A magnetic head is mounted on a camera film platen which is supported for constrained movement relative to the camera body to maintain a precise relationship between an information track recorded on the film and a film edge. The magnetic head is pivotally mounted on the film platen. Means are provided to establish one angular orientation of the head to establish one angular orientation of the head with respect to the film during prewind to read information recorded by the film manufacturer and a second different angular orientation during transport of the film in the opposite direction during film exposure to record information relating to film exposure. This enables a camera to distinguish between information recorded by the manufacturer and information recorded by a camera to determine if mid-roll interrupt occurred and, if so, the location of the last frame exposed.

1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to magnetic reading and recording apparatus and more specifically to magnetic reading and recording apparatus for photographic equipment.
2. Description of Related Applications
In commonly assigned copending application Ser. No. 417345 filed concurrently herewith by Wash et al. and cross referenced above, there is disclosed a system for recording information on a magnetic coating on photographic film to produce an indication that mid-roll interrupt occurred. More specifically, it is disclosed that data can be recorded by the film manufacturer on a dedicated track with the head positioned at an angle relative to the film axis. This information can be read during prewind of the film prior to exposure and used to set the camera for film speed, film type, etc. During film exposure, the head can erase information from the dedicated track and simultaneously record with the head positioned perpendicular to the film axis during film advancement. If the film is removed from the camera prior to complete exposure of the film, the mid-roll interrupt exposure position will coincide with the point at which the perpendicularly recorded information terminates and angularly recorded information is still present. By providing appropriate memory, logic and controls in the camera as disclosed in copending application Ser. No. 417345, the camera can be arranged to commence exposure upon reinsertion of the film at the point where angular recording is still present.

Apparatus for magnetically reading and recording on film


Therapy patches provide portable massaging devices that can also deliver topical treatment chemicals. These patches can be adhered to the skin via an adhesive layer that is also impregnated with the treatment chemical. Kits are also provided to create a string of linked patches that can be used together or separately, and a microcontroller controls the vibration of the device for optimized massaging effects.

The present invention relates to therapy patches. It appears especially well suited to provide therapy patches configured to deliver a treatment chemical, along with vibration, to desired external areas of a human body. "Therapy" refers treatments to relax or otherwise provide beneficial sensation(s), such as for example to treat sore muscles.
Muscle pain can often be effectively treated by having a professional masseur massage the affected area. Such massages are sometimes supplemented with electrically powered hand-held massaging devices, and/or with chemicals (e.g. lotions) that are topically applied to the human skin during the massage. However, the services of a professional masseur can be expensive, require scheduling in advance, and typically require the person being massaged to be essentially immobile during the massage.
A number of devices have been developed that provide massaging effects without requiring a masseur. Many require an electrical power cord during operation, albeit some do not (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,256).
A variety of patches have been developed for delivering treatment chemicals to a human (e.g. transdermally or topically). See e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,027,555 and 3,734,097. There have been efforts to improve the migration of those chemicals from such devices into the bloodstream employing ultrasound or an electric field. See e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,735,470 and 6,738,662 and U.S. patent application publications 2002/0156415, 2004/0024348, 2005/0038377, and 2005/0065461.
However, these prior art transdermal patches did not address ways to provide perceptible massage effects. Further, they did not address how a massaging vibration could be developed in connection with such a portable patch using an assembly that was sufficiently lightweight to permit the use of an adhesive application system.
Hence, a need exists for therapy patches that can provide massaging effects as well as a therapeutic chemical.


The present disclosure provides a method and system of recording an audio event which comprises a plurality of audio sources. This comprises: synchronizing a plurality of audio recording devices prior to commencement of the audio event, each recording device being suitably disposed to record audio from a single audio source and operable to provide a single audio source recording for the duration of the audio event; receiving the single audio source recording provided by each of the said audio recording devices; and processing the plurality of received single audio source recordings to synchronously combining the plurality of single audio source recordings to construct a single audio event recording.

Audio is generally recorded so as to provide a record copy of an occasion such as, for example, a meeting, an interview or a performance involving two or more sources of audio or participants.
For example, for journalist interviews, business meetings and courtroom trials, it is important to have a verbatim recorded record of the interviews, meetings and trials to ensure that everything that has been said has been captured and can be accurately referred to at a later date. This applies equally to more structured meeting environments in offices.
However, referring to FIG. 1A, the quality of these recordings is often extremely poor, as a single device 10, such as a Dictaphone or digital voice recorder is used to capture the audio, for example, speech, from a plurality of sources and/or participants 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and 12e. Similarly, meetings undertaken through conference calls are often made using a single conference phone which usually results in unreliable and often poor audio capture.
The reason for this is that the further away from the microphone a person is, the less clear the resulting audio is. This is known in speech-recognition as "far field" audio capture.
To overcome this, an array of microphones 14a-14h can be installed, for example, in a board room or interview room, as shown in FIG. 1B. These consist of multiple microphones places in fixed positions. Each individual microphone captures a separate audio stream, and these are then post-processed using a technique called "beamforming" which allows individual audio streams to be reconstructed. This technique relies upon the different speeds at which the same audio signal reaches each microphone
These fixed microphone setups are effective in overcoming the "far field" problem, but are relatively expensive and require infrastructure to be put in place prior to meetings taking place. Moreover, because of the nature of this setup being of fixed microphones, it does not overcome problems associated with recording of conference call meetings when two or more participants are remote from each other.
Accordingly, there is a need in the industry for there to be a media recording system and method which addresses the disadvantages of known systems and methods.
An objective of the present disclosure is to provide a media recording system and method which is inexpensive and provides quality recording of audio for both local recording, wherein audio sources and/or participants are in relatively close proximity, and remote recording, wherein audio sources and/or participants are relatively remote from each other, for example, in different offices, cities or countries. There is also the associated problem that participants who are geographically separated will experience different time delays and the can be a persistent problem of people talking over one another as they do not correctly anticipate another person is finished speaking due to the time delay.


The present invention relates to the manufacture of thin film solid state electrochemical devices using composite cathodes comprising a redox polymer capable of undergoing oxidation and reduction, a polymer solid electrolyte and conducting carbon. The polymeric cathode material is formed as a composite of radiation crosslinked polymer electrolytes and radiation crosslinked redox polymers based on polysiloxane backbones with attached organosulfur side groups capable of forming sulfur-sulfur bonds during electrochemical oxidation.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of thin film solid state electrochemical devices using solvent-free polymerization of polymer solid electrolytes and redox polymer cathode materials.
Solvent-free polymer electrolytes have generated significant interest in recent years, primarily due to the potential for producing thin film rechargeable lithium batteries with high power capability and energy density. They have been extensively described in the patent literature, e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,303,748 to Armand, et al.; 4,589,197 to North; 4,547,440 to Hooper, et al.; 4,906,718 to Gornowicz, et al. and 4,228,226 to Christiansen. The cells are construed from an alkali metal foil anode, an ionically conducting polymer solid electrolyte containing an alkali metal foil anode, an ionically conducting polymer solid electrolyte containing an alkali metal salt, and a cathode consisting of a composite of a powdered insertion material, such as TiS.sub.2, the polymer electrolyte and an electron conductor, such as finely dispersed carbon black. Like liquid electrolytes and solvent-swollen polyelectrolytes used in ion-exchange resins, solvent-free polymer electrolytes possess ion transport properties. Both cation transport and anion transport in these solid polymer electrolytes have been substantiated and are well documented in the prior art.
In applications of solid polymer electrolytes to secondary solid state batteries, it would be preferable to have no anion migration, the result of which is less polarization and higher power output. Anion mobility produces a negative effect on the energy efficiency of the battery because it results in local concentration gradients which result in deleterious polarization of the cell, lowering the output current.
Attempts have been made to immobilize the anion on the polymer chain in order to achieve specific cationic conductivity. Several approaches have included the synthesis of cationic single-ionic conductors based on carboxylate or sulfonate salts. (Tsuchida et al, Macromolecules 21,96(1988)). These reported electrolytes are limited in their application due to low conductivity. Presumably, the low conductivity is due to the extensive ion pairing in these salts. High conductivity polymer solid electrolytes with specific cation conductivity have been synthesized by Skotheim et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,243 (1989)) where the immobilized anionic moieties are based on sterically hindered phenol compounds. Sterically hindered phenol substituted polysiloxanes have demonstrated specific cation conductivity 100-1000 times higher than what has been previously achieved with covalently attached carboxylate or sulfonate salts.
Polymer solid electrolytes are generally cast from a common organic solvent for the polymer and the alkali metal salts, such as methanol or acetonitrile. Disposing of the organic solvent poses an environmental hazard and adds a considerable manufacturing cost. It would be preferable to synthesize the polymer electrolyte using a solvent-free polymerization method where the polymerization is performed under actinic irradiation. Actinic irradiation is defined as ultraviolet, gamma ray or electron beam irradiation.
M.-T. Lee et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4.830,939, describes a method for forming an interpenetrating polymeric network for use in solid state electrochemical cells, consisting of a liquid electrolyte trapped in a crosslinked polymer matrix. The two phase polymer electrolyte system is formed by subjecting a mixture consisting of a liquid monomeric or prepolymeric radiation polymerizable compound, a radiation inert ionically conducting compound, such as propylene carbonate (PC), and an alkali metal salt, such as lithium trifluoromethane sulfonate, to actinic radiation to thereby crosslink the radiation polymerizable material and form a solid matrix.
Electrochemically, the composite electrolyte material described by Lee et al. behaves essentially as a liquid electrolyte, with the well known degradation problems associated with liquid electrolytes. The long term stability of liquid electrolyte based electrochemical cells is limited by corrosion at the electrode/electrolyte interface, leading tto the build up of passivating layers on the lithium electrode. In addition, with liquid electrolytes, co-insertion of the solvent and the alkali metal cation, e.g. lithium, into the cathode material results in degradation of the cathode material due to swelling and de-swelling upon discharging and charging of the battery. It would be preferable to use high conductivity polymer electrolytes containing no liquid components.
The cathode materials used in manufacturing of thin flim lithium or sodium batteries have generally been intercalation compounds such as TiS.sub.2 and V.sub.6 O.sub.13. The cells have had limited rate capability and low utilization of cathode capacity. The cathode is formed as a composite consisting of powdered intercalation material and the polymer electrolyte with finely dispersed carbon black as electrical conductor. The rate limiting factor is generally the diffusion of cation in the insertion host material. Recently, M. Liu et al (Proc. Electrochem. Soc. Meeting, Miami, Fla., Sep. 1989) have describe a new class of redox polymer based cathode materials with substantially improved rate capability for lithium or sodium secondary batteries. The materials are based on polymerization and depolymerization via sulfur-sulfur bonds during the charging and discharging of the battery. Electrochemical cells were made with lithium foil anode, an electrolyte consisting of polyethylene oxide (PEO) with a lithium salt, such as LiClO.sub.4 or LiSO.sub.3 CF.sub.3, and a cathode consising of a homogeneous mixture of PEO and a redox polymer, with added carbon black for electrical conductivity. The cells demonstrated considerably higher rate capabilities than comparable cells made with TiS.sub.2 cathodes.
One drawback with the system described by Liu et al is the reliance on polymerization and depolymerization of the redox cathode. When depolymerized, the monomers could disperse into the polymer electrolyte over time, severly limiting the lifetime of the cell. A second problem arises from the polymer electrolyte and the redox polymer cathode having different polymeric backbones. The miscibility of different polymers is a well known problem. With different polymeric systems, phase segregation normally occurs. Basing the electrolyte and the electrode materials on the same polymeric backbone and employing high conducting single-ion conducting polymer electrolytes would be expected to result in improved long term stability and higher capacity.

Preparation of redox polymer cathodes for thin film rechargeable batteries


A sensor array is positioned in the optical scanning system of a copier so as to be able to periodically provide a measurement of the degree of image degradation present in the system due to contamination of the optical system components. The sensor array is adapted to measure the modulation transfer frequency of a bar chart which is exposed in the optical system. The measured value of MTF is compared to a predetermined value of MTF representing a uncontaminated measurement at the bar chart. When the comparison indicates that the measured MTF is below a minimum acceptable threshold value, a display is activated to alert an operator that an optic system cleaning operation is required.

The present invention relates to optical systems used in an electrophotographic reproduction device for exposing an original document on a document platen and, more particularly, to an apparatus for sensing the amount of contamination present in the optical system.
In an electrostatographic reproducing apparatus of the type commonly in use today, a photoconductive insulating member is charged to a uniform potential and thereafter exposed to a light image of an original document to be reproduced. The exposure selectively discharges the photoconductive insulating surface and creates an electrostatic latent image on the member which corresponds to the image areas contained within the original document. Subsequently, the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive insulating surface is made visible by developing the image with a developing powder, referred to in the art as toner. Most development systems employ a developer material which comprises both charged carrier particles and charged toner particles which triboelectrically adhere to the carrier particles. During development, the toner particles are attracted from the carrier particles by the charge pattern of the image areas on the photoconductive insulating surface to form a powder image. This image may subsequently be transferred to a support surface such as copy paper to which it may be permanently affixed by heating or by the application of pressure. Following transfer of the toner image to the support surface, the photoconductive insulating surface is cleaned of residual toner to prepare it for the next imaging cycle.
One of the problems associated with these prior art reproduction machines is contamination of the various processing stations by charged toner particles, paper particles, dust particles and the like. These particles may be attracted to critical surfaces of the various processing stations, resulting in contamination and degradation of the performance of that subsystem. To maintain copy quality, it is essential that the elements of the automatic reproducing machine remain substantially free from contaminating particles. One of the areas which is most sensitive to contamination is the optical system. If toner or dust is allowed to collect on a lens or a mirror, for example, the exposure is reduced by light that is scattered out of the optical path causing copy background and, further, image modulation is reduced by the same phenomenon of light being scattered into the image foreground areas. Either factor results in a loss of low contrast copy ability.
It is known in the art to use a photosensor to sense the presence of a buildup in optical system contamination. The sensors are typically used to measure a change in one of the following parameters: reflectance of a mirror; transmittance of a transparent material on the light scattering surface, or transmission of a lens. A feedback control system is usually implemented to increase the illumination source output to correct the exposure. U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,621, is illustrative of such prior art sensing systems.
These prior art sensing and control systems have several disadvantages. Both photosensor and illumination light sources are subject to long term sensitivity/emission variations. When a correction occurs, the signal change cannot be differentiated from a signal change attributable to contamination sensing. Thus, when a correction signal is generated by the sensing/control system, it is not always certain that the sensed correction condition is actually due to increased contamination in the system or to the variation in the sensing/control system. Thus, an unnecessary cleaning procedure may be initiated which, furthermore, sometimes results in inadvertent damage to other system components. Another disadvantage is that the illumination exposure control circuit, while restoring the correct exposure does not improve the contrast degradation caused by the contamination. In fact, contrast degradation, as will be described below, can only be corrected by cleaning the optical elements and the need for improvement is a determination of an optimum time doing so.
The present invention is, therefore, directed to a contamination sensing system which is not susceptible to drift variations in the sensing components, to lamp drift or other conditions not directly related to the actual contamination present in the system. The present sensing system is designed to generate a correction signal only when contamination reduces image modulation as expressed by an MTF value below a previously set minimum value. This sensing system includes a low resolution sensor array such as a CCD array to measure image modulation at some point along the optical path. This is done by sensing a bar target of known resolution which is placed on the document platen. More particularly, this invention relates to an electrophotographic reproduction machine including imaging means for forming a latent image of a document located in an object plane, at a photoreceptor surface, the imaging means including means for illuminating the document and means for projecting the document image onto said photoreceptor surface, the improvement comprising the combination of a linear sensor array positioned along the optical path, said sensor array adapted to read a bar chart located in the object plane and to generate output signals representative of said bar chart maximum and minimum values, a comparison/memory circuit which receives the output signals from said sensor array and computes the value of the modulation transfer function MTF, said circuit containing nonvolatile memory with a predetermined value representing a minimum MTF value stored therein, said memory adapted to compare the previously stored MTF value with the computed value, and output means connected to said comparison/memory circuit, said output means actuated to provide an indication of when the measured MTF falls below the predetermined minimum MTF value.

Method and apparatus for sensing contamination within an optical scanning system


An embodiment includes a bag comprising mesh and film side walls and a reinforcing strip of film; wherein (a) the mesh side wall is sealed to opposing side edges of the film side wall; (b) the reinforcing strip of film is sealed to an upper portion of the mesh side wall and to the opposing side edges of the film side wall; (c) the film side wall has a bottom extension, which is monolithic with the film side wall, extending upwardly and sealed along a lateral extent of a bottom portion of the mesh side wall; (d) the film side wall is non-coplanar with a portion of the bottom extension; (e) another portion of the bottom extension is non-coplanar with the mesh side wall; and (f) a horizontal axis intersects the bottom portion of the film side wall and three portions of the bottom extension.

Produce bags for automatic produce packing machines may include holes. Using the holes the bags can be suspended from wickets or pegs on an automatic packing machine. Such bags may include polyethylene film, or films made from various (different/alternative) resins with different properties.
Produce bags may include a synthetic resin open fabric mesh such as the bags described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,120, assigned to Kenneth Fox Supply Co. of McAllen, Tex. Such bags may include a synthetic resin fabric open mesh, such as the nonwoven fabric of cross-laminated synthetic resin fibers or strands known as Cross Laminated Airy Fabric® or (CLAF). This fabric is an open mesh material of cross-laminated warp and weft strands or fibers of synthetic resin. Produce bags may include other synthetic resin open mesh fabrics of slitted or extruded strands, or extruded filaments where the cross-directional components are bonded together by alternative processes that include, but not limited to, heat lamination, ultrasonic bonding, or adhesive bonding. Some of these open mesh structure fabrics include Meltac (Hagihara) and Otx (Oxtex Co., Ltd).


Device (1, 2, 3, 4) for warning of the under-inflation of a tire, mounted the wheel of the tire, includes a stationary element (10, 71) with two inner chambers (11, 12, 73, 74), one (11, 73) of which is brought to the inflation pressure, the other (12, 74) to the atmospheric pressure, and a centrifugal mass (20, 72). A blocking device (30, 90) blocks any displacement of centrifugal mass (20, 72) when the inflation pressure is greater than a certain threshold and frees the centrifugal mass (20, 72) when the inflation pressure decreases below the inflation threshold. Centrifugal mass (20, 72) can then become off-centered under the effect of centrifugal forces and creates a dynamic imbalance able to be sensed by the driver of the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for monitoring tires. More particularly, it relates to a device which is simple and not very expensive, for warning of the under-inflation of a tire.
2. Description of the Background Art
Many devices have been offered to warn the driver of a vehicle of a pressure drop inside one of his tires. Most of these devices use sensors placed in the rim of the wheel for measuring pressure and/or temperature. These sensors transmit their measurements continuously, or when a threshold is crossed, to a central control package. Such devices are described in applications WO 87/00127, DE 2 923 258 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,696, for example. The necessity, in all these devices, to reliably transmit the measurements of the sensors located in the rotating wheel to the chassis of the vehicle, leads to high-cost systems reserved for high-price vehicles.
A simpler device is described by patent application DE 3 541 494. Its principle consists in using, to warn of the pressure drop, the change of the vibratory behavior of the wheel when the inflation pressure of the tire decreases, by means of a vibration sensor placed in the vicinity of the wheel-carrier. Unfortunately, the complexity, and the gradual nature of the change in this vibratory behavior of the wheel with the inflation pressure of the tire, causes a low sensitivity of this device. Moreover, its calibration varies as a function both of the type of tire and the type of vehicle.

Device for warning of tire underinflation by creating imbalance

Compagnie Generale des Etablissements Michelin - Michelin & Cie


A method for distinguishing a real three-dimensional object from a two-dimensional spoof of the real object, the method comprising: obtaining, by an optical sensor of a mobile device, an image containing either the spoof or the real object; providing the image to a neural network; processing the image by the neural network by: calculating at least one of: 1) a distance map representative of the distance of a plurality of pixels to the optical sensor; or 2) a reflection pattern representative of light reflection associated with a plurality of pixels constituting at least a portion of the object within the image; and comparing at least one of the calculated distance map or the calculated reflection pattern with a learned distance map or a learned reflection pattern, to determine that the image contains either the spoof or the real object.

Techniques for classifying images or information obtained from the images are already known. However, those methods are not designed or yet applied to distinguishing between an object itself and a spoof of the object. This makes it risky to use objects identified within obtained images for security related issues, like logging in procedures, because the objects might only be spoofs of the real objects.

Method for distinguishing a real three-dimensional object from a two-dimensional spoof of the real object


A process for integrity check of lots of individual package units which comprises combining at least one RFID tag and a container which contains a large number of individual package units wherein each of the individual package units is marked with a marking code, the information of these codes of all individual package units is combined, and a hash code is generated based on the combined information of all marking codes of all individual package units, which combined hash code is stored in an RFID tag which is affixed to the container, this combined hash code together with the individual hash codes for the individual package units being stored in the data base of the SENDER site where the container is packed and sealed, the individual hash codes then being transmitted to the RECIPIENT of the said container, the information collected from the RFID tag being compared to the combined hash code which is calculated at the RECIPIENT site from the information received by the SENDER of the said container including all individual hash codes of all package units in the said container, and to the combined hash code calculated from the markings on the individual package units or boxes scanned at the RECIPIENT site, and the application of the said process in the verification of the integrity of pharmaceutical goods, video information such as movies on DVD, audio information such as music on CD, computer files, or paper documents.

For the purpose of the present invention, the term "package unit" may also refer to an object, product or item which is not packed in a box or a case nor wrapped in paper as long as the product or item can be marked in such a way that the marking can not be removed without destruction or damaging of the said object. Likewise, a package unit such as a box or case is preferably packed in a way that it cannot be opened to take out the object or product packed therein without destruction or damaging of the said box or case. Whenever reference is made to a box in the present patent application, this shall also include other means of packaging such as cases, or wrappings.
A prerequisite for identification of objects and products is individually marking the objects and products themselves, or their packaging, i.e. boxes. Marking may be made by applying labels to the package unit, or by directly applying the marking to the package unit. A commonly used method is applying bar or dot codes.
Such bar codes may preferably be printed on the box or individual package unit with a device and process fully described in copending European Patent Application 04 009 792.5 which involves generating a combined hash code both from the pixel information sent to the printer, and from the printer-specific information which is collected during the printing operation, the combined information being converted to a hash code by a real time hash engine, i.e. during the process of printing itself. This process make it possible to print the hash code generated during printing of a page at the bottom of that very page. This hash code is preferably printed in the form of a bar code, or a dot pattern which is optically readable. Due to the fact that the hash code is calculated from the pixel information and the printer-specific data, it is comparable to a fingerprint which is unique for any combination of pixel information to be printed, and the specific printer used in the printing process. Any label or any print including this hash code is therefore unique.
Printer-specific information comprises, without limitation, counting the number of revolutions of the light-sensitive drum in a laser printer, irregularities of the rotation of such drum, movement of the mirror in a laser printer, rotation of rubber rolls involved in paper transport, and the movement of printing heads in ink-jet printers, as well as any data generated from the electronic circuitry which drives the printer.
It has also been known that RFID (radio frequency identification) tags may be used to identify products or objects. RFID tags are still expensive, and they also need expensive electronic circuitry to analyse the information within an RFID tag. An advantage of these RFID tags, however, is that they can be read from a distance, i.e. without direct visible contact, and that the amount of information stored may be considerably higher than that of a bar code. On the other hand, simple bar code labels are much cheaper and can be generated faster.

Process for the integrity check of lots of individual package units


A glass composition having high refractive index, softening property at low temperature and small average thermal expansion coefficient, and a member provided with the composition on a substrate, are provided. The glass composition of the present invention has a refractive index (nd) of from 1.88 to 2.20, a glass transition temperature (Tg) of from 450 to 490° C., and an average thermal expansion coefficient at temperatures from 50° C. to 300° C. (α50-300) of from 60×10−7/K to 90×10−7/K, and includes Bi2O3 in an amount of from 5 to 25% in terms of mol % on the basis of oxides.

Conventionally, a glass composition having (1) high refractive index (refractive index at the d line is from 1.88 to 2.20), (2) low softening temperature (490° C. or lower) and (3) small average thermal expansion coefficient (the average thermal expansion coefficient is (65 to 90)×10−7/K), and a member provided with the glass composition on a substrate (hereinafter referred to as "glass composition and the like) have not been present.
The glass composition and the like simultaneously provided with at most two requirements of the above three requirements are proposed (Patent Documents 1 to 5).
In recent years, environmental pollution becomes serious problem in the melting of a glass containing lead oxide. Therefore, the glass is required to not contain lead oxide.

Glass composition and member having the same on substrate


A digital camera includes a flash memory. When partial image data constituting one image is written on a memory area in the flash memory, head address data of the memory area is written to the memory area written with the foregoing partial image data to the partial image data. That is, link information about the memory areas written with partial image data for a same image is written to each memory area. Therefore, if a plurality of memory areas written by partial image data are distant from one another, the image data can be reproduced or erased by tracing the head address data.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic image recording apparatus and data memorizing method therefor. More particularly, this invention relates to an electronic image recording apparatus, such as a digital still camera, and a data memorizing method, adapted to write image data different in size into small areas, in number appropriate for a data size, formed in a flash memory, and erase desired image data from the flash memory.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the conventional digital still camera of this kind, image data photographed and compressed are recorded in a flash memory in the order from a first As address thereof, as shown in image data area in FIG. 8. Here, the compressed image data has a size dependent upon its subject so that the image data {circle around (0)}-{circle around (5)} written in the flash memory are different in size therebetween. If the image data {circle around (1)}, {circle around (2)} and {circle around (4)} are then erased, the flash memory will have vacant areas as shown in FIG. 8(B). In this state, if a double exposure is made, image data {circle around (6)} and {circle around (7)} are respectively stored at unoccupied areas as shown in image data area B in FIG. 8.
However, the image data size is dependent upon a subject thereof, as stated above. Accordingly, if new image data is written on a vacant area given by erasing the recorded image data, small vacant areas will be left there. That is, exposure and erasure are repeatedly made, strip-formed vacant areas are sporadically left, giving rise to a problem of lowering service efficiency of the flash memory.
In order to solve such a problem, another conventional digital still camera is structured by an FAT (File Allocation Table) and an image data area divided into a plurality of small areas, so that the allocating information to the small areas is stored into the FAT. With this structure, when the image data {circle around (6)} and {circle around (7)} are written in a state of image data area B in FIG. 8, the image data {circle around (7)} is recorded into small areas that are distant from one another, thereby preventing against the formation of vacant areas within the image data area.
However, the digital still camera with this structure requires renewal to the FAT each time exposure or erasure is made, raising a problem of reducing the life of the flash memory. That is, the erasure from a flash memory is possible only by a unit called page having several kilo bytes to several tens of kilo bytes. Also, there is a limitation to a frequency capable of rewriting to a flash memory. If erasure and writing are repeated on a same address, the memory characteristics suffer from deterioration and ultimately becomes impossible to be written.
Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a novel electronic image recording apparatus.
It is another object of this invention to provide an electronic image recording apparatus which is capable of enhancing service efficiency for a flash memory and extending the life of the flash memory.
An electronic image recording apparatus according to this invention, comprising: an image inputting means for inputting image data for one image, the image data being configured by a plurality of partial image data; a nonvolatile RAM for recording the image data, the RAM including a plurality of memory areas each having a same memory capacity, the memory areas each including an image data storing section for storing partial image data and a link information storing section for storing link information; an image data writing means for writing the plurality of partial image data separately onto the respective image data storing sections of the plurality of memory areas; and a link information writing means for writing the link information linking between the plurality of memory areas.
Specifically, the link information includes address information representative of a related memory area, and further the address information includes a head address of the related memory area.
According to this invention, partial image data for constituting one image are separately stored in the memory areas of the nonvolatile RAM while link information for linking between the plurality of memory areas is written to the memory areas. Accordingly, the nonvolatile RAM is improved in utilizing efficiency, and does not require especial areas formed for storing the link information. Therefore, even where using a flash memory as the nonvolatile RAM, the life of the flash memory can be extended because a certain particular area is not frequently rewritten.
In one aspect of this invention, an electronic image recording apparatus includes a nonvolatile RAM, the nonvolatile RAM including a plurality of memory areas written with partial image data, and the plurality of the memory areas storing link information for linking between the partial image data.
A digital camera according to this invention, includes a flash memory, the flash memory includes a plurality of memory areas written with sporadic partial image data, and the plurality of memory areas memorizing address information for linking between the partial image data.
This invention is a data memorizing method for an electronic image recording apparatus adapted to store image data into a nonvolatile RAM, comprising the steps of: (a) writing first partial image data of first image into a first memory area; (b) searching a vacant memory area when the first memory area is filled up; (c) writing second partial image data of the first image into the vacant memory area as a second memory area; (d) writing a head address of the first memory area to the second memory area; and (e) writing a head address of the second memory area to the first memory area.
This method includes a step of (f) writing a succeeding image number to a succeeding memory area when the writing of all the partial image data for the first image is completed. Therefore, at the step (a), the first partial image data is written into the vacant area, as the first memory area, stored only with an image number.
In a digital camera according to one aspect of this invention, image data different in size are written into small areas, in number appropriate for a data size, formed in a nonvolatile RAM, and desired image data is erased from the nonvolatile RAM. The digital camera is characterized in that image data includes a plurality of partial image data of a same size as the small area, and a first address data writing means being provided to write head address data of a current small area to be written by current partial image data into correlated small area that is correlated to the current small area.
If the partial image data constituting the image data is written into the small area formed, for example, in a flash memory, the head address data of the small area is written into the small area written by the precedent partial image data to the partial image data. That is, linkage is formed between the small areas written by the image data. Therefore, even if the plurality of the small areas written by the image data are distant from one another, the image data can be reproduced or erased by tracing the head address data.
In this aspect, since the head address data of the current small area is written into the correlated small area that is correlated to the current small area, image data can be written by division into small areas existing distant from one another, enhancing the service efficiency of the RAM. Also, the writing of head address data eliminates the necessity of the conventional FAT, extending the life of the RAM.
The above described objects and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Electronic image recording apparatus and data memorizing method therefor


A process for synthesizing (23S,25R)-calcitriol lactone and related Vitamin D analogs comprises reacting protected enantiomerically pure glycidol or 2-alkylglycidol with protected De-A,B-8.beta.-hydroxy-24-nor-cholan-23-al, removing the protective groups from the epimeric product mixture and separating the epimers, to give a hydrindane tetrol product, followed by oxidation and protection of the hydrindane tetrol product, reacting the tetrol product with the lithium salt of (3S)-(3.alpha.,5.beta.,Z)-2-(2-methylene-3,5-bis-((1,1-dimethylethyl)dimet hylsilyloxy)cyclohexy lidene)ethyl diphenyl phosphine oxide and removing the final protective groups. Certain intermediate compounds also show biological activity as angiostatic agents.

(23S, 25R)-Calcitriol lactone (1a) is a major mammalian metabolite of Vitamin D that has been shown to stimulate bone growth in osteoporotic rats (Seino, Y. et al., Drugs of the Future Vol. 17, p. 655 (1992) see also, Japanese Kokai Patent Application No. 04095082A2 (1992)). Compound 1a is therefore useful for the study of, and potentially for the treatment of, osteoporosis and other diseases involving calcium absorption and utilization.
Only very small amounts of Compound 1a are obtainable from natural sources. Practical supply of 1a must therefore rely on chemical synthesis. Several synthetic sequences leading to 1a have been reported (See Hatakeyama et al., J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 1229 (1992); and Yamamoto et al., J. Org. Chem. Vol. 57, p. 33, (1992). In each case, a critical issue is the construction of the lactone portion comprising carbons 23 through 27, with the stereochemistry at carbons 23 and 25 established in a controlled manner.
Of the several known sequences leading to Compound 1a, the most efficient has been reported by Johnson and Chan (Johnson et al., J. Org. Chem., Vol. 50, p. 2598, (1985), the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in the present specification). Johnson et al. teach a synthesis of hydrindane triol 2a (R.sup.2 .dbd.CH.sub.2 Ph) in eight chemical steps from aldehyde 5 (R.sup.2 .dbd.CH.sub.2 Ph). These workers furthermore describe the debenzylation of 2a (R.sup.2 .dbd.CH.sub.2 Ph) to tetrol 3a, and oxidation of 3a to keto lactone 4a. The conversion of 4a to 1a is known (Wovkulich et al., J. Org. Chem., Vol. 48, p. 4433, (1983), the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in the present specification). ##STR1## A bold line denotes a substituent projecting above the plane of the page; a dashed line denotes a substituent projecting below the plane of the page.

Process for preparation of calcitriol lactone and related intermediates


Systems and methods for domain name system (DNS) caching in a distributed processing engine include a first processing engine which may receive a DNS request for accessing a domain from a client. The first processing engine may generate a DNS query for a DNS controller based on the DNS request, The first processing engine may receive a DNS record corresponding to the domain from the DNS controller. The first processing engine may store data corresponding to the DNS record in cache of the first processing engine. The first processing engine may transmit a message including data corresponding to the DNS record for the domain to a second processing engine, to cause the second processing engine to store data corresponding to the DNS record in cache of the second processing engine.

Clients or processing engines may generate various DNS queries for DNS resolvers to access domains corresponding to various resources hosted on servers. The DNS resolvers may respond with DNS records. However, since many clients and/or processing engines may generate similar (or the same) DNS requests, the DNS resolvers may be inundated with duplicative DNS requests, which may cause latency in responses and may thereby cause performance at less than desired specifications.

Domain name service caching in distributed systems


A communications platform for enabling the cost-effective deployment of fixed wireless local loop telephone services to residential and commercial subscribers. The platform includes at least one Independent Central Office located within a new residential or commercial development, and connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN), at least one subscriber base station, and subscriber terminals communicating with the fixed network via a fixed wireless local loop radio path. The customer premise equipment of the telephone subscriber is connected to a switch at the Independent Central Office facility via the fixed wireless local loop radio path, and the switch at the Independent Central Office facility is connected to the incumbent local exchange carrier (LEC) switch at the LEC Central Office facility via direct inward dialing (DID) and direct outbound dialing (DOD) services provided via respective DID and DOD trunk lines. Deployment costs of the Independent Central Office fixed wireless local loop platform are absorbed by building the platform in new residential and/or commercial developments and providing the platform as part of the new communications infrastructure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a telecommunications system for providing a wireless local loop, the system including a fixed hardwire network platform having at least one Independent Central Office located within a new residential or commercial development and connected to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), at least one subscriber base station, and subscriber terminals communicating with the fixed network via a radio path.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The divestiture of American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) in 1984 resulted in the creation of seven Regional Bell Operating Companies ("RBOCs"). Since AT&T remained as purely a long distance carrier, the business of providing local telephone services came under the control of these seven RBOCs. After divestiture, the seven RBOCs (the "Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers" or "Incumbent LECS") owned all of the expensive "hardwire" infrastructure necessary to provide local telephone services and owned the local networks to which all of the long distance carriers ("IXCs") had to pay access fees in order to originate and terminate their customer's long distance calls. Since the RBOCs had not been required to freely allow competition for local telephone service in the local markets, to date no company has been successful in entering the estimated $100 billion Local Exchange Carrier ("LEC") market in the United States on a large scale, large scale being defined as including residential customers. Therefore, regarding the provision of local telephone services across the United States, the AT&T divestiture in 1984 basically replaced a national monopoly (AT&T) with seven geographic monopolies (RBOCs).
Despite the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the purpose of which was to effect significant competition in the LEC markets, the existing RBOCs, due to their overwhelming size and their ownership of the existing infrastructure, have to date been successful in inhibiting any significant competition in the LEC market since any new entrant into the market has only two options for the provisioning of local telephone services: (1) building new infrastructure which is prohibitively expensive, or (2) successfully negotiating contracts with the Incumbent LECs which require the payment of excessive fees to the Incumbent LECs in order to utilize the LEC infrastructure to resell local telephone services. Neither of these options is particularly appealing since either option substantially favors the RBOCs in the following ways:
1. There is currently no viable, cost effective alternative to the conventional "hardwire" platform to allow large scale competition in the LEC market on a national basis or even on a regional basis. PA1 2. The costs to build a new infrastructure today are prohibitive. In a Wall Street Journal article dated Feb. 12, 1996, the costs of building such an infrastructure were projected at $5 billion to "get started" and $20 billion to "extensively penetrate the market." It has since become clear to the entire telecommunications industry that these projected costs were very low. In 1996, both AT&T and MCI announced strategic plans calling for large scale (including residential customers) building of local networks to compete with the Incumbent LECs. However, neither AT&T nor MCI has pursued these plans and both have admitted publicly that doing so, on a large scale, would not be economically feasible. On Jul. 14, 1997, the Wall Street Journal reported MCI's projected loss of $800 million in its attempt to build local networks in a number of metropolitan markets to begin to compete for local commercial accounts. This news caused MCI to lose $5 billion of market value in one day! Similarly, AT&T spent $4 billion on its efforts but reaped only $65 million in revenue in its unsuccessful attempt to enter the LEC market for residential services. PA1 3. The RBOCs have enjoyed one of the highest operating cash flow margins of any U.S. industry, over double that of the IXCs. While the LEC business has remained "proprietary," the long distance business, with its increased competition, has become much more of a "commodity" business. AT&T has had its market share drop to 50% since 1984 and has had its average revenue per minute cut almost in half. Hence, AT&T and MCI are not in a position to "outspend" the RBOCs in infrastructure development. PA1 4. The RBOCs have all filed to become long distance service providers ("IXCs"). In contrast to the plight of AT&T and MCI in their attempts to enter the LEC market, there are no costly infrastructure obstacles blocking entry of the RBOCs into the IXC market: the RBOCs can buy ready made networks from IXC providers at wholesale rates for immediate deployment. The RBOCs initially announced that their initial strategies regarding the provision of long distance services would be to resell, where discounts usually run about 80%. However, in contrast, the resale discounts the RBOCs originally intended to offer the IXCs for resale of local services were closer to 10-15%.
To ensure their own competitive survival, the IXCs must make inroads into the profitable LEC market. However, to date no technology has been proposed which would enable a company independent of the RBOCs to provide local telephone services at a competitive cost. None of the solutions requiring infrastructure investment is economically viable for the reasons noted above. There is thus a great need in the art for a system and method which would enable a company, independent of the RBOCs, to provide cost competitive local telephone services, and hence meaningful competition to the incumbent RBOCs in the LEC market, without requiring a cost prohibitive infrastructure investment.
Embodiments of the present invention have also been designed to meet another great need in the art, the need to significantly reduce the monopolistic access charges charged by the LECs on most long distance calls, charges which cost customers tens of billions of dollars each year. Most long distance calls must be originated through the LEC switch, and most calls are terminated by the LEC switch as well. Therefore, access charges payable to the Incumbent LECs continue to be incurred. Specifically, with respect to outgoing calls placed from a subscriber location, the LEC switch which serves the subscriber's customer premises equipment senses an off-hook condition and extends dial tone. When the dialed digits are received in the LEC switch, any features associated with the originating subscriber, such as speed dialing, are applied to the call, and the call is then routed to the desired destination. If the call is a long distance call that is routed to a long distance or inter-exchange carrier (IXC), then the IXC will pay originating end and terminating end "access charges" to the LEC for servicing the call, and the subscriber will, in turn, pay the IXC for the total cost of the call.
Currently, the access charges paid to LECs by the IXCs for the use of carrier common line service vary by LEC but can constitute upwards of 40% of the overall cost of the call. Accordingly, eliminating the stranglehold the LECs have on the local market and their claims to the originating end access charges could save a significant percentage of the cost of a long distance call. Bypassing the LEC and the associated originating end access charges could also save the IXCs a significant portion of their service costs for providing long distance calls and, once the associated savings are passed on to their subscribers, potentially save their subscribers billions of dollars each year in long distance charges. Payment of such access charges remains a key issue in the telecommunications industry since the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and is one of the primary obstacles to enhanced competition between the LECs and other potential entrants into the local telecommunications marketplace. As a result, any long distance service provider who can bypass the LEC and avoid payment of the originating end access charges will be at a substantial competitive advantage. Not unexpectedly, the RBOCs are utilizing every possible means to protect their access charge monopoly, and hence, have currently tied up the implementation of certain provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 in district court litigation.
One proposal for bypassing the LECs is to implement fixed wireless technologies for local services. For example, IXCs have proposed to enter the local telephone market by implementing fixed wireless local loop systems such as "Project Angel" announced by AT&T in February, 1997. However, to date, such systems have not been implemented in the residential marketplace because of the prohibitive deployment costs and lack of a technology solution that would reduce these costs. "Project Angel," in particular, has yet to be implemented, and it has been reported that unless deployment costs are brought down significantly from where they are today to make Project Angel an economically viable local service option, it will not be implemented. To date, efforts by the IXCs to compete for local services have concentrated on providing digital cable and fixed wireless networks primarily to the local business market where the deployment costs per telephone line are significantly lower and the revenues generated are substantially higher than for residential customers. However, AT&T has announced a merger with TCI, a major cable company, indicating a possible shift to the use of cable lines to provide local telephone service to residential customers. Such changes in strategy have become necessary because the deployment costs of alternative technologies such as fixed wireless local loop systems simply have been found to be too great to build a competitive infrastructure to compete against the established Incumbent LECs for the telephone services of suburban and rural customers. The present invention specifically addresses the needs of these residential customers.
The plunging costs of cellular telephone services have compounded the problem facing those considering building infrastructure to implement fixed wireless local loop telephone services. In fact, IXCs AT&T and Sprint have aggressively attempted to move customers to their own digital wireless (cellular or PCS) services because the deployment costs for Project Angel and other fixed wireless local loop systems have made fixed wireless systems a less desirable alternative. Indeed, if the deployment costs for fixed wireless local loop systems cannot be brought down, IXCs such as AT&T have indicated that they will likely have to drop their plans for fixed wireless local loop systems.
Accordingly, a system is desired which will enable the cost-effective implementation of a fixed wireless local loop system which is independent of and cost competitive with the LECs and which preferably provides access to at least some portions of the residential local telephone market. The present invention has been designed to meet this great need in the art.

Wireless local loop system utilizing independent central offices located in new residential and commercial developments


A catalyst includes: (A) at least one element selected from the group consisting of the Lanthanoid group, Mg, Ca, and the elements of Group 4 of the periodic table (Ti, Zr, and Hf); (B) at least one element selected from the group consisting of the Group 1 elements of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and the elements of Group 3 (including La and Ac) and Groups 5-15 of the periodic table; (C) at least one element selected from the group consisting of the Group 1 elements of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and the elements Ca, Sr, and Ba; and (D) oxygen.

Methane is a primary component of natural gas. Although natural gas can be useful as a fuel, natural gas sources can be remote, and often, it is not cost effective to transport the methane. One method of transporting natural gas is by liquefying the gas, however, the boiling point of methane is low enough that liquefaction can be difficult and expensive. Research has been conducted to find new and cost-effective ways of utilizing this resource.
One possible solution is to convert methane to higher hydrocarbons such as ethane or ethylene. Ethylene and higher hydrocarbons can be more easily liquefied and transported from remote sites and can also be valuable products. Ethylene, for one, can be a valuable product, as it can be used for the production of styrene, and has many other uses, such as the production of polyethylene, ethanol, ethylene glycol, and polyvinyl chloride.
Traditionally, ethylene is obtained predominantly from the thermal cracking of hydrocarbons, such as ethane, propane, butane, or naphtha. Ethylene can also be produced and recovered from various refinery processes. Ethylene from these sources can also include a variety of undesired products, including diolefins and acetylene, which can be costly to separate from the ethylene. Separation methods can include, for example, extractive distillation and selective hydrogenation of the acetylene back to ethylene. Thermal cracking and separation technologies for the production of relatively pure ethylene can result in significant production costs. Thus, the production of ethylene from methane rather than by some of the traditional routes could decrease ethylene production costs.

Catalysts for oxidative coupling of hydrocarbons


Utilization of a contact device placed on the eye in order to detect physical and chemical parameters of the body as well as the non-invasive delivery of compounds according to these physical and chemical parameters, with signals being transmitted continuously as electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared and the like. One of the parameters to be detected includes non-invasive blood analysis utilizing chemical changes and chemical products that are found in the conjunctiva and in the tear film. A transensor mounted in the contact device laying on the cornea or the surface of the eye is capable of evaluating and measuring physical and chemical parameters in the eye including non-invasive blood analysis. The system utilizes eye lid motion and/or closure of the eye lid to activate a microminiature radio frequency sensitive transensor mounted in the contact device. The signal can be communicated by wires or radio telemetered to an externally placed receiver. The signal can then be processed, analyzed and stored. Several parameters can be detected including a complete non-invasive analysis of blood components, measurement of systemic and ocular blood flow, measurement of heart rate and respiratory rate, tracking operations, detection of ovulation, detection of radiation and drug effects, diagnosis of ocular and systemic disorders and the like.

The present invention relates to a tonometer system for measuring intraocular pressure by accurately providing a predetermined amount of applanation to the cornea and detecting the amount of force required to achieve the predetermined amount of applanation. The system is also capable of measuring intraocular pressure by indenting the cornea using a predetermined force applied using an indenting element and detecting the distance the indenting element moves into the cornea when the predetermined force is applied, the distance being inversely proportional to intraocular pressure. The present invention also relates to a method of using the tonometer system to measure hydrodynamic characteristics of the eye, especially outflow facility.
The tonometer system of the present invention may also be used to measure hemodynamics of the eye, especially ocular blood flow and pressure in the eye's blood vessels. Additionally, the tonometer system of the present invention may be used to increase and measure the eye pressure and evaluate, at the same time, the ocular effects of the increased pressure.
Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness worldwide and, although it is more common in adults over age 35, it can occur at any age. Glaucoma primarily arises when intraocular pressure increases to values which the eye cannot withstand.
The fluid responsible for pressure in the eye is the aqueous humor. It is a transparent fluid produced by the eye in the ciliary body and collected and drained by a series of channels (trabecular meshwork, Schlemm's canal and venous system). The basic disorder in most glaucoma patients is caused by an obstruction or interference that restricts the flow of aqueous humor out of the eye. Such an obstruction or interference prevents the aqueous humor from leaving the eye at a normal rate. This pathologic condition occurs long before there is a consequent rise in intraocular pressure. This increased resistance to outflow of aqueous-humor is the major cause of increased intraocular pressure in glaucoma-stricken patients.
Increased pressure within the eye causes progressive damage to the optic nerve. As optic nerve damage occurs, characteristic defects in the visual field develop, which can lead to blindness if the disease remains undetected and untreated. Because of the insidious nature of glaucoma and the gradual and painless loss of vision associated therewith, glaucoma does not produce symptoms that would motivate an individual to seek help until relatively late in its course when irreversible damage has already occurred. As a result, millions of glaucoma victims are unaware that they have the disease and face eventual blindness. Glaucoma can be detected and evaluated by measuring the eye's fluid pressure using a tonometer and/or by measuring the eye fluid outflow facility. Currently, the most frequently used way of measuring facility of outflow is by doing indentation tonography. According to this technique, the capacity for flow is determined by placing a tonometer upon the eye. The weight of the instrument forces aqueous humor through the filtration system, and the rate at which the pressure in the eye declines with time is related to the ease with which the fluid leaves the eye.
Individuals at risk for glaucoma and individuals who will develop glaucoma generally have a decreased outflow facility. Thus, the measurement of the outflow facility provides information which can help to identify individuals who may develop glaucoma, and consequently will allow early evaluation and institution of therapy before any significant damage occurs.
The measurement of outflow facility is helpful in making therapeutic decisions and in evaluating changes that may occur with time, aging, surgery, or the use of medications to alter intraocular pressure. The determination of outflow facility is also an important research tool for the investigation of matters such as drug effects, the mechanism of action of various treatment modalities, assessment of the adequacy of antiglaucoma therapy, detection of wide diurnal swings in pressure and to study the pathophysiology of glaucoma.
There are several methods and devices available for measuring intraocular pressure, outflow facility, and/or various other glaucoma-related characteristics of the eye. The following patents disclose various examples of such conventional devices and methods:
PATENT NO.PATENTEE5,375,595Sinha et al.5,295,495Maddess5,251,627Morris5,217,015Kaye et al.5,183,044Nishio et al.5,179,953Kursar5,148,807Hsu5,109,852Kaye et al.5,165,409Coan5,076,274Matsumoto5,005,577Frenkel4,951,671Coan4,947,849Takahashi et al.4,944,303Katsuragi4,922,913Waters, Jr. et al.4,860,755Erath4,771,792Seale4,628,938Lee4,305,399Beale3,724,263Rose et al.3,585,849Grolman3,545,260Lichtenstein et al.
Still other examples of conventional devices and/or methods are disclosed in Morey, Contact Lens Tonometer, RCA Technical Notes, No. 602, December 1964; Russell & Bergmanson, Multiple Applications of the NCT: An Assessment of the Instrument's Effect on IOP, Ophthal. Physiol. Opt., Vol. 9, April 1989, pp. 212-214; Moses & Grodzki, The Pneumatonograph: A Laboratory Study, Arch. Ophthalmol., Vol. 97, March 1979, pp. 547-552; and C. C. Collins, Miniature Passive Pressure Transensor for Implanting in the Eye, IEEE Transactions on Bio-medical Engineering, April 1967, pp. 74-83.
In general, eye pressure is measured by depressing or flattening the surface of the eye, and then estimating the amount of force necessary to produce the given flattening or depression. Conventional tonometry techniques using the principle of applanation may provide accurate measurements of intraocular pressure, but are subject to many errors in the way they are currently being performed. In addition, the present devices either require professional assistance for their use or are too complicated, expensive or inaccurate for individuals to use at home. As a result, individuals must visit an eye care professional in order to check their eye pressure. The frequent self-checking of intraocular pressure is useful not only for monitoring therapy and self-checking for patients with glaucoma, but also for the early detection of rises in pressure in individuals without glaucoma and for whom the elevated pressure was not detected during their office visit.
Pathogens that cause severe eye infection and visual impairment such as herpes and adenovirus as well as the virus that causes AIDS can be found on the surface of the eye and in the tear film. These microorganisms can be transmitted from one patient to another through the tonometer tip or probe. Probe covers have been designed in order to prevent transmission of diseases but are not widely used because they are not practical and provide less accurate measurements. Tonometers which prevent the transmission of diseases, such as the "air-puff" type of tonometer also have been designed, but they are expensive and provide less accurate measurements. Any conventional direct contact tonometers can potentially transmit a variety of systemic and ocular diseases.
The two main techniques for the measurement of intraocular pressure require a force that flattens or a force that indents the eye, called "applanation" and "indentation" tonometry respectively.
Applanation tonometry is based on the Imbert-Fick principle. This principle states that for an ideal dry, thin walled sphere, the pressure inside the sphere equals the force necessary to flatten its surface divided by the area of flattening. P=F/A (where P=pressure, F=force, A=area). In applanation tonometry, the cornea is flattened, and by measuring the applanating force and knowing the area flattened, the intraocular pressure is determined.
By contrast, according to indentation tonometry (Schiotz), a known weight (or force) is applied against the cornea and the intraocular pressure is estimated by measuring the linear displacement which results during deformation or indentation of the cornea. The linear displacement caused by the force is indicative of intraocular pressure. In particular, for standard forces and standard dimensions of the indenting device, there are known tables which correlate the linear displacement and intraocular pressure.
Conventional measurement techniques using applanation and indentation are subject to many errors. The most frequently used technique in the clinical setting is contact applanation using Goldman tonometers. The main sources of errors associated with this method include the addition of extraneous pressure on the cornea by the examiner, squeezing of the eyelids or excessive widening of the lid fissure by the patient due to the discomfort caused by the tonometer probe resting upon the eye, and inadequate or excessive amount of dye (fluorescein). In addition, the conventional techniques depend upon operator skill and require that the operator subjectively determine alignment, angle and amount of depression. Thus, variability and inconsistency associated with less valid measurements are problems encountered using the conventional methods and devices.
Another conventional technique involves air-puff tonometers wherein a puff of compressed air of a known volume and pressure is applied against the surface of the eye, while sensors detect the time necessary to achieve a predetermined amount of deformation in the eye's surface caused by application of the air puff. Such a device is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,260 to Lichtenstein et al. Although the non-contact (air-puff) tonometer does not use dye and does not present problems such as extraneous pressure on the eye by the examiner or the transmission of diseases, there are other problems associated therewith. Such devices, for example, are expensive, require a supply of compressed gas, are considered cumbersome to operate, are difficult to maintain in proper alignment and depend on the skill and technique of the operator. In addition, the individual tested generally complains of pain associated with the air discharged toward the eye, and due to that discomfort many individuals are hesitant to undergo further measurement with this type of device. The primary advantage of the non-contact tonometer is its ability to measure pressure without transmitting diseases, but they are not accepted in general as providing accurate measurements and are primarily useful for large-scale glaucoma screening programs.
Tonometers which use gases, such as the pneumotonometer, have several disadvantages and limitations. Such device are also subject to the operator errors as with Goldman's tonometry. In addition, this device uses freon gas, which is not considered environmentally safe. Another problem with this device is that the gas is flammable and as with any other aerosol-type can, the can may explode if it gets too hot. The gas may also leak and is susceptible to changes in cold weather, thereby producing less accurate measurements. Transmission of diseases is also a problem with this type of device if probe covers are not utilized.
In conventional indentation tonometry (Schiotz), the main source of errors are related to the application of a relatively heavy tonometer (total weight at least 16.5 g) to the eye and the differences in the distensibility of the coats of the eye. Experience has shown that a heavy weight causes discomfort and raises the intraocular pressure. Moreover the test depends upon a cumbersome technique in which the examiner needs to gently place the tonometer onto the cornea without pressing the tonometer against the globe. The accuracy of conventional indentation may also be reduced by inadequate cleaning of the instrument as will be described later. The danger of transmitting infectious diseases, as with any contact tonometer, is also present with conventional indentation.
A variety of methods using a contact lens have been devised, however, such systems suffer from a number of restrictions and virtually none of these devices is being widely utilized or is accepted in the clinical setting due to their limitations and inaccurate readings. Moreover, such devices typically include instrumented contact lenses and/or cumbersome and complex contact lenses.
Several instruments in the prior art employ a contact lens placed in contact with the sclera (the white part of the eye). Such systems suffer from many disadvantages and drawbacks. The possibility of infection and inflammation is increased due to the presence of a foreign body in direct contact with a vascularized part of the eye. As a consequence, an inflammatory reaction around the device may occur, possibly impacting the accuracy of any measurement. In addition, the level of discomfort is high due to a long period of contact with a highly sensitive area of the eye. Furthermore, the device could slide and therefore lose proper alignment, and again, preventing accurate measurements to be taken. Moreover, the sclera is a thick and almost non-distensible coat of the eye which may further impair the ability to acquire accurate readings. Most of these devices utilize expensive sensors and complicated electric circuitry imbedded in the lens which are expensive, difficult to manufacture and sometimes cumbersome.
Other methods for sensing pressure using a contact lens on the cornea have been described. Some of the methods in this prior art also employ expensive and complicated electronic circuitry and/or transducers imbedded in the contact lens. In addition, some devices use piezoelectric material in the lens and the metalization of components of the lens overlying the optical axis decreases the visual acuity of patients using that type of device. Moreover, accuracy is decreased since the piezoelectric material is affected by small changes in temperature and the velocity with which the force is applied. There are also contact lens tonometers which utilize fluid in a chamber to cause the deformation of the cornea; however, such devices lack means for alignment and are less accurate, since the flexible elastic material is unstable and may bulge forward. In addition, the fluid therein has a tendency to accumulate in the lower portion of the chamber, thus failing to produce a stable flat surface which is necessary for an accurate measurement.
Another embodiment uses a coil wound about the inner surface of the contact lens and a magnet subjected to an externally created magnetic field. A membrane with a conductive coating is compressed against a contact completing a short circuit. The magnetic field forces the magnet against the eye and the force necessary to separate the magnet from the contact is considered proportional to the pressure. This device suffers from many limitations and drawbacks. For example, there is a lack of accuracy since the magnet will indent the cornea and when the magnet is pushed against the eye, the sclera and the coats of the eye distort easily to accommodate the displaced intraocular contents. This occurs because this method does not account for the ocular rigidity, which is related to the fact that the sclera of one person's eye is more easily stretched than the sclera of another. An eye with a low ocular rigidity will be measured and read as having a lower intraocular pressure than the actual eye's pressure. Conversely, an eye with a high ocular rigidity distends less easily than the average eye, resulting in a reading which is higher than the actual intraocular pressure. In addition, this design utilizes current in the lens which, in turn, is in direct contact with the body. Such contact is undesirable. Unnecessary cost and complexity of the design with circuits imbedded in the lens and a lack of an alignment system are also major drawbacks with this design.
Another disclosed contact lens arrangement utilizes a resonant circuit formed from a single coil and a single capacitor and a magnet which is movable relative to the resonant circuit. A further design from the same disclosure involves a transducer comprised of a pressure sensitive transistor and complex circuits in the lens which constitute the operating circuit for the transistor. All three of the disclosed embodiments are considered impractical and even unsafe for placement on a person's eye. Moreover, these contact lens tonometers are unnecessarily expensive, complex, cumbersome to use and may potentially damage the eye. In addition none of these devices permits measurement of the applanated area, and thus are generally not very practical.
The prior art also fails to provide a sufficiently accurate technique or apparatus for measuring outflow facility. Conventional techniques and devices for measuring outflow facility are limited in practice and are more likely to produce erroneous results because both are subject to operator, patient and instrument errors.
With regard to operator errors, the conventional test for outflow facility requires a long period of time during which there can be no tilting of the tonometer. The operator therefore must position and keep the weight on the cornea without moving the weight and without pressing the globe.
With regard to patient errors, if during the test the patient blinks, squeezes, moves, holds his breath, or does not maintain fixation, the test results will not be accurate. Since conventional tonography takes about four minutes to complete and generally requires placement of a relatively heavy tonometer against the eye, the chances of patients becoming anxious and therefore reacting to the mechanical weight placed on their eyes is increased.
With regard to instrument errors, after each use, the tonometer plunger and foot plate should be rinsed with water followed by alcohol and then wiped dry with lint-free material. If any foreign material drys within the foot plate, it can detrimentally affect movement of the plunger and can produce an incorrect reading.
The conventional techniques therefore are very difficult to perform and demand trained and specialized personnel: The pneumotonograph, besides having the problems associated with the pneumotonometer itself, was considered "totally unsuited to tonography." (Report by the Committee on Standardization of Tonometers of the American Academy of Ophthalmology; Archives Ophthalmol., 97:547-552, 1979). Another type of tonometer (Non Contact "Air Puff" Tonometer—U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,260) was also considered unsuitable for tonography. (Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics, 9 (2):212-214, 1989). Presently there are no truly acceptable means for self-measurement of intraocular pressure and outflow facility.
In relation to an additional embodiment of the present invention, blood is responsible not only for the transport of oxygen, food, vitamins, water, enzymes, white and red blood cells, and genetic markers, but also provides an enormous amount of information in regards to the overall health status of an individual. The prior art related to analysis of blood relies primarily on invasive methods such as with the use of needles to draw blood for further analysis and processing. Very few and extremely limited methods for non-invasive evaluating blood components are available.
In the prior art for example, oxygenated hemoglobin has been measured non-invasively. The so called pulse oximeter is based on traditional near infrared absorption spectroscopy and indirectly measures arterial blood oxygen with sensors placed over the skin utilizing LEDs emitting at two wave lengths around 940 and 660 nanometers. As the blood oxygenation changes, the ratio of the light transmitted by the two frequencies changes indicating the amount of oxygenated hemoglobin in the arterial blood of the finger tip. The present systems are not accurate and provide only the amount of oxygenated hemoglobin in the finger tip.
The skin is a thick layer of tissue with a thick epithelium. The epithelium is the superficial layers of tissue and vary according to the organ or location in the body. The skin is thick because it is in direct contact with the environment and it is the barrier between the internal organs and the external environment. The skin is exposed and subject to all kind of noxious external agents on a daily basis. Stratified squamous keratinizing epithelium layers of the skin have a strong, virtually impermeable layer called the stratum corneum and keratin. The keratin that covers the skin is a thick layer of a hard and dead tissue which creates another strong barrier of protection against pathogenic organisms but also creates a barrier to the proper evaluation of bodily functions such as non-invasive blood analysis and cell analysis.
Another drawback in using the skin is due to the fact that the superficial layer of tissue covering the skin does not allow acquisition of important information, only present in living tissue. In addition, the other main drawback in using the skin is because the blood vessels are not easily accessible. The main vascular supply to the skin is located deep and distant from the superficial and still keratinized impermeable skin layer.
Prior art attempts to use the skin and other areas of the body to perform non-invasive blood analysis, diagnostics and evaluations of bodily functions such as oral, nasal and ear mucosa. These areas have been found to be unsuitable for such tasks. Moreover, placement of an object in oral or nasal mucosa can put the user at risk of aspiration and obstructing the airway which is a fatal event.
Another drawback in using the skin is the presence of various appendages and glands which prevent adequate measurements from being acquired such as hair, sweat glands, and sebaceous glands with continuous outflowing of sebum. Moreover, the layers of the skin vary in thickness in a random fashion. Furthermore, the layers of the skin are strongly attached to each other, making the surgical implantation of any device extremely difficult. Furthermore the skin is a highly innervated area which is highly sensitive to painful stimuli.
In order to surgically implant a device under the skin there is need for invasive application of anesthetic by injection around the area to be incised and the obvious risk of infection. Moreover, the structure of the skin creates electrical resistance and makes acquisition of electrical signals a much more difficult procedure.
Attempts to use electroosmosis as a flux enhancement by iontophoresis with increased passage of fluid through the skin with application of electrical energy, do not provide accurate or consistent signals and measurements due to the skin characteristics described above. Furthermore there is a significant delay in the signal acquisition when electroosmosis-based systems are used on the skin because of the anatomy and physiology of the skin which is thick and has low permeability.
Previously, a watch with sensing elements in apposition to the skin has been used in order to acquire a signal to measure glucose. Because of the unsuitable characteristics of the skin the watch has to actually shock the patient in order to move fluid. The fluid measured provides inconsistent, inaccurate and delayed results because of the unsuitable characteristics of the skin as described above. It is easy to see how unstable the watch is if one were to observe how much their own watch moves up and down and around one=s pulse during normal use. There is no natural stable nor consistent correct apposition of the sensor surface to the tissue, in this case the dead keratin layer of the thick skin.
Previously invasive means were used with tearing of the skin in the tip of the fingers to acquire whole blood, instead of plasma, for glucose measurement. Besides being invasive, whole blood from the fingers is used which has to be corrected for plasma levels. Plasma levels provide the most accurate evaluation of blood glucose.
The conventional way for blood analysis includes intense labor and many expenses using many steps including cumbersome, expensive and bulky laboratory equipment. A qualified medical professional is required to remove blood and this labor is certainly costly. The professionals expose themselves to the risk of acquiring infections and fatal diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis, and other viral and prion diseases. In order to prevent that possible contamination a variety of expensive measures and tools are taken, but still only providing partial protection to the medical professional and the patient. A variety of materials are used such as alcohol swabs, syringes, needles, sterile vials, gloves as well as time and effort. Moreover, effort, time and money must be spent with the disposal of biohazard materials such as the disposal of the sharps and related biohazard material used to remove blood. These practices negatively affect the environment as those biohazard materials are non-degradable and obviously made of non-recycled material.
In addition, these practices comprise a painful procedure with puncturing the skin and putting the patient and nurse at risk for infection, fatal diseases, contamination, and blood borne diseases. After all of this cumbersome, costly, time-consuming and hazardous procedure, the vials with blood have to be transported by a human attendant to the laboratory which is also costly. At the laboratory the blood is placed in other machines by a trained human operator with all of the risks and costs associated with the procedure of dealing with blood.
The conventional laboratory instruments then have to separate the blood using special and expensive machines and then materials are sent for further processing and analysis by a trained human operator. Subsequent to that the result is printed and sent to the patient and/or doctor, most frequently by regular mail. All of this process in laboratories is risky, complex, cumbersome, and expensive; and this is only for one test.
If a patient is admitted to a hospital, this very laborious and expensive process could happen several times a day. Only one simple blood test result can be over $100 dollars and this cost is easily explained by the labor and materials associated with the cost related to manipulation of blood and protection against infections as described above. If four tests are needed over 24 hours, as may occur with admitted patients, the cost then can increase to $400 dollars.
The world and in particular the United States face challenging health care costs with a grim picture of rapidly rising health care expenditures with a rapid increase in the number and frequency of testing. Today, the worldwide diabetic population alone is over 125 million and is expected to reach 250 million by the year 2008. The United States spent over $140 billion dollars on diabetes alone in 1998. More frequent control of blood glucose is known to prevent complications and would substantially reduce the costs of the disease.
According to the projections by the Health Care Financing Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, health care spending as a share of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to increase from 13 percent to potentially and amazingly close to 20% of the United States GDP in the near future, reaching over $2 trillion dollars a year, which clearly demonstrates how unwise health care spending can affect the overall economy of a nation.
The World Health Organization reported in 1995, the percentage of total spending on health by various governments clearly indicating health care costs as a serious global problem and important factor concerning the overall utilization of public money. Public spending on health by the United States government was 47%, while United Kingdom was 84%, France was 81%, Japan was 78%, Canada was 71%, Italy was 70% and Mexico was 55%.
Infrared spectroscopy is a technique based on the absorption of infrared radiation by substances with the identification of said substances according to its unique molecular oscillatory pattern depicted as specific resonance absorption peaks in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Each chemical substance absorbs infrared radiation in a unique manner and has its own unique absorption spectra depending on its atomic and molecular arrangement and vibrational and rotational oscillatory pattern. This unique absorption spectra allows each chemical substance to basically have its own infrared spectrum, also referred as fingerprint or signature which can be used to identify each of such substances.
Radiation containing various infrared wavelengths is emitted at the substance or constituent to be measured, referred to herein as "substance of interest", in order to identify and quantify said substance according to its absorption spectra. The amount of absorption of radiation is dependent upon the concentration of said chemical substance being measured according to Beer-Lambert's Law.
When electromagnetic energy is emitted an enormous amount of interfering constituents, besides the substance of interest, are also irradiated such as skin, fat, wall of blood vessels, bone, cartilage, water, blood, hemoglobin, albumin, total protein, melanin, and various other interfering substances. Those interfering constituents and background noise such as changes in pressure and temperature of the sample irradiated drastically reduce the accuracy and precision of the measurements when using infrared spectroscopy. Those many constituents and variables including the substance of interest form then an absorption spectrum for each wavelength. The sum of the absorption for each wavelength of radiation by all of the constituents and variables generates the total absorption with said total absorption spectrum being measured at two or more wavelengths of emission.
In order then to achieve the concentration of the substance of interest, a procedure must be performed to subtract the statistical absorption spectra for each of the various intervening tissues and interfering constituents, with the exception of the substance of interest being measured. It is then assumed that all of the interfering constituents were accounted for and completely eliminated and that the remainder is the real spectra of the substance of interest. It has been very difficult to prove this assumption in vivo as no devices or methods in the prior art have yet shown to be clinically useful.
In the prior art the interfering constituents and variables introduce significant source of errors which are particularly critical since the background noise as found in the prior art tremendously exceeds the signal of the substance of interest which is found in minimal concentrations relative to the whole sample irradiated. Furthermore, in the prior art, the absorption of a solute such as glucose is very small compared to the other various interfering constituents which leads to many statistical errors preventing the accurate statistical measurement of glucose concentration. A variety of other techniques using infrared devices and methods have been described but all of them suffer from the same limitation due to the great amount of interference and noise.
Other techniques based on comparison with a known reference signal as with phase sensitive techniques have also the same limitations and drawbacks due to the great number of interfering constituents and generation of only a very weak signal. The interfering constituents are source of many artifacts, errors, and variability which leads to inadequate signal and severe reduction of the signal to noise ratio. Besides, calculation errors are common because of the many interfering substances and because the spectra of interfering constituents can overlap with the spectra of the substance of the interest being measured. If adequate signal to noise can be achieved, infrared spectroscopy should be able to provide a clinically useful device and determine the concentration of the substance of interest precisely and accurately.
Attempts in the prior art using infrared spectroscopy for noninvasive measurement of chemical substances have failed to accurately and precisely measure chemical substances such as for example glucose. The prior art have used transcutaneous optical means, primarily using the skin non-invasively, to determine the concentration of chemical substances. The prior art has also used invasive means with implant of sensors inside blood vessels or around the blood vessels. The prior art used polarized light directed at the aqueous humor of the eye, which is located inside the eye, in an attempt to measure glucose in said aqueous humor. However, precise measurements are very difficult to achieve particularly when there is substantial background noise and minimal concentration of the substance of interest as it occurs in the aqueous humor of the eye. Besides, polarized light techniques as used in the aqueous humor of the eye can only generate a very weak signal and there is low concentration of the solute in the aqueous sample. The combination of those factors and presence of interfering constituents and variables prevent accurate measurements to be achieved when using the aqueous humor of the eye.
The most frequent optical approaches in the prior art were based on measuring chemical substances using the skin. Other techniques include measuring substances in whole blood in the blood vessel (either non-invasively transcutaneously or invasively around or inside the blood vessel). Yet attempts were made to measure substances present in interstitial fluid with devices implanted under the skin. Attempts were also made by the prior art using the oral mucosa and tongue.
Mucosal surfaces such as the oral mucosa are made to stand long wear and tear as occurs during mastication. If the oral mucosa or tongue lining were thin with exposed vessels, one would easily bleed during chewing. Thus, those areas have rather thick lining and without plasma leakage. Furthermore these mucosal areas have no natural means for apposition of a sensor such as a natural pocket formation.
Since there is still a low signal with an enormous amount of interfering constituents, useful devices using the oral mucosal, tongue, and other mucosa such as genito-urinary and gastrointestinal have not been developed. The prior art also attempted to measure glucose using far infrared thermal emission from the body, but a clinically useful device has not been developed due to the presence of interfering elements and great thermal instability of the sample. Near infrared spectroscopy and far-infrared techniques have been tried by the prior art as means to non-invasively measure glucose, but accuracy and precision for clinical application has not been achieved.
Therefore remains a need to provide a method and apparatus capable of delivering a higher signal to noise by reducing or eliminating interfering constituents, noise, and other variables, which will ultimately provide the accuracy and precision needed for useful clinical application.

Noninvasive measurement of chemical substances