text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Mar 21, 1995
|Filing date
|Aug 3, 1994
|Priority date
|Aug 3, 1994
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Bobby G. Batten, John A. Companion
|Original Assignee
|Batten; Bobby G., Companion; John A.
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (4), Referenced by (161), Classifications (10), Legal Events (7)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
This invention relates generally to medical instrumentation and relates specifically to a slaved biopsy device for obtaining tissue samples from a prostate tumor, the apparatus and process for analyzing same, and a device and process for treatment of prostate cancer with several techniques utilizing the slaved biopsy device as a means of internal application of these techniques.
A prostate examination and treatment system and process is disclosed in applicants'U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,472. The present invention is specifically designed for and intended for use with this patented system and process, which is incorporated herein by reference. In one aspect of this patented invention, an ultrasonic system is employed for detecting, identifying and precisely locating tumors in the prostate gland of a patient. Once a tumor is positively located and identified, it is essential to obtain a biopsy thereof to confirm the need of, or to assist in the decision of what operative or treatment procedures should be employed. The practice of the present invention is not limited to use with the patented system but is deemed operable with any ultrasonic prostate tumor detecting system.
Present procedures for obtaining a biopsy of prostate tumors frequently are painful, result in frequent false negative results, and frequent infections that hinder the healing process.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved system for obtaining a prostate biopsy tissue sample.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a prostate biopsy tissue sample taking system that ensures that the tissue sample taken is removed from the center of the suspected tumor.
A further object of the present invention is a system for taking a biopsy tissue sample from within an area identified as a tumor by an ultrasonic urethral prostate examination probe.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a biopsy system that is guided and aimed under the control of the same data acquisition computer employed to locate and define a tumor of the prostate.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a biopsy needle aimed by a computer under the direction of an operating physician to ensure accuracy of the deployment of the biopsy needle into an identified tumor.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a system for extruding a biopsy needle into the computed center of a defined tumor on a defined geometrical path to ensure absolute accuracy in obtaining the tissue sample.
Another object of the present invention is a biopsy system that provides verification and absolute control to the operating physician in positioning the biopsy needle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and process whereby a tumor tissue sample taken by a biopsy needle can be removed from the patient for examination and, if malignancy is indicated, the biopsy needle can be replaced by a conduit for the introduction of various treatment modalities such as, thermal, surgical, radiological, high energy, cryogenics, or other methods, to thereby provide a system to treat or destroy the tumor without the need for surgical-removal of the prostate.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a biopsy needle system that includes the ability to optically inspect, seal the exit wound, and disinfect the rectal wall at the point of biopsy needle penetration to thereby minimize the occurrence of secondary infection.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a biopsy needle system that permits the insertion of a fiber optic light to illuminate the tumor tissue and thereby facilitate malignancy determination thereof.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the foregoing and additional objects are attained by employing an ultrasonic, prostate tumor, detecting device, such as the patented, computer controlled, ultrasonic mapping probe referred to hereinbefore. In this patented system, the ultrasonic probe is inserted within the urethra of a patient to map the urethral area and to determine the existence, and pin-point the location, of any tumor present in the prostate capsule.
Once the tumor is located and indicated on the computer screen by this patented system, a rotatable, slaved, biopsy probe is inserted into the patient's rectum under the control of the same computer system. The biopsy probe is provided with a gimbaled tip end portion thereon that houses an ultrasonic receiver for detecting the ultrasonic energy being emitted through the prostate and directed to the tumor therein. The computer controls permit controlled rotation of the biopsy probe and vertical tilting of the gimbaled tip thereon to enable (via interaction with the computer display) precise alignment of the central axis of the ultrasonic receiver on the anal probe, with the tumor in the prostate. The detected ultrasonic energy comprises that particular scan disk emanating from the prostate examination and mapping probe transducer, of the patented system, which intersects the tumor location. The slaved biopsy device of the present invention employs a beam finding mechanism (ultrasonic receiver) to ensure an accurate alignment of the vector of the biopsy needle carried by the biopsy probe with the plane of the ultrasonic scan.
The slaved biopsy probe of the present invention is employed to align a biopsy needle carried concentrically to the axis of the ultrasonic receiver mounted therein, with the detected tumor, utilizing the same ultrasonic signals, and computer system, as that of the urethral probe. Once the biopsy probe is properly aligned with the detected tumor, a biopsy needle is extended from the probe, through the rectal wall, into the center of the detected tumor, and a biopsy tissue sample extracted therefrom.
This biopsy tissue sample is removed and analyzed while retaining the slaved biopsy probe intact for the insertion of appropriate treatment structure, which can include various treatment modalities such as, thermal, surgical, chemical, radiological, high energy and cryogenics, or other methods. Suitable pores are provided in the end of the probe to dispense a lubricant and an anesthetic during probe insertion into the rectum. As withdrawn, an antiseptic cleanser washes down the area of biopsy needle penetration and the opening caused thereby the rectal wall is sealed.
A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be better understood when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic, part sectional, view of the slaved biopsy probe of the present invention, and instrumentation therefor, as employed with the referenced patented, ultrasonic, urethral, mapping probe;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged, part schematic, part sectional, view of the slaved biopsy probe shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3a is a schematic, sectional, anatomical view of a diseased prostate showing a tumor therein and the ultrasonic detection pattern from an ultrasonic urethral probe and the biopsy probe disposed within the patient's rectum;
FIG. 3b is similar to FIG. 3a and illustrates the positioning of the biopsy needle to penetrate and take a sample tissue from the tumor;
FIG. 3c is similar to FIG. 3b and shows the biopsy needle contacting the tumor;
FIG. 3d is similar to FIG. 3c and illustrates the biopsy needle extracting a tissue sample from the center of the detected prostate tumor;
FIG. 4a is a part sectional, part schematic, view of the needle retracting mechanism that also provides access to the patient for tumor treatment without removal of the slaved biopsy probe from the patient;
FIG. 4b is a part sectional, part schematic, illustration of one needle cutting mechanism for taking a biopsy of a tumor within the prostate of a patient;
FIG. 5a is a part sectional, part schematic, illustration of an alternate embodiment of the biopsy needle employed in the present invention;
FIG. 5b is an enlarged schematic view of the biopsy needle dispenser employed in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5a;
FIG. 5c is a perspective view of the needle tip employed in the biopsy needle shown in FIG. 5a;
FIG. 5d is a sectional view of the biopsy needle as taken along line V--V of FIG. 5a;
FIGS. 5e-5h are sectional views of the biopsy needle illustrating the sequence of needle tip movement during the taking of a tissue sample from a prostate tumor;
FIG. 6a is a schematic representation of another embodiment of the biopsy needle and needle dispenser system employed in the slaved biopsy system of the present invention;
FIG. 6b is an illustration of the sequence of cutting action performed by the biopsy needle shown in FIG. 6a;
FIG. 6c is a top perspective of the biopsy needle shown in FIG. 6a during a cutting procedure;
FIG. 6d is a side perspective of the biopsy needle as shown in FIG. 6c as the cutting procedure progresses;
FIG. 7a-7c are part sectional, part schematic, views of a curved biopsy needle employed in the present invention to reach tumors at diverse locations within the prostate;
FIG. 7d is a part sectional, part schematic view of the curved biopsy needle shown in FIGS. 7a-7c when in the fully retracted position;
FIG. 7e is a part schematic side perspective of the slaved biopsy probe of the present invention when employing the curved biopsy needle shown in FIGS. 7a-7d;
FIG. 8a is a part sectional, part schematic, perspective, view of a sample cutting system for analysis of the tissue sample taken by the slaved biopsy system of the present invention;
FIG. 8b is a part sectional, part schematic side view of the sample cutting system shown in FIG. 7a and illustrating the automated sample transportation, computer analysis, and display portion for analyzing the cut tumor tissue sample; and
FIG. 9 is a part sectional, part schematic, view of an alternate sample analysis system for analyzing the cut tumor tissue sample.
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the slaved biopsy device of the present invention is shown and designated generally by reference numeral 10. Biopsy probe 10 is provided with a gimbaled head portion 12, and an elongated shaft portion 14. The aft end of probe 10 is gear connected to a stepper motor 16 via gears 17, 18 to effect controlled rotation of the probe, as will be further explained hereinafter. A motor 19 serves to provide a push/pull action to a rigid shaft 20 connected at one end thereto. The other end of shaft 20 is secured to a pin 23 on gimbaled head 12 to effect pivotal movement thereof about pivot pin 24 to thereby adjust the vertical angle of gimbaled head 12 to that desired, as will also be further explained hereinafter. An additional stepper motor 26 is geared to linear gear teeth 27, disposed over a portion of the length of probe shaft 14, and serves to insert and withdraw probe 10 within (and from) rectum 29 of a patient, as will also be further explained hereinafter.
An ultrasonic receiver 32 is carried by gimbaled head 12 and surrounds a biopsy needle 34. As schematically shown, biopsy needle 34 is employed to penetrate and extract a tissue sample from a tumor 35 that is located within the prostate capsule 36 of a patient. Biopsy needle 34 is aligned with the tumor 35 by focalizing on ultrasonic beam 37 by ultrasonic receiver 32. Ultrasonic beam 37 is obtained as part of the scan pattern 38 emitted by rotating ultrasonic transducer 39 carried by urethral mapping probe 40.
The entire operation of urethral mapping probe 40, and the slaved biopsy probe assembly 10 is controlled by an attending physician, or other medical personnel, through a data acquisition computer and control assembly 47. The movement and actions of mapping probe 40 and the slaved biopsy probe 10, including the action of biopsy needle 34, is visible to, and monitored by the attending medical personnel operator via computer display screen 48, as will be further described hereinafter.
The step and rotating scan function of the patented system generates a series of ultrasonic beams in a pattern resembling spokes on a bicycle wheel, as schematically shown in FIG. 3a and designated by reference numeral 38. The hub of the wheel pattern 38 is centered on the urethra because the ultrasonic transducer 39 is rotating as it moves through the prostatic urethra 41 inside the probe tube 40 (FIG. 1) for examination and mapping thereof. The scan pattern 38 (FIG. 1) may be visualized as a stack of bicycle wheels, where each wheel represents one axial step of the transducer 39, and the spokes represent the rotating pulsed ultrasound beam as it scans each circular portion of prostatic tissue. In order to geometrically align the vector which will correctly place the tip of biopsy needle 34 into the center of an identified tumor 35, that vector must be congruent with the plane of the scan wheel, or disk, which intersects the center of the tumor 35.
Since the rectum 29 (FIG. 3) lies behind and adjacent to the prostate 36, as the ultrasound beam traverses that portion of the prostate 36 that lies between the urethra and the rectum, this beam will be detectable to ultrasonic receiver 32 positioned within the rectum 29 of the patient. The lumen of biopsy needle 34 (FIG. 2) is filled with a retractable plug 49 having a tip end in the shape of a convex wedge 50. Wedge tip 50 acts as an effective ultrasonic reflector in the approach mode of needle insertion to give visual feedback to the physician, to ensure an accurate alignment of the ultrasonic scan wheel.
Further description of the retractable tip 49 and the function for ultrasonic reflector 50 will be given hereinafter. The need for ultrasonic receiver 32 and ultrasonic reflector 50 is due to the fact that the prostate examination and mapping probe 40 flexes to accommodate itself to the natural bend 43 where the urethra exits the penis and enters prostatic capsule 36. Therefore, the angle of the axis of the examination and mapping probe 40, and thus the plane of the scan wheel, which is at right angles to that axis, is a variable.
Referring more particular to FIG. 2, gimbaled head 12 of slaved biopsy probe 10 includes a series of ports 51 for dispensing lubricant and an anesthetic therethrough to lubricate rectal wall 29 and thereby reduce, or minimize, the risk of infection and patient discomfort during insertion and removal of probe 10. Ports 51 are connected through suitable conduits extending the length of slaved biopsy probe 10 to suitable lubricant and anesthetic reservoirs at the base of the probe. These conduits and reservoirs are not illustrated in the drawings, or further described herein, in the interest of brevity and clarity. An additional port 52 is provided in gimbaled head 12 of slaved biopsy probe 10 and serves to dispense a suitable antiseptic cleanser (from a suitable source, also not shown) to wash down the area in rectal wall 29 through which the biopsy needle 34 will penetrate.
An optical pick-up 53, recessed in a depression 54 in the sidewall of probe shaft 14, permits physician monitoring of the biopsy probe placement and retrieval. The recessed placement of optical pick-up is necessary to provide focal length clearance between the lens and the rectal wall 29. Visual images obtained by optical pick-up 53 are displayed on the control computer screen 48. A "Fuzzy Logic" control program within computer 47 uses a signal strength maximization, feedback program with the signal strength of the ultrasonic signal received by the ultrasonic receiver element 32 as the source. There are three separate mechanical movements involved in aligning slaved biopsy probe 10 with the detected tumor 35 (FIG. 3). The first is an axial movement of the entire probe portion to bring the portal 45, through which biopsy needle 34 emerges through the side of the slaved biopsy probe gimbaled end 12, to a position immediately adjacent to the periphery of the scan plane 37 containing the identified tumor 35. This movement is provided by a stepper motor assembly 26 initiated by the operating medical personnel and then governed by a signal strength feedback computer program in the computer controls and computer 47.
The second movement then aligns the vector of the biopsy needle extrusion with the plane of the scan disk 37 (FIG. 1) regardless of the angle of that scan disk to the slaved biopsy probe shaft 14. The ultrasonic receiver element 32, as discussed hereinbefore, is annular in shape and is concentrically located around the biopsy needle exit portal 45 on gimbaled end 12. The vertical angle of the gimbaled end 12 is determined by the output of the "Fuzzy Logic" control program and set at the determined location via motor 19 and shaft actuator 20. This actuator manipulates the vertical angle of gimbaled end 12 to provide perfect alignment of the ultrasonic receiver 32 and biopsy needle exit portal 45 mounted thereon, with the plane of the scan disk (FIG. 3). Since biopsy needle 34 is extruded through port 45 in a straight line, perpendicular to and from the center of the plane of the ultrasonic receiver element 32, it is perfectly aligned with the plane of the scan disk 37 in which the identified tumor 35 is located.
An indication is then presented to the operating physician on the computer screen 48 that the alignment is correct. At this time, the physician places the on screen cursor on the exact point within the scan disk where it is desired to take the biopsy. The computer system 47 will them compute the radial angle and the depth of penetration which will place the tip of the biopsy needle 34 in the exact center of the identified tumor 35 when it is extruded.
In the third mechanical movement, stepper motor 16 rotates the body of the slaved biopsy probe 10, and thus the exit portal 45, to the correct angle (FIG. 3b) within the patient's rectum, under the control of computer 47.
Biopsy needle 34, in the preferred embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, is in the form of a tube of memory material (metal, plastic or composite), which moves within the slaved biopsy probe 10 in a curved, tubular, flexible passageway 55. Passageway 55 holds the memory material tubular needle 34 in the curved shape to permit it to fit inside the dimensions of the slaved biopsy probe 10 when the needle is in the retracted position. The distal end of passageway 55 is attached to the needle exit portal 45.
Immediately before arriving at exit portal 45, passageway 55 passes through an encircling tubular heating element 57 (FIG. 2). When the operating physician commands the biopsy to be taken, the memory material needle tube 34 is pushed out of the orifice of passageway 55 and through exit portal 45. As needle 34 emerges, it is heated via heating element 57 causing the tubular needle to straighten and stiffen. Biopsy needle 34 is then extruded in a straight line to the point of intersection with the computed position of the suspected tumor 35 (FIG. 3c). As described hereinbefore, to ensure that the tissue sample may only be taken at the point of interest, the lumen of needle tube 34 is filled with retractable plug 49. The slightly convex wedge face 50, of retractable plug 49, acts as the penetrating point of biopsy needle 34 during insertion, and also acts as an effective ultrasonic reflector in the approach mode of the insertion to give visual, positional feedback to the physician.
Thus, once the ultrasonic system within the prostate examination and mapping probe 40 (FIG. 1) has computed the coordinates for the destination point of the biopsy needle tube 34, it then switches into a narrow angle scan mode 37 (FIG. 3b) covering the expected approach path of biopsy needle tube 34. This enables the physician to see the approach of the biopsy needle tube 34 to the identified area on the computer screen 48.
At this point, the physician commands the plug 49 to be withdrawn at the appropriate point in the approach path (optionally, this can be a computer directed function), to permit the biopsy needle tube 34 to cut out a sample of tissue in the principal area of interest (FIG. 3d).
The lower end of instrument passageway 55 (FIG. 2) through which the biopsy needle tube 34 moves, slidably interfaces with a top port 58 located in the top center of a rotary instrument selection cylinder 60. A shallow, S-curve passage 62 extends through cylinder 60 from top port 58 to a bottom port 64 at the base of cylinder 60. The lower port 64 opens near the periphery of the bottom face of cylinder 60, thus providing an off-set interface between the instrument passageway 55 and a group of instrument feed tubes 66. By rotating instrument cylinder 60, the instrument selection passage 62 will connect the upper port 58 with one of the ring of instrument feed tubes 66 which slidably interface with the lower face of cylinder 60. Each of these feed tubes contain a different functional element 67 which can be moved through the instrument selector passage 62 within the instrument selection cylinder 60, through the instrument passageway 55, out of the exit portal 45, and into the identified tumor 35.
The normally selected instrument is the concentric, biopsy needle/wedge plug (34/49) combination. As illustrated in FIG. 4, biopsy needle tube 34 extends through the curved passageway 55, the rotary selector passageway 62, and one of the instrument feed tubes 66 to protrude at its lower end into a drive mechanism including a motor 68 and a capstan/idler wheel assembly 70,71. The capstan/idler wheel 70,71 bears on the outside of the biopsy needle tube 34 to drive it forward into tumor 35, or back, to withdraw needle 34 into it's designated instrument feed tube 66 to clear the way for deployment of other instruments through the passageway 55.
The integral shaft on internal concentric wedge plug 49 extends through the entire lumen of the biopsy needle tube 34 and protrudes past the end thereof for a sufficient distance to engage another drive mechanism consisting of a drive motor 73 and a capstan/idler wheel combination 74,75. Thus, the wedge plug 49 can be moved with the biopsy needle tube 34 forward, or independently backward to clear the end lumen of the biopsy needle tube 34 for the taking of the tissue sample from tumor 35. As shown in FIG. 4b, the actual cutting mechanism of the biopsy needle 32 is essentially the same as is used in conventional biopsy needles. The inner plug 49 is extended forward via its shaft beyond the cutting tip of the biopsy needle within tumor 35 via capstan/idler wheel combination 74,75 to expose a depression 76 behind the tip end thereof. The tumor tissue 35 bulges, or presses, into depression 76 and plug 49 is retraced back into needle 34. This pushes the portion of tumor tissue in depression 76 against the cutting edge 77 of biopsy needle 34, shearing it off. The sheared off tissue remains in depression 76 and is carried, with plug 49, back though needle 34, curved passageway 55, rotary instrument cylinder 60 and into a collection area within the designated instrument feed tube 66 from which it can be extracted for examination.
If the tumor 35 is confirmed as malignant, and if the patient is being examined at a relatively early stage of cancer growth, the slaved biopsy probe 10 may be used to provide a pathway, via the instrument selection cylinder 60 and the multiple feed tubes 66 for direct treatment of the condition.
Thus, if the determination is made that the tissue sample is indeed cancerous, the appropriate treatment instrument may be deployed from its designated feed tube 66, through the rotary selector cylinder 60, which has been rotated to a position connecting the selected instrument feed tube and the curved passageway 55. The selected treatment instrument is extended out through port 45 to deliver the selected cancer treatment directly to tumor 35.
A number of modalities could be employed in this manner without removal of biopsy probe 10. For example, the selected treatment instrument could deliver thermal energy, either via a fiber optic laser, or an electric heater, to coagulate the protein of the area and cause local cell necrosis within the tumor. Also, a cryogenic treatment instrument could be deployed through biopsy probe 10 to freeze the tumor. In some patients the tumor size may already be too large for these treatments at the time of the first examination. In that case, the slaved biopsy probe 10 can be used to deliver potent anti-cancer drugs by injection directly into the tumor, as a possible alternative. Also, it is possible to employ a mechanical cutting treatment instrument, similar but smaller than those presently used for trans-urethral resection operations, and inserted through the feed tube mechanism of biopsy probe 10. Each of these tumor treatments should prove to have a much greater rate of success than present methods due to the early detection afforded by the whole system, and would provide other benefits (such as a shorter recovery time, less chance of infection, probable retention of sexual function and fertility) as well, for the patient.
An alternate form of the biopsy needle for the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 5a-5h. In this embodiment, biopsy needle 78 is an extruded triangular needle formed of three separate, specially formed, ribbons of stainless steel, as designated by reference numerals 80, 81 and 82. Ribbons 80, 81 and 82 are wound onto separate miniature spools 83, 84 and 85 mounted on a support structure (not designated) at 120 degree angles to each other (FIGS. 5a and 5b) within gimbaled head 12 of biopsy probe 10.
Spools 83, 84 and 85 are rotated simultaneously to deploy or retract the respective ribbons 80, 81 and 82. The distal ends of the ribbons extend through a triangular swaging die 87. As the ribbons are deployed from the spools through the swaging die, the specially formed edges lock together, forming a rigid triangular structure that can be extruded through portal 45 from the side of the slaved biopsy probe 10 to the length of ribbon available on the spools. The cross sectional area of the triangular tube 78 (FIG. 5d) approximates a normal biopsy needle. The tip end 79 of this biopsy needle 78 remains formed at all times and resides within the swaging die 87 when the biopsy needle 78 is retracted. A flexible tube 89 is secured within the base structure 60 to connect with a vacuum device (not illustrated). Vacuum is applied through tube 89 for the aspiration of the tissue sample obtained from tumor 35. After the tissue sample is obtained, spools 83, 84 and 85 are rotated in the opposite direction to withdraw the triangular biopsy needle 78 back into the slaved biopsy probe 10. As the structure passes back through the swaging die 87, the ribbons are separated again and are taken back up onto the spools.
When the three ribbons (80,81,82) are in the retracted position, they are not completely taken up on the spools ((83,84,85) and the leading edge of each ribbon remains within the triangular swaging die 87. In the embodiment described in reference to FIGS. 5a-5h, the ribbon leading edges are welded together so that the cutting end is permanently formed and shaped into a bevel much like that of a conventional biopsy needle. The open tip end 79 of the triangular needle 78 accommodates a concentric cutting plug 90 (FIG. 5e) in the same manner as that described for tip 49 in the standard biopsy needle of FIG. 4b. In operation, the tapered wedge front of the cutting plug 90 forms the cutting face of biopsy needle 78. When the tip 79 of needle 78 reaches the border of the area of interest (tumor 35), the needle deployment is stopped and the cutting plug 90 emerges from the opening of needle 78 (FIG. 5f) and is pushed to the far edge of the area of interest within the tumor 35. As the tip of the cutting plug 90 passes through the tumor 35 tissue, the tissue bulges down into a trough shaped opening 94 behind the head 90. When the desired depth in tumor 35 is reached, the direction of travel of the cutting plug 90 is reversed (FIG. 5g). This pulls the tissue in the trough 94 against the sharp edge of the biopsy needle opening, thus shearing off the tissue in the trough. The cutting plug 90 is retracted through the length of the formed biopsy needle 78 (FIG. 5h) until the tissue bearing trough 94 is adjacent to the opening of flexible vacuum tube 89 for aspiration of the tissue sample.
Another alternate embodiment of the biopsy needle of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 6a-6d. This embodiment is similar to that described in reference to FIGS. 5a-5d and like reference numerals are employed for the common parts. In this embodiment, a mechanical shearing action is employed to resect the tissue sample from the area of the suspected tumor 35. The triangular hollow stainless steel needle 78 is formed from three ribbons of stainless steel 80, 81 and 82 extruded from 120 degree angled spools 83, 84 (not visible in this FIG) and 85, as described hereinbefore in reference to FIGS. 5a-5d. One side of the ends of ribbons 81 and 82 are shaped such that they form tapering points, while the end of ribbon 80 is tapered on both sides. Ribbons 81,82 as extended from their respective spools 84 (not illustrated) and 85 are joined along one straight edge thereof. The free edges of ribbons 81, 82 are shaped to form a curved track for the purpose of guiding the separately moveable third side 80. During the process of extruding the biopsy needle 78 through the rectum wall 29, side 80 is fully deployed to form a closed point for needle 78. When the tip of the biopsy needle 78 approaches the identified tumor area, spool 83, carrying ribbon side 80, is stopped momentarily so that it moves backward relative to the other sides 81, 82 thus forming an opening 91 in the tip of biopsy needle 78 (FIG. 6c and the left most illustration of FIG 6b).
The now exposed sharp edges of sides 81, 82 will cut through and enclose a segment of tissue of a length equivalent to the distance between where the opening 91 was activated and the maximum depth of needle penetration. When the biopsy needle probe 78 is stopped at the predetermined point, the side 80 moves forward, cutting through and separating the tissue within the biopsy needle lumen from the rest of the prostate tissue. Biopsy needle probe 78 may then be withdrawn from prostate 35 carrying the tissue sample within itself, or the tissue sample can be aspirated from within the lumen. When the biopsy needle 78 is withdrawn into the slaved biopsy probe 10, the probe itself can be withdrawn from the patient, or treatment can be initiated in the same manner described hereinbefore, followed by the withdrawal of the prostate examination and mapping probe 40 from the urethra.
FIG. 6c shows a top view of the biopsy needle 78 when top ribbon 80 is withdrawn to form opening 91 therein, while the left most illustration of FIG. 6b is a end view of the maximum opening 91 in needle 78. The center illustration of FIG. 6b shows top ribbon 80 as it moves to partially close opening 91 while cutting the tissue sample received in the lumen of needle 78 from the remaining prostate tissue.
FIG. 6d is a side perspective of needle 78 as top ribbon 80 has moved to almost complete the severing of the tissue sample and close opening 91 in needle 78, while the illustration at the extreme right of FIG. 6b shows a front end view of needle 78 when top ribbon 80 has progressed to the point shown in FIG. 6d.
Another alternative form of the biopsy needle of the present invention is embodied as a permanently curved needle, as illustrated in FIGS. 7a-7e. This embodiment necessitates that the orifice point 45 from which the needle emerges must be able to translate in the longitudinal plane of probe 10. The reason is that the needle path is a segment of a circle, therefore, since tumors at different depths would necessitate varying segments to reach them, the entrance point must be controlled in order to ensure that the arc intersects the proper point.
As illustrated, curved needle 92 is attached at its inner end to flexible passageway 55 and slidable disposed through a positioning block 92 fixed within slaved biopsy probe 10 to exit at portal orifice 45. In operation, the ultrasonic receiver 32 aligns the gimbaled head 12 of probe 10 to the scan disk in which the tumor falls in the same manner as that described hereinbefore in reference to the other embodiments. Positioning block 92 is then moved by computer controls 47 to place orifice 45 at a point such that the arc of the circle through which the tip of curved biopsy needle 92 moves will intersect the center of the identified tumor 35. Three different tumor locations are illustrated in respective FIGS. 7a-7c, with the fully retracted position of the curved needle 92 being shown in FIG. 7d. The mechanism for taking the tissue sample is as described in the previous embodiments. The ultrasonic receiver 32 is not annular in this embodiment since curved needle 92 emerges from a point below the receiver.
In each of the described embodiments, after the deployed biopsy needle (or treatment conduit) has been retracted out of the prostate, through the rectal wall 29, and into probe 10, it can be withdrawn via the rotary selector, or instrument cylinder 60 and associated instrument passageway, from the probe 10. The rotary selector 60 may then access an electric resistance heater, (one of the functional elements 67 described hereinbefore in reference to FIG. 2) which is then passed through the system until the tip emerges from orifice 45 and comes in contact with rectal wall 29. Localized heating or a similar technique is then used to produce scar tissue blocking the exit wound in the rectal wall 29. Once the sealing device is, in turn, withdrawn from probe 10, passageway 55 can be used to conduct topical antibiotics to the area in the same manner.
Referring now to FIGS. 8a-8c, the apparatus and procedure for automated processing of the extracted biopsy tissue sample will now be described. An optical examination system and procedure is illustrated in FIGS. 7a and 7b wherein the tissue sample 100 is sectioned into a number of thin slices 102 which are presented on a substrate to a built-in microscope fitted with a miniature video camera 104. Video equipped microscopes of this type are commercially available and may be integrated with the system computer 47 to acquire, and display, the image on the built-in display screen 48. Alternately, the image may be transferred to a remote display or transmitted via electronic mail to a pathology laboratory for analysis. When the image is to be analyzed on site, the on-line data base network of the patented prostate examination system referred to hereinbefore can be used to access images of known tumors for comparison purposes.
When acquired, the tissue sample 100 is deposited in a chamber 106 containing a gel material (not designated) therein that is in the liquid state by virtue of the fact that it is held at approximately 100 degree F by a surrounding water bath contained in a tank 108. The water temperature in tank 108 is controlled by a flow of water therethrough via a suitable water inlet and water outlet, as designated respectively, by reference numerals 113 and 116. Once tissue sample 100 is immersed in the fluid gel, the temperature of chamber 106 is lowered, by changing the flow of water through tank 108 to cool water, causing the gel to solidify. The collagen based hydro-gels employed solidify or gel when the temperature thereof drops slightly below 100 degrees F. Once the gel is solidified, the tissue sample 100 is held in the rubbery matrix.
In lieu of the gel material, paraffin wax may be employed in chamber 106, requiring slightly higher temperature in tank 108 for liquification thereof.
The bottom of chamber 106 is formed by the upper face of a moveable ram 110. Ram 110 is employed to incrementally push the gel mass with the enclosed tissue sample 100 out the top of chamber 106. As the gel material is extruded from the top of chamber 106, a rotating microtome knife 112, driven by motor 114, cuts successive slices 102 from the mass. The cold water flow in tank 108 floats the detached slices 102 away from the gel mass. The floating thin slices 102 are collected, one at a time, on a ribbon of mylar film 115 which emerges at an angle from the surface of the water flow and is moving in the same direction as the flow. The thin tissue slices 102 are then transported by the ribbon 115 to the focal point of microscope 104 where they are illuminated and imaged. The images are enlarged and enhanced in the computer 47 and are then displayed on the computer screen 48 in succession.
The operating physician has the option of making the diagnosis at that time, or the images may be forwarded electronically to a remotely located pathologist for further examination and/or diagnosis.
Referring now to FIG. 8 an ultrasonic density examination system for analyzing suspect tissue specimens is shown, and designated generally by reference numeral 120. Examination system 120 makes use of the fact that there are differences in the ultrasonic characteristics of malignant and nonmalignant tumors at various frequencies. Once a tissue sample is extracted by the slaved biopsy probe 10, the sample is deposited in a receiving chamber 121 where it is broken up into individual cells by a macerator 123 with water being added thereto to make a cell suspension. This suspension is then transferred, via conduit 124, to an ultrasonic chamber 125 and subjected to a swept-frequency ultrasonic field transmitted from a large transducer 127 on one side of chamber 125 and received by a matching transducer 128 on the opposite side of ultrasonic chamber 125. The density and absorption characteristics of the sample cells are measured at different frequencies and the results compared to a look-up table containing values derived from samples of known malignancies by computer 47. The results of the comparisons and any noted similarities are displayed on the computer display screen 48 for the operating physician to use in evaluating the data and making the diagnosis. These results also would be automatically archived by the base computer, along with all patient data and direct difference comparisons with historical data from the individual patient being evvaluated, as in the patented system referred to hereinbefore.
The present invention will also permit the use of a recently developed diagnostic system which uses laser induced florescence to differentiate between malignant and non-malignant tumors. By deploying a fiber optic borne laser illuminator through an instrument conduit as described herein, this technique could allow real time, on site diagnosis, thus permitting immediate, appropriate treatment during a single doctor-patient interaction.
The virtues of the above described invention over conventional biopsy needle and analysis systems include; precise placement of the biopsy tube to take the tissue sample exactly where the physician wants (i.e. at the core of the tumor), control over the size of the tissue sample obtained, the ability to characterize the tissue sample while the biopsy probe is still in place, the ability to immediately deliver potent treatment modalities as described, the ability to clean and seal the exit wound to prevent infection, and the patient comfort features. Thus, the present invention maximizes both patient comfort and the precise extraction of tissue samples from the area of interest without the accessibility problems encountered by prior art systems, and provides the means to employ advanced new treatment options. Accordingly, these and other features of the present invention should have a major impact on the number of false negatives now experienced when employing current biopsy sampling procedures.
No specific materials have been discussed herein for most of the component parts of the invention, it being understood that, where no materials are mentioned, any metal, alloy, plastic or composite material suitable for the purposes intended is considered applicable for constructing the component parts of the invention. Also, various conduits, motors, actuators, reservoirs, and the like, have not been described in detail in the interest of brevity and clarity, it being understood that where such conventional features are needed, they are intended to be included in the specific examples described herein.
Although the invention has been described relative to specific embodiments thereof, it is not so limited and there are numerous variations and modifications of the invention that will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the above teachings.
It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.
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|International Classification
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|Oct 13, 1998
|Maintenance fee reminder mailed
|Jan 15, 1999
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Year of fee payment: 4
|Sep 21, 2002
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 8
|Oct 4, 2006
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|Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees
|May 15, 2007
|Expired due to failure to pay maintenance fee
Effective date: 20070321


text:
Allstate Insurance Agent: David Crownover, Boat Insurance, Business Insurance, listed under "Boat Insurance, Business Insurance" category, is located at 416-a Keller Parkway Keller TX, 76248 and can be reached by 8174311590 phone number. Allstate Insurance Agent: David Crownover has currently 0 reviews.This business profile is not yet claimed, and if you are the owner, claim your business profile for free. If you are not the owner you can invite this business to join by email or by phone.Browse all Boat Insurance, Business Insurance in Keller TX. Discover census data for Keller, TX.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
[Note: While Mike was enjoying Day 2 of his turkey coma, blog ambassador Doug Mittler of ESPN The Magazine forayed out to the Coliseum for some first-hand reporting on the Isles' streak-breaking win. What follows is his report from the Island. Big thanks to Doug for the report.]
When the Islanders' 14-game slide finally ended on Black Friday with a 2-0 win over the Devils, the sound system at Nassau Coliseum blared Kool and the Gang's "Celebrate" and Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World."
Call it what you want, but the Islanders issued a collective sigh of relief following Rick DiPietro's 29-save shutout.
"The hard work was there [during the losing streak] but there was a lot of mistakes," DiPietro said. "It was good to be back on the winning track. I've been here for 10 years. Long Island has struggled with a lot of bad teams."
"It's obviously tough going through something like that," John Tavares added. "At times, you feel like you lose your way. We've learned how to figure things out as we go. To learn our lessons and win at the same time, that's the best."
Finally a first
The win was the first in the NHL for Islanders coach Jack Capuano since taking over for the fired Scott Gordon last week. The Isles were 0-2-2 in their first four games for Capuano, who had been coaching the Islanders' AHL affiliate in Bridgeport.
Capuano has no hesitation giving ample ice time to young players, especially due to injuries to Trent Hunter (knee) and Doug Weight (back spasms).
"I know who they are. I know what they're capable of doing," Capuano said. "I'm not hesitant to use those [young] guys at any particular time."
Defenseman Travis Hamonic, for example, logged 17:53 in his second NHL game. Fellow defenseman Dylan Reese played 16:53. LW Matt Martin played close to 11 minutes.
* After the win, Blake Comeau spoke on one difference in playing style under the new bench boss: "He gives us a little more leeway offensively to read and react."
* Colin White and Bruno Gervais dropped the gloves with eight minutes to go in the first period, and it ended quickly on a once-punch knockdown by White.
* The Islanders scored the first goal for the fourth straight game when Jesse Joensuu tallied 92 seconds into the contest. A second-round draft pick in 2006 from Finland, Joensuu has had periodic call-ups to the big club over the past three seasons and has three goals in 22 NHL games. Joensuu was leading Bridgeport in scoring at the time of his recall on November 18.
* Friday's game marked the first time the Islanders had a two-goal lead since the end of a 5-2 win over Colorado on October 16.
* The Islanders have ranked at our near the bottom of the NHL attendance in recent years, but the numbers have become even more sparse, as Katie Strang pointed out this week in Newsday. The Isles normally do well for games on Thanksgiving Weekend, but the announced crowd for Friday's Black Friday game with the Devils was just 10,897. A mere 8,652 watched Wednesday's home loss to Columbus.


text:
Samantha Saffir Barnes
Founder & Culinary Coach
Kitchen Kid Founder and Culinary Coach, Samantha Saffir Barnes is a creative cook and former middle school educator. Fascinated by her students' love of cooking, yet discouraged by their unhealthy lunch choices in the cafeteria, Samantha was determined to merge her two passions – teaching and cooking. Samantha launched Kitchen Kid in 2006 with the hope of empowering young people to jump into the kitchen and get cooking! Realizing that the kitchen classroom is the best place to learn, Samantha made Kitchen Kid her full-time venture in the summer of 2007.
As a toddler Samantha helped her mom, owner of specialty cookware store, The Complacent Cook in Bridgehampton, NY, measure and mix with confidence and ease. Born into the culinary world, her first word was "olive." Samantha's favorite foods as a child were tomatoes and sushi, and she has fond memories of making meatloaf and gingersnap cookies alongside her mom.
Throughout her education at Deerfield Academy and Bowdoin College, Samantha had the pleasure of eating at some of the top-rated dining halls in the country. A passion for Italian food and culture took root during a semester abroad in Florence, Italy, and she later received her Professional Chef Diploma. Samantha taught middle school outside of Boston, MA for several years before moving to Los Angeles, where she continued to teach.
Samantha shares genuine enthusiasm, imagination, and patience while inspiring kids of all ages to bake, boil, and braise in the kitchen. She finds joy in teaching kids and their families to prepare healthy and delicious meals. Samantha believes learning to cook as a child inspires a lifelong pursuit of healthful eating, and that meals made together always taste better! As Kitchen Kid's Executive Culinary Coach, Samantha encourages children to bite beyond typical 'kid food' and cook-up sophisticated family-friendly fare.
Samantha lives in the South Bay where she loves to cook for her husband, six-year-old daughter and four-year-old son – both are Kitchen Kids in the making!


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Laci S. Bowman
- Collaborative Law
- Divorce Litigation
- Family Law Litigation
Download Information:
Phone:(214) 939-4468
Fax:(214) 527-3146
Laci Bowman represents clients in a variety of family law matters including
divorce, pre-marital agreements, common law marriage disputes, and suits
affecting parent-child relationship. Board certified in family law by
the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Laci also works as a collaborative
professional as part of her practice, and has reached settlements through
the collaborative law process. She is very active in the collaborative
law community in North Texas and is a founder and past President of the
Collaborative Law Professionals of North Texas.
Laci has also represented clients in commercial litigation matters in state and federal courts throughout Texas. She has worked with clients on cases related to negligence, products liability, breach of contract, deceptive trade practices, premises liability and strict liability.
Reflecting the excellence of her practice, Laci has been named five times to Thomson Reuters' Texas Rising Stars, honoring the most highly regarded young attorneys in the state, and has been chosen to Thomson Reuters' list of the Texas Up and Coming 100 Texas Rising Stars and the Up and Coming 50 Texas Women Rising Stars honoring those attorneys receiving the highest point totals during the Rising Star selection process.
To Print Laci Bowman's Full Bio Click Here
Representative Experience
Representative Experience
- Represented clients in the collaborative law process as well as traditional litigation
- Successful negotiation of settlements in mediation proceedings
- First chair on bench trial where client was successful on all counts and was awarded attorney fees
Presentations & Publications
Presentations & Publications
- Dallas Claims Association, Continuing Education Course, Ch. 74 & Ch. 33 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code
Honors & Awards
Honors & Awards
- Order of Barristers
- 5-time selection to the list of Thomson Reuters' "Texas Rising Stars" as published in Texas Monthly and Texas Super Lawyers (Rising Stars Edition) magazines in 2013-2017.
- Named to the Up and Coming 100 Texas Rising Stars by Thomson Reuters, 2017
- Named to the Up and Coming 50 Texas Women Rising Stars by Thomson Reuters, 2017
Admitted Practice
Admitted Practice
- State Courts of Texas
- U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas
- State Bar of Texas
- Dallas Bar Association
- Dallas Association of Young Lawyers
- Collaborative Law Professionals of North Texas – Co-founder
- Collaborative Law Institute of Texas
- International Academy of Collaborative Professionals
- College of the State Bar of Texas
- Texas Family Law Foundation
- The Annette Stewart American Inn of Court
- Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists - Member
- Board Certified, Family Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 2013
- Baylor University (J.D., 2008)
- Collaborative Law Training, 2010
- University of Texas (B.A., Government; B.S., Communication Studies, 2004, with honors)
- Junior League of Dallas


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After $150M Raised, What Went Wrong at Fuel Cell Startup Lilliputian
[Updated 8/15/14, 1 pm. See below] Lilliputian Systems had the makings of a successful MIT spinout: novel technology, seasoned entrepreneurs, and plenty of money. Today, the company no longer has a website and next month it will shut its doors after selling off its intellectual property and burning through some $150 million in funding.
If there is a lesson to be learned from the demise of the Wilmington, MA-based company, it's that one startup can only take on so much. The company had one core innovation—a silicon-based fuel cell membrane with the potential to be manufactured at large scale and low cost—but developing a first-of-a-kind consumer hardware product required taking on myriad manufacturing, engineering, and distribution tasks.
Its story is also a reminder that even in energy, which typically moves more slowly than information technology, market dynamics can change quickly. In the 13 years during which Lilliputian worked on its product, the lithium ion battery industry advanced substantially. That made a more expensive fuel cell product a tougher sell, even with the promise of much better performance.
Lilliputian's various problems piled up and stretched out its product development time, which scared off investors from putting more money into it. "In some ways, the writing was on the wall for a few years now, and new investors had stayed away for a while," says Bilal Zuberi, a venture investor at Lux Capital who was not involved with the company. "I also believe the management made too many false 'we have turned the corner' promises, and investor patience doesn't last too long with that."
When Lilliputian started in 2001, it had what looked like a solid idea for a business: a lightweight, pocket-size charger for mobile gadgets via a USB port. The introduction of the iPhone and other smartphones, e-books, and other small consumer electronics, such as digital cameras, seemed to make its product idea even more compelling. It signed on as investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Intel Capital, Rockport Capital, and, two years ago, a Russian government investment fund for nanotechnologies.
A number of companies have tried to make miniature fuel cells, but Lilliputian's radically different technology, conceived at labs in MIT, seemed to give it an edge. It used MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) manufacturing techniques to etch a fuel cell membrane onto a silicon wafer, which would allow it to take advantage of chip production equipment. The finished device could convert butane, or lighter fluid, into an electrical current at high temperatures in a gadget small enough to fit in a hand—an impressive engineering feat.
The primary draw of the product stems from how much energy butane stores per volume compared to batteries. Lilliputian boasted that with a single fuel cylinder cartridge—about the same length as a smartphone, but more slender—could provide two weeks of charging for a smartphone.
The potential of this technology in laptops is obvious as well. The business traveler who takes lengthy transcontinental flights could stay powered without having to carry extra batteries, which are bigger and heavier than the fuel cartridges. (The FAA has approved butane cartridges for portable electronics as carry-ons.)
Lilliputian introduced its product, called Nectar, at the Consumer Electronics Show last year and began taking orders after a number of delays. It also signed on a distribution agreement with retailer Brookstone to sell both the devices and recyclable fuel cartridges. It had planned to manufacture its silicon wafers at a retrofitted Intel chip foundry in Hudson, MA.
At the end of the day, though, Lilliputian never delivered its product, and the estimated cost of about $100 for its charger in 2010 ballooned to about $300 last year. Ken Lazarus, an experienced tech executive who had been CEO for nearly 10 years, left last year to head another local startup. [A previous version said Lazarus was replaced by the board—Eds.]
Sohail Khan, who became CEO last May, said in an interview that Lilliputian has licensed and sold its technology and intellectual property and is actively winding down. Khan wouldn't name the buyer but indicated that the Lilliputian know-how could well be used for applications other than consumer electronics. The Boston Globe first reported that Lilliputian was shutting down.
"The majority of the assets will go to a very large global player who basically can continue to invest and productize," Khan said. "It could be consumer electronics or industrial applications or other areas."
When I asked Khan what went wrong, he said Lilliputian was "multiple startups in a startup" because it had to invent so many things. For example, the charger needed a pump to suck fuel into the fuel cell to generate power. But there were no off-the-shelf products that had the reliability, low price, and small size needed for a consumer electronics product. So Lilliputian had to make its own.
"The beauty of a consumer product is that it looks very easy, but it takes a lot of innovation and technology to have it look like that to the end user," Khan says.
Cracking the consumer electronics market isn't easy, either. Anyone who has ever searched for a wall charger while away from home can appreciate the utility of having an auxiliary power source in a purse or backpack, particularly one that could provide dozens of charges. But owning a fuel cell charger still required a change in consumer behavior. A person would have to go buy or order cartridges, which would have been priced at about $10, and remember to have enough on hand with the mobile charger.
Lilliputian boasted of how well its fuel cell worked compared to batteries. But at $300, that's still a relatively large purchase, especially when you consider that a tablet computer can cost less than half of that. Some people would consider buying a portable charger for camping or during power outages. Indeed, there are a handful of portable fuel cell chargers available now. But that's a very small market, made even smaller by Nectar's projected price tag.
Making a hardware product, rather than a Web service or mobile app, also gave Lilliputian higher capital requirements. Given recent advances in prototyping, hardware startups can design products more quickly than when Lilliputian first started.
But the company's primary challenge has more to do with it being an energy startup, says Bill Aulet, who teaches entrepreneurship at MIT's Sloan School of Management. Innovating in energy and materials, in general, often includes both technical and business risks, and many venture investors have exited cleantech. At least one other portable fuel cell maker, Mechanical Technology Inc., failed to deliver a commercial product.
"There will be successful hardware companies, especially if they are what we call hybrid innovations that combine software innovation and data analytics, but energy is just really hard," Aulet says. "Too many people jumped in this pool naively and it is a credit to the Lilliputian team that they treaded water for this long."
For his part, Khan is confident that Lilliputian's technology will appear in some other form, even if the business itself is now fading away. That's not much of a consolation for its investors—or the more than 100 employees the company once had. In the end, Lilliputian, despite its name, suffered not from poor engineering but outsized ambitions.
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Customer Reviews
What You'll Get
Since the invention of inflation, prices for groceries have skyrocketed and rivers have become traversable. Enjoy the scenic side of economics with this Groupon.
Choose from Three Options
- $22 for a two-hour canoe or kayak rental for two (a $44 value)
- $39 for a two-hour canoe or kayak rental for four (an $88 value)
- $49 for a two-hour canoe or kayak rental for six (a $132 value)

Claim a boat from the West Columbia Riverwalk Amphitheater before departing for the three rivers confluence, where the Saluda, Broad, and Congaree Rivers meet. While traveling, groups can plunge into the water at a swimming hole or stop at a small island for a snack. The ruins of a covered bridge overlook the river from the vantage point where it was destroyed during the Civil War, and the remains of a sunken ship slowly decompose in the gentle currents.

The Fine Print
Promotional value expires Sep 19, 2012. Amount paid never expires. Limit 3 per person. may buy 3 additional as gifts. Valid only for option purchased. Subject to weather. Merchant is solely responsible to purchasers for the care and quality of the advertised goods and services.
About Palmetto Outdoor Center
Palmetto Outdoor Center promotes the preservation of natural rivers and forests. Because awareness is the best way to maintain the environment and cultural heritage, Palmetto spreads knowledge of local gems with river trips and walking tours. These organized tours and vessels for rent allow amateur explorers to discover South Carolina's uncluttered riverbanks while learning about how they can be protected. Civil War walking tours illuminate the history of the region, and canoe and kayak rentals plunge into the tree-lined waterways of the Congaree, which flows through protected national parkland with the continent's largest old-growth floodplain forest.


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Senator Tony Fulton is a conservative Republican running for legislature in Nebraska's 29th district, covering a pretty conservative section of the capital city. He is also well-known around here because of his support of homeschoolers during LB1141, a bill introduced this year which would have required homeschoolers to submit to greater state oversight. This history isn't viewed as favorably by his opponent, Susan Scott.
A few thoughts:
Educators agree…
I'm sure many do. And I am sure that Ms. Scott was an excellent teacher who has a lot of experience to share. But according to the Nebraska State Education Association, "teachers did their homework" and endorsed Tony Fulton. So did the Nebraska Home Educators PAC. What gives? Perhaps it is possible to both support public education and the rights of parents to educate their children at home?
As an educator…
I have no problem with this section. She appears to be a fine teacher who I am sure would have a wonderful perspective to offer on education, especially since so much of her work was in special education. But I will say that being an excellent teacher does not necessarily qualify one for political office. I would like to know more about her suggestions in a mailer such as this, rather than a focus on a skewed view of the opponent's stance. Perhaps this is just me, but it also appears as if she is attempting to imply an endorsement from the teacher's union which she does not have.
Diverting needed money…
This section brings up two separate and completely unrelated topics and splices them together in such a way that I think it would be easy to get the wrong idea about what Senator Fulton actually believes and advocates. He did introduce a bill which would have diverted money from education to roads, as referenced in the small print (Lincoln Journal Star, "Redirect Funding to Roads", 12/19/07). This had nothing to do with home education, but with one of those other issues facing the state…gas taxes and road construction.
Nebraska needs some revenue to cover the maintenance and construction of roads. We have a lot of space to cover and a small population base to share the costs. This year, the legislature voted to increase the gas tax, against the protest of the people. Other proposals have included additional taxes on trucks coming through the state whose destinations are not here in Nebraska. What Senator Fulton actually proposed was changing the distribution formula for the motor vehicle tax slightly to divert more funding to roads. The money has to come from somewhere, and somehow, taking it from the motor vehicle tax makes an odd sort of sense. The original formula gave 60% of the tax to local school districts whereas Fulton's proposal would have given districts 55%.
Update: Senator Fulton sent me an email clarifying the redirection of funds. I'm still looking for a source, but in the meantime this is what he says in regards to funding education:
One interesting addendum regarding LB741: as I have proposed that mechanism to fund roads, I have also proposed holding schools harmless with General fund revenues. In this way, it is a type of tax shift.
Instead, he advocated for homeschooling…
He certainly supported us. Of course, as a homeschooler, I see his support of our right to direct the education of our own children as a tremendous positive. And this attack makes me a little more uncomfortable with Ms. Scott. But the article cited in her mailer is a little odd, and available online: Homeschoolers to hold rally at State Capitol. You will have to scroll down. It is actually a text box within an article which outlines the activites of the Nebraska Christian Home Educators' annual Legislative Day where homeschoolers meet at the Capitol, learn about the legislative process and have the opportunity to speak with their senators for a few minutes. This year, it happened to fall right after the introduction of LB 1141 and was not organized in response to it, contrary to how the description reads (although some of the schedule was changed to give more time to speak with senators about the issue).
And Senator Fulton was part of the opening ceremonies. He undoubtedly demonstrated strong support for us, and has thus earned much loyalty from homeschoolers in his district and even beyond. However, his education policy, contrary to what the casual reading of Ms. Scott's mailer might imply, does not divert funding from public education to support homeschooling.
And a note on homeschooling and funding…
Senator Schimek's proposed bill to increase oversight of Nebraska homeschools would have cost Nebraska additional funds…funds it does not currently have and funds that would have likely come out of the education budget. After all, standardized testing is not free, nor are the certified teachers to oversee their administration or to go over the portfolios which were offered as an alternative.
Local school districts often speak of homeschooling as if it diverted funds away from education because funding formulas give them money based on attendance. However, we pay the same property and motor vehicle taxes as everyone else in the district. And it costs money to educate a child…money that is not spent on homeschoolers. According to the US Department of Education, we spend on average $4,934 per pupil for instruction. This does not include many of the expenditures which remain when a child does not attend school (such as the building, etc.). The district may not be getting our tax dollars directly as they would if our children attended public school, but the state has more money to distribute because of our choice.
In fact, the Heritage Foundation pulls together some different statistics on homeschooling to demonstrate just how much homeschooling saves American tax payers.
Given the Department of Education's conservative estimate of 898,000 students who were educated entirely at home in 2003, the National Home Education Research Institute's estimate of 2 million homeschool students, and the national average per pupil expenditure on instruction, homeschooling likely saves American taxpayers and public schools at least $4.4 billion to $9.9 billion in instruction costs each year. The Economic Benefits of Homeschooling.
In Connecticut, First Selectman Tom Marsh even proposed a $3,000 tax credit to homeschoolers in order to save the state money.
Support for homeschooling does not have to mean that public schools suffer. In fact, the mere existence of homeschooling provides the state more money to spend on education and a small amount of competition for the public schools. Across the United States, we see schools altering their programs and allowing for more flexibility and individualized solutions in an attempt to attract homeschoolers back in to the schools. This makes our public schools stronger, not weaker. And it gives more families more real opportunities to make sure their children are receiving an excellent education.
That is sound education policy which benefits all Nebraskans, not just one segment of the population.


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Firmware 3.1 beta 3 (build 7C116a ) went live yesterday along with the associated SDK (build 9M2808). These betas available for developers registered in the iPhone Developer Program gives us a good look at what is next in Apple's iPhone firmware.
3.1 beta 3 allows video to be sent via email.
Other updates to beta 3 include a baseband update to 5.11.04, various tweaks to APIs, and tethering usage feature added.
New Features in iPhone Firmware 3.1 beta 3This article was originally published in forum thread: New Features in iPhone Firmware 3.1 beta 3 started by Cody Overcash View original post


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Speech to the World Coal Association
Below you fill find my speech to the world Coal Association, delivered to their annual general meeting in Brussels on the 16th of November 2015. In it, I make 2 asks of the coal industry - firstly, in short term, no new coal fired power station that does not run at 40% efficiency; and second, in the medium term, no new unabated coal fired power station should be built.
Ladies and Gentlemen thank you for inviting me here today.
I am a geology graduate of the University of St Andrews. A lesser known piece of trivia concerning Scotland's oldest University, founded back in 1410 or 1413 (the dubiety rests with the fact that the bishop applied to the wrong Pope), is that the university rests atop a seem of coal. Only a foot or so at its thickest point, you can see the coal outcrop along the cliffs. Any thicker and the medieval centre of St Andrews would today look quite different.
A lump of St Andrews coal that tumbled from the cliffs and was washed clean by the tides of time.
The church was one of the 'early adopters' of coal. Just round the coast from St Andrews you come to Culross, which sits a-crest the great Fife Coal Beds. In the 19th century those coal beds would employ five thousand people and produce eight and a half thousand tonnes of coal a year. However, before the deep shafts were sunk, it was the monks of the local Abbey who hewed the coal, all to fuel the local salt panning industry.
The dip of the coal takes the seems below the Forth, and inevitably the challenges of mining further and further into the Forth took its toll and the monks abandoned their endeavours. The story of Scotland's coal could have ended there had it not been for an entrepreneur by the name of George Bruce. Leasing the rights from the church, George invented a bucket and chain device driven by horses that continually drained the water from the ever deeper mines, channelling it back into the sea.
George Bruce's success brought the King, James the Sixth (or James the First if you are of an English persuasion) to Culross to witness the marvel of the age. There shortly followed a knighthood for George and a tax for the industry.
By 1750 coal was being mined at seven hundred thousand tonnes a year in Scotland. By 1830 3 million tonnes were being carved from the ground. Production peaked in 1914 at 42 million tonnes per year.
And today, following a narrative you in this room are all too familiar with, just 2 million tonnes per year are extracted from an ever declining base of production.
Coupling of growth and emissions
Just over the water from Fife lies the city of Edinburgh, or 'auld reekie' as it is affectionately known. The city gained its nickname during the eighteenth century's industrial revolution, when the smoke from the coal fires mingled with Edinburgh's famous cold winter air and hung in a haze of black.
It was back then, with invention of James Watts's steam engine and later the steam locomotive that centuries of agrarian society came to an end, mass urbanisation took place, and with it too the rise of economic prosperity in the West. It was because of coal that the intrinsic link between economic growth and emissions was first established.
The only retardant to this unstoppable revolution was the quality of air. As the factories churned in Edinburgh and Glasgow the buildings blackened. The London pea-souper became a common sight. Until, in 1952, following a four day fog which claimed the lives of four thousand Londoners, the government was forced to act. Shortly thereafter the Clean Air Act was introduced, the first serious piece of emissions reduction legislation after centuries of unfettered coal burning.
Decoupling of growth and emissions
The challenge for the globe today is breaking the link between economic growth and emissions.
For some this test is easier than others. Take two examples: China and India.
China, ahead of it's curve, has promised to peak coal use by 2030. Last year, the growth in China's coal consumption screeched to a halt as it's industries grew more efficient and switched to Hydro power, and the Chinese Government pledged to build one new nuclear power station every month for the next twenty years. Some feats truly are the preserve of authoritarian superpowers.
But with the smog stretching from Beijing as far as California, and emissions twenty times the World Health Organisation limit for inner cities, Beijing has recognised that it cannot seek to sustain its economic growth using unabated coal. Just last week, President Hollande garnered an important but overlooked commitment from the Chinese Premier Xi Zinping - that China would no longer link its climate change reduction targets to its economic growth.
India, on the other hand, trails behind. As China diversified, India's consumption of coal grew by 11% in just one year. The reason for this is that India intends to drive growth (and in the by-going reduce poverty) at all costs. India has the world's 5th largest coal reserve and aims to double its coal production by 2020 and in so doing drive up GDP by 8-10% a year.
As China committed to peak its coal use by 2030, Prime Minister Modi has made his political priority to elevate India's economy to the third largest in the world by the same date. Why? Because of the richest 10% of Indians, a third live in households with no refrigerator. In the next richest 10%, less than half have refrigerators, and in the next 10% only a third. The point being, when you need to win elections, you win the by making people richer. Its the economy, stupid.
'Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow'
So much for history. What about tomorrow?
There is plenty of coal left in the ground. With proven reserves of 891 billion tonnes there is enough coal to meet global production needs for the next century.
I have written on the issue of reserves versus realisation, focusing upon Botswana, where there is up to 200 billion tonnes of 'unproven' coal that the Government is desperate to extract. In a land in which over half its population has no electricity at all it is easy to see why the motto of its Ministry of Energy is: the future is coal.
But burning 200 billion tonnes of coal is enough to reach three quarters of the earth's carbon limit. 891 billion tonnes is enough to reach three times over. And so the question for countries such as Botswana, which seeks to develop an impoverished society, to build and power the schools, the factories the hospitals and homes it needs, is how to do so while managing emissions and protecting human health.
And so, to Europe
We have rehearsed where China and where India stand. We Understand the aspirations of Botswana. The issue now is the western democracies, who have reaped the benefits of coal over two centuries. How stands the US, how stands the EU?
The sustained and continued decarbonisation of Europe and the US is not driven by efficiency in industry, nor is it driven by mitigation through technologies such as CCS. It is, at its most rudimental, an informed public expressing an informed opinion. What Western democracies have vis a vis India, Botswana and to a certain extent China is that we have gone through our cycle of industrialisation and we have come out of it bloody nosed. As a consequence, so too has coal.
In the US, Obama's 'gas bridge' has driven down the price of coal, reduced emissions, and allowed US a climate change leadership role.
In Europe the drive towards green has inspired an 'energy revolution' in Germany, led to the closure of Scotland's last ever coal fired power station; and has seen Europe's second largest power station, Drax, begin its transition from coal to biomass.
The view from the towers of Brussels is unequivocal.
Even though the German 'energiewende' has failed to reduce emissions by placing too much faith in intermittent renewables; despite green subsidies exceeding a hundred billion euros a year; regardless of the fact that fuel poverty in Scotland has risen to 39%; and although we now displace our carbon footprint by importing renewables from the USA.
In spite of all of this, Brussels' relentless rejection of coal is unwavering.
The Ask
So, the reason you are here. What is the future for coal?
The answer is simply that in the long term, there is no future.
Bold statement. Big statement. But it requires qualification - when does the future start?
We are but weeks away from the Paris climate talks, where it is hoped if not expected that the world will agree a globally binding deal to keep the earth from warming beyond two degrees centigrade. With that ask comes an imperative for the coal industry, iterated to this forum by the chair of the UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) Christiana Figueres last year - coal can and must change.
In order to maximise the lifespan of your industry in China, in India, in Botswana and in expanding markets across the world I believe you need to make two major commitments.
Firstly, in the short term, the coal industry must commit to building no new coal fired power stations that run at less than 40% efficiency.
For every one percent increase in the efficiency of a coal fired power station, the emissions of that plant are reduced by two to three percent. Moving the average global efficiency of coal fired power plants from 33% to 40% could cut two gigatonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere now - the equivalent of India's annual output of CO2 emissions, or running the Emissions Trading System for 53 years.
Secondly, in the medium term, that there can be no new investment in unabated coal.
The Boundary Dam power station in Saskatchewan, Canada is the world's first coal fired power station fitted with CCS. It captures 90% of the emissions it produces, meaning Boundary Dam emits four times less than the average gas fired power station.
These are serious asks. They will require serious money. But they are essential if your industry is to have a future at all.
With these commitments you open up the possibility of European Investment Bank funding for investment in CCS, of support from the Emissions Trading System through the modernisation and innovation funds, and to benefit from European research funding for new technology.
Without these commitments, you risk further annihilation at the hands of punitive legislation such as the large combustion plants directive, which has given coal plants in Europe the choice to either clean up, or shut up.
With these commitments you can fill the gap that renewables leave when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine while keeping emissions low. You can reduce fuel poverty and stabilise our energy supply.
Without these commitments, you risk the political dash for gas, rendering coal investment worthless.
With these commitments, you can show the world that you have heeded the warnings of history that are forever etched upon the buildings of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and that are visible today in the smog that engulfs Beijing. Without them you will succumb to what the past has always taught us, a lesson that is most vociferously rehearsed here in Brussels:
At the end of the day, the cost of coal in human lives is immeasurably more than the value of coal in cheap and plentiful energy.
The choice ladies and gentlemen, is entirely yours to make.


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vim: K (iskeyword) doesn't work in Slackware 12.2
I upgraded from 12.1 to 12.2 on one system, and have not yet on another. On the system where I upgraded to 12.2, pressing K in vim while the cursor is on a function name in C source code no longer works properly.
On the 12.1 system, it grabs the function name properly and presents the man page. On a 12.2 system, it grabs from the start of the keyword to the end of line and therefore doesn't give me the right man page.
Pressing 'K' while the cursor is under the atol in the line
h = atol(argv[1]);
on 12.1 gives me the man page for atol.
On 12.2, man tells me:
No manual entry for atol(argv[1]);
How do I fix this?
The problem is not the K in vi, it works fine and tells you: No manual entry for atol(argv[1]);
It seems that the manpage for atol is not installed, did you install everything that was installed on your previous version (12.1)?
The manpage package should be installed. Check your own medium first before using the link I provided.
Hope this helps.
The problem is that when I type K, vim is trying to get the manpage for "atol(argv[1]);" - which certainly doesn't exist, and shouldn't.
Does anyone know what changed with the Slackware package for vim between 12.1 and 12.2 that made the "inkeyword" function break?
1 Attachment(s)
Does pressing K in vim over a C function name work for anyone in Slackware 12.2?
For example, if you move the cursor over the word "printf" in the attachment, does anyone who is running Slackware 12.2 actually get a man page for printf?
This worked in Slackware 12.1.
This was a bug in vim that has been fixed with patch 7.2.026 and should work in Slackware 13.
This is fixed in Slackware current so yes it will work in Slackware 13.
Will the fix be be backported to Slackware 12.2, or do I need to rebuild vim myself?
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