expanded state, the proximal and distal anchors 222, 224 have a diameter that is preferably about equal or slightly greater than the inner diameter of the section of the vessel in which the anchor will be deployed.
In the embodiment shown, the bridge member 226 is connected between the proximal anchor 222 and the distal anchor 224 by links 228, 229. More specifically as shown in
In one embodiment, the bridge member 226 is made from a shape memory material and is sufficiently flexible to allow the cardiac bridge 220 to conform to the shape of the vessel surrounding the dilated ventricle. The bridge member 226 comprises X-shaped elements 234, wherein each X-shaped element is connected to an adjacent X-shaped element at the extremities of the X, allowing a space 235 to be created between adjacent X-shaped elements as shown in
Bridge member 226 has two states: an elongated state in which the bridge member has a first length, and a shortened stated in which the bridge member has a second length. The second length is shorter than the first length. As discussed above, a resorbable material such as a resorbable thread 230 is woven into the spaces 235 (shown schematically in
With the distal anchor freed from the inner sheath 302, the inner sheath can be withdrawn proximally thereby tensioning the bridge member 316. The outer sheath 308 can be further withdrawn to uncover the proximal anchor 314 thereby allowing it to radially expand against the interior of the vessel wall. In one embodiment, resorbable materials within the bridge member 316 begin to dissolve once the bridge is placed in the vessel, thereby allowing the bridge member to exert further force against the anchors 312, 314 and against the wall of the ventricle. A further description of the deployment mechanism, including a handle for moving the outer sheath 308 with respect to the inner sheath 302, is found in the US Published Patent Application 2007/00773391A1 mentioned above.
In one embodiment, a delivery mechanism 300 is used to place one or more cardiac bridges in vessels surrounding the dilated ventricle in a manner shown in
A proximal anchor 380 is positioned on the outer sheath 352. The proximal anchor 380 is joined to the bridge member 362 via a tether 382. An outer cover (not shown) over the proximal anchor allows the proximal anchor 380 to expand when removed. The tether 382 is coupled to the bridge member 362 with a slidable or fixed connection at the point where it joins the bridge member 362.
In use, the delivery mechanism 350 is placed near the location in the vessels where the cardiac bridge is to be deployed. The guide wires are positioned in the vessels where the distal anchors are to be placed and the sheaths 354, 356 are routed over the guide wires. Covers over the sheaths 354, 356 are withdrawn to allow the anchors 358, 360 to expand. The outer sheath 352 can then be withdrawn proximally to tension the bridge member 362 before deploying the proximal anchor 380.
During use, the inner sheath 402 is advanced over a guide wire 420 into a vessel. The anchor 404 is deployed and the bridge member 406 is advanced distally into the end of a vessel where is perforates the vessel as shown in
The delivery mechanism 400 can also be used to deploy the cardiac bridge configuration shown in
In the configuration shown in
With reference now to
When a heart becomes dilated, the papillary muscles 608 are often laterally dislocated compared with each other and the diameter of the mitral valve a1 increases compared with a healthy heart. The dislocated papillary muscles create extra tension in the chordae tendinae, which prevents the leaflets from closing completely. By adding one or more cardiac bridges 650 into vessels of the heart as shown in
In view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles of the disclosed invention may be applied, it should be recognized that the illustrated embodiments are only preferred examples of the invention and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is defined by the following claims. We therefore claim as our invention all that comes within the scope of these claims and equivalents thereof.
Patent Citations
Non-Patent Citations
Referenced by
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I read an article devoted to making the best biscuits possible, and among the many points made by the author were some that bear repeating. The thing to remember about biscuits, I think, is that they can be made in many ways. Biscuits are a staple food, something that was made by campfire cooks in the wilderness just as much as housewives on the frontier or in a cozy home. Cooks used what they had at hand.
If you were a cook and you tried making biscuits with oil instead of a solid fat and they didn't turn out, you simply didn't make them that way again. There is no mystery to this. I decided not to use margarine or oil in cookies years ago, before I knew much about nutrition, because the texture of cookies changes with the use of anything except butter. And even aside from the flavor, if the cookies run all over the baking sheet and stick to each other, they don't come out well.
So with biscuits, it doesn't matter a whole lot if you use solid vegetable shortening, butter or lard. It is much more important to observe these points:
Use real buttermilk, the best you can find. In Tucson there are several dairy companies, and in the dairy section you can usually find fresh buttermilk. Take it home and chill it--an hour in the freezer is best, as long as you don't forget about it and let it freeze.
The same goes for the shortening or butter--chill it ice-cold. And while you are shopping, look for pastry flour. You can make biscuits with self-rising flour, but either cake or pastry flour is called for in biscuit recipes.
When you are ready to make biscuits, assemble the flour and whisk into it any other ingredients such as sugar or leavening (just follow your recipe). An easy way to do this is to place them into a blender or food processor and give it a pulse or two.
Next you add everything else, ice-cold remember, and process or blend in pulses until you have something that looks like coarse breadcrumbs. There is also a school of thought that says that you must let your biscuit dough rest in the refrigerator for an hour after this, so that what little gluten is in your flour will relax. I do this myself.
When you are ready to shape the biscuits, remember this: they will not have flaky layers, because we don't make them at home the way a food manufacturing company does. Handle them gently at this point, shaping them into the thickness called for in your recipe. Then cut them out in rounds, squares or whatever.
This is different from "drop biscuits," which are moister and may include ingredients such as cheese. You can tell by looking at them that the cheddar biscuits at Red Lobster in Tucson are drop biscuits, not rolled and cut out.
I got a hexagonal biscuit-cutting apparatus from an online merchant, and it makes pretty biscuits if I do say so myself. Round biscuits are kind of the classic, but it doesn't matter once they are ready.
You bake biscuits quickly at a higher-than-usual heat, and then you serve them warm. To get you started, here is a standard biscuit recipe. Check out the video as well.
2 cups organic pastry flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tablespoon granulated organic sugar
1/3 cup ice-cold organic butter, sliced
1 cup fresh organic buttermilk, also ice-cold
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gently stir in the buttermilk until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and forms a lump. At this point you may want to refrigerate the dough, covered, for an hour to relax the gluten.
Turn the dough out to a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut the biscuits with your biscuit cutter or a juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are golden brown.
For a preparation like this, you may want to use a pastry cloth. This is a rectangle of plain fabric such as unbleached muslin, which you sprinkle with the flour required to knead the biscuits. Over time the pastry cloth becomes impregnated with flour. Don't use it for anything else.
Cut your cloth to any size suitable for your work surface--18 by 18 inches would work. If you sew, you could buy some muslin or plain white cotton, launder it in simple detergent, cut it to size and then hem the edges. Then put it away and use it only to roll out biscuits and pie dough.
A seasoned pastry cloth (one that has absorbed quite a bit of flour over some years) works better than any counter surface or plastic sheet that you lay over the counter. I remember that my mother had one. One of these days I may make myself one.
A lovely thing to do with biscuits is to brush them with melted butter just before serving.
The article also cautions us NEVER to use dried buttermilk to make biscuits. I'm abashed--okay, I'll never do it again.


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This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.
Demba Ba will hit Arsenal and Liverpool with £90,000-a-week wage demands in January.
Striker Ba has told Newcastle he will not sign another contract for anything less and is willing to risk ruining a switch to the Emirates or Anfield by making the same demands if his £7million release clause is met.
Russian league club Anzhi Makhachkala would happily pay Ba more than £90,000-a-week, but Arsenal and Liverpool may be loathed to commit to such big wages for the 27-year-old.
Arsenal have so far refused to offer Theo Walcott more than £80,000-a-week and Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is closing in on Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge.
Newcastle tried to tempt Ba into signing a new contract with the club and agree to remove his £7m release clause with a £70,000-a-week offer that was quickly rejected.
Ba's demands mean that interested clubs must be prepared to commit to a deal that would cost around £21m in wages and the transfer fee to sign the Senegal international for three years.
Source: Daily Mirror
This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.
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Posted at: 01/06/2013 8:12 AM
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials say two suicide bombers have attacked a government compound in the country's south, killing a guard and wounding at least 10 others.
The district chief of Spin Boldak said the two militants were targeting a Sunday meeting of local officials at a compound in a district of Kandahar province near the Pakistani border. It was not known if any foreign troops or civilians were at the site.
Mohammad Hashim said the two attackers arrived in a car, killed a guard and entered the facility firing weapons before blowing themselves up along with their vehicle. The compound houses offices of the district chief and district council as well as other government buildings.
Kandahar is one of Afghanistan's most violent provinces.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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Michael De Leon
Michael A. De Leon is a graphic designer by day, but wears many hats in his off time. In 2004, after several years of covering the Spurs, he started Project Spurs, a Spurs team fansite as an outlet to provide content to Spurs fans, while continuing to write for himself and learning the ins and outs of online publishing and web design. He has since built a writing team and started a popular weekly Spurs podcast called the Spurscast.
Posts filtered on Tag
Report: Green in talks with Olympiakos
By Jeff Garcia, Project Spurs As Project Spurs' Paul Garcia reported this week, San Antonio Spurs' Danny Green took to Twitter to mention how he might be interested in playing in Greece but didn't mention which team in Greece offered him a deal. Well it appears we now know which team it is. According to […] [Read More]
Danny Green thinking about Greece?
By Paul Garcia, Project Spurs According to San Antonio Spurs' Danny Green, he's thinking about playing in Greece. The news comes from his personal twitter account (H/T to Josh Guyer of FearCoachPop.com): Click HERE for the complete article at Project Spurs. [Read More]
Room For Improvement: Danny Green
By Paul Garcia, Project Spurs San Antonio Spurs forward Danny Green is an interesting player to observe in devising methods where he can improve. He was drafted with the 46th pick of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. After spending one season with the Cavaliers, he spent some time in the D-League with […] [Read More]
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Below is the poem entitled Oh, heavenly Rose which was written by poet
Camilo. Please feel free to comment on this poem. However, please remember, PoetrySoup is a place of encouragement and growth.
Read Poems by
João Camilo
More, more? What else may she desire:
a whole garden shelters her in heaven?
The sun bathing her petals is the holy fire,
a cockerel is not her awakening warden
but a chorus of angels playing flute and lyre.
Yet, she asks: more, more! Oh, Heavenly Rose!
She does not sleep, what upsets her repose?
What a rose could not be, if not all I can see?
Should I dare and give a rose to another rose?
Will she accept, can the three fates foresee
when the golden gateway will unclose?
Why can't you sleep? Oh, heavenly Rose!
Maybe, I dream within a dream and there
a rose is all other roses, her keen lips
are one too and her homely belly where
a blossom still to bloom calmly sleeps
is a meadow that other buds will revere?
If I dream, why waking? Oh, Heavenly Rose!
Drop the dark eyes, sweet scented maid,
the mysterious twins of your scarlet face,
answer if the heart where a seed is laid
is not a flower with the same cherry grace?
Dawn approaches, the scents of night fade,
Tell with your shy eyes. Oh, Heavenly Rose!
A hidden rose do you save for the night,
the moon concealing her silver radiance,
when a beggar dressed as a bright knight
lay at your side and with his word's dance
incite your petals to bloom with white light.
Wait, wait for the night. Oh, heavenly Rose!


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Media watcher Howard Kurtz is generally a keen observer of how the media works, but his piece in Newsweek about National Public Radio's troubles shows that for all of his smarts, the longtime Washington Post/CNN figure is still too far inside the Beltway to understand why the network is viewed as a government-funded jobs program for liberal journalists.
According to Kurtz, NPR's problems can be put down to bad, inarticulate management that has wrongly allowed it to be put on the defensive. All the talk about the liberal bias of the network is just so much hooey, says Kurtz who approvingly quotes a number of hardworking NPR journalists claiming that they are accused of being too conservative as often as they are called liberals. That may be true but it just shows that a lot of those who listen to the left-leaning NPR would probably be comfortable with the even more radical Radio Pacifica and other far left outlets that do, in fact, make NPR look fairly moderate. The fact that a liberal stalwart like Congressman Henry Waxman thinks NPR is "objective" illustrates how off-kilter the network's political compass really is.
Kurtz approvingly cites figures such as Ira Glass, the host of the network's insufferable show "This American Life," as saying that NPR's leaders should speak up about how "superpopular" it is. Their point is that the quality of NPR's programming is so high that it needs no defense. It is true that some of the news reports one might encounter on an NPR station are examples of good journalism. But, like the quality news reporting that is broadcast on FOX News when it is not airing the opinions of conservative talkers like O'Reilly and Hannity, this is beside the point. The embarrassing incidents involving Juan Williams and the sting interview of the network's chief fundraiser are, contrary to the belief of Kurtz and the NPR stalwarts he quotes, not the real problem. They are merely the symbols of the widely perceived bias of the organization.
Whether NPR's news product is great or terrible isn't the issue. Like many newspapers and other broadcast outlets, NPR appeals to a certain group of listeners, many of whom are entirely comfortable with the prejudiced frame of reference that often characterizes its coverage. It may not be what everybody likes, but so what? The point is, why should this particular brand of journalism, whether it is good or bad, blessed with a large audience or a small one, be subsidized by the government? If it is as good and as popular as its fans claim, then it will survive in the marketplace the same as any other station, either via sponsorships or the donations of people like George Soros who already gave it $1.8 million.
Until NPR fans like Kurtz can come up with a coherent rationale for government-funded liberal broadcasting instead of merely parroting the network's praise for itself, the momentum behind the drive to defund it will continue to grow. The fact that he and his friends at the network are so baffled by taxpayer resentment at the public subsidies for what is nothing more than a publicly funded liberal sinecure, speaks volumes about the sense of elitist entitlement that is so deep-seated in Washington insiders.


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Serena Beach Hotel & Spa receives Silver Award for 'Best Hotel in Africa'
Serena Beach Hotel & Spa was declared the winner of the prestigious silver award for 'The Best Hotel in Africa' during the annual Virgin Holidays World Travel Market (WTM) Awards Ceremony that was held in London earlier this month.
The winners were determined by customer response surveys that Virgin Holidays give to all their guests to complete upon their return from a holiday. Serena Beach Hotel & spa received a remarkable satisfaction rating of 95% from its guests.
Upon receiving the award, the Serena Hotels' Managing Director, Mahmud Janmohamed said, "This acknowledgement from both our clients and Virgin Holidays is of great importance to us as a company; it justifies the immense work done by our team in an effort to establish The Serena Beach Hotel and spa as the choice venue for travelers visiting the Kenyan coast. It is, indeed, with great honour that we accept this award".
Serena Beach Hotel & Spa
P.O. Box 90352
Telephone: (254 020) 3548771 / 3548772 / 3548773 / 3548774
Fax: (254 020) 3548775
E-mail: Send an e-mail
> Find out more on Serena Beach Hotel & Spa
> Serena Hotels website
Serena Hotels operate 25 hotels, resorts and safari lodges in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zanzibar, Mozambique, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. The group has been present in East Africa since the early 1970s.


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Healthy Trinity
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