A carrier, apparatus and method for making an aerosol precursor liquid suitable for aerosolized delivery by a device such as an electronic cigarette. A carrier is fluid permeable and comprises a tobacco-derived medium for carrying a functional component, the medium being configured to release the functional component into a fluid to provide an aerosol precursor liquid infused with the functional component. A method for mixing an aerosol precursor liquid for aerosolized delivery of a functional component by an aerosol delivery device comprises bringing the tobacco-derived medium carrying the functional component into contact with fluid and allowing the fluid to saturate the medium to thereby cause the medium to release the functional component into said fluid to form an aerosol precursor liquid infused with the functional component. A receptacle comprising a chamber for the carrier is provided for mixing the aerosol precursor liquid. Example functional components include nicotine and nicotine salts.

Combustion of organic material such as tobacco is known to produce tar and other potentially harmful by-products.
Aerosol delivery devices fall into two broad categories: powered and non-powered. In both categories, such devices may comprise electronic systems that permit a user to simulate the act of smoking by producing an aerosol that is drawn into the lungs through the mouth (inhaled) and then exhaled. The inhaled aerosol typically bears nicotine and/or flavourings without, or with fewer of, the odour and health risks associated with traditional combustible smoking and tobacco products. In use, such systems are intended to provide a substitute for the rituals of smoking, whilst providing the user with a similar experience and satisfaction to those experienced in using such traditional smoking and tobacco products.
Devices in the first category may in turn fall into sub-categories.
In the first powered sub-category, devices typically use heat and/or ultrasonic agitation to aerosolize an aerosol precursor that comprises tobacco-derived nicotine and/or flavouring, propylene glycol and/or glycerine-based base into an aerosol mist or vapour for inhalation.
Both sub-categories of the first category of device aerosolize an aerosol precursor (known as an "e-liquid" or "e-juice"). Typically, the aerosol precursor is either provided in a premixed form in a dispenser such as an eye dropper bottle into an integral reservoir or into a refillable and/or disposable cartridge that may be removable cartridge. The electronic cigarette is operative to heat and/or ultrasonically agitate the aerosol precursor to produce an aerosol within a constrained fluid stream. The form of the aerosol precursor is such as to allow functional components to be released into a fluid stream passing around or through the reservoir. This process is known as aerosolization and/or atomization.
Aerosolization is the process or act of converting a physical substance into the form of particles small and light enough to be carried on the air (i.e. into an aerosol). Atomization is the process or act of separating or reducing a physical substance into fine particles (i.e. atoms).
The formulation of the aerosol precursor usually comprises excipients such as solvents, thickening agents, stabilizing agents, flavourings, taste regulators and/or active or functional components (hereinafter "functional components") such as nicotine. However, the main ingredients of the aerosol precursor are usually a mix of propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerine (VG), and/or polyethylene glycol (PEG), sometimes with differing levels of alcohol mixed with concentrated or extracted natural or synthetic flavourings; and a variable concentration of nicotine. The primary function of the aerosol precursor is to provide an easily handled and stored medium from which it is possible to generate an aerosol and deliver nicotine and/or other functional components. Consequently, the aerosol precursor may be provided in a liquid, gel or other state.
Most commonly the aerosol precursor comprises propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerine (VG) together with a number of other ingredients. Both propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerine (VG) have the property that they may be readily aerosolized at a relatively low temperature (approximately 60° C.) whilst also forming an aerosol mist that resembles tobacco smoke. Although propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerine (VG), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and flavourings used in such aerosol precursors are all generally accepted as safe for human consumption, this acceptance is for ingestion and absorption through the stomach at ambient or body temperature (in range 10° C.-35° C.). When used in an aerosol precursor for use in an aerosol delivery device such as an electronic cigarette, the aerosol precursor is heated to relatively high temperatures (typically in the range 150° C.-250° C.). In the case of polyethylene glycol (PEG) which is commonly used in aerosol precursor formulations originating from China, poorly distributed molecules of PEG may result in contaminants as the aerosol precursor is heated sometimes to boiling point. In addition certain flavourings are known to be volatile, sensitive to heat, and/or readily react with other ingredients commonly used in aerosol precursors, including nicotine. Accordingly, there is a general lack of awareness about the long-term effects of consuming certain ingredients when absorbed through the lungs and alveoli.
These effects are thought to be exacerbated by the delivery technology (i.e. aerosol delivery devices). Consumers can now choose from a vast range of aerosol delivery devices with a variety of operating parameters. Many models are cheaply constructed and do not accurately and consistently control parameters such as temperature, whilst others permit users to vary the temperature to produce more/less aerosol mist. For example, higher temperatures may result in accidental burning and/or polymerisation of solvents in the aerosol precursor and create contaminants such as formaldehyde and acrolein (as exemplified in recent analysis which demonstrated that contaminant may be present in concentrations that are undetectable to taste and smell but still harmful to the user). Recent scientific publications report that burning can also result from frequent temperature cycles as the aerosol precursor is rapidly heated and cooled in use which is believed to cause side-reactions in the formulation. In addition some flavour components are believed to detrimentally react with other functional components over time, and are also particularly susceptible to burning if not carefully balanced with certain excipients in the formulation of the aerosol precursor.
In the second powered sub-category, devices typically heat or warm tobacco material rather than combusting the tobacco material as with traditional combustible smoking and tobacco products. During use, direct contact between the heat source and the tobacco material causes moisture in such tobacco material to be released as an aerosol. In addition, volatile compounds may also be released from the tobacco by heat transfer from a heat source and these compounds are entrained with air drawn through the device and inhaled by the user. As the aerosol containing the released compounds passes through the device from an inlet to the mouthpiece (outlet), it cools and condenses to form an aerosol for inhalation by the user. In such devices, heating as opposed to burning, the tobacco material is believed to cause fewer, or smaller quantities, of the more harmful compounds to be released and consequently mat reduce the odour and/or health risks that can arise through combustion and pyrolytic degradation of tobacco.
Aerosol delivery devices falling in the second sub-category of powered devices typically comprise a powered unit that comprises a heating element, into which a tobacco stick resembling and structurally similar to a traditional cigarette is inserted (see for example the iQos® device marketed by Philip Morris International). The stick is generally cylindrical in form with a "mouthpiece" at one end through which the user can draw aerosol for inhalation, and comprising a quantity of axially folded reconstituted tobacco sheet. The heating element penetrates into an end of the stick remote from the mouthpiece between two folds of the tobacco sheet and directly contacts the tobacco within the stick. The sticks are typically disposable and replaceable. Examples of a tobacco sachets for use in a tobacco vaporiser are provided in WO 2016/096927 (Philip Morris Products S.A.), US 2015/0040930 (R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company) and WO2016/171997 (Paul Viriyapanthu).
A drawback associated with aerosol delivery devices falling in the second sub-category of powered devices may arise due to the heating of tobacco. Whilst the health risks to users of aerosol delivery devices may be lessened somewhat compared to the use of traditional smoking and tobacco products, potentially harmful by-products may still be released during the heating of tobacco and some of the health risks may remain.
A further potential drawback may arise with aerosol delivery devices falling in the second sub-category of powered devices due to the arrangement of the tobacco around the heating element in the device. As a consequence it may not be possible to achieve uniform heating of the tobacco across the full width and along full length of the tobacco sheet, due to the decreasing temperature gradient away from the heating element. For clarity, the tobacco material in folds of the tobacco sheet that are in direct contact with the heating element will be heated by a greater amount than tobacco material comprised in folds of the tobacco sheet that are radially or axially distant from the heating element. This is because tobacco material is thermally insulating and so to ensure that sufficient quantities of volatile compounds are released from the tobacco material to satisfy the user, the heating element must be heated to a temperature sufficient to cause outer folds of the tobacco sheet to release volatile compounds. Consequently, tobacco material in folds closer to the heating element may be overheated causing them to burn and/or cause pyrolysis.
Therefore, although use of aerosol delivery devices of the second sub-category of powered devices may have fewer associated health risks than the use of traditional smoking and tobacco products, the health risks may be greater than those experienced through use of devices of the first sub-category of aerosol delivery devices. However, aerosol delivery devices of the second sub-category of powered devices may be preferable to the user over those of the first sub-category of powered devices as some users perceive physical sensation, satisfaction and experience that more closely simulates those experienced using traditional smoking and tobacco products. These similarities may be experienced due to the user inhaling a warmed aerosol resulting from the tobacco, but also because they are inhaling an aerosol comprising compounds released directly from tobacco material rather than a reproduction or simulation of key compounds as are comprised in the aerosol precursor that is aerosolized by devices of the first sub-category of powered aerosol delivery devices.
Accordingly, there is a need for an aerosol delivery device from the first sub-category of powered devices that provides the user with the physical sensation, satisfaction and experience that more closely simulates those experienced using traditional smoking and tobacco products whilst providing a lessened health risks associated with use of aerosol delivery devices falling in the first sub-category.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a fluid suitable for delivery by an aerosol generating device.

Carrier for a functional component for use in mixing an aerosol precursor liquid, and associated apparatus and method


A fuel control system for feedback controlling a purge gas flow rate as well as an air-to-fuel ratio which learns the concentration of fuel of a purge gas based on an average of air-to-fuel ratio control values at adjacent reversal there of between an upward tendency and a downward tendency and determines the content of fuel of the purge gas based on the purge gas concentration by which the amount of fuel delivered by an injector is reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fuel control system for an automobile engine, in particular an automotive vehicle engine having an air intake system into which fuel vapors are purged for feedback controlling an air-to-fuel ratio to maintain a stoichiometric air-fuel mixture.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, fuel systems for engines, especially automotive vehicle engines, feedback control an air-to-fuel ratio by use of an oxygen (O.sub.2) sensor to maintain a stoichiometric air-fuel mixture.
On the other hand, it is typical for such an automotive vehicle engine to purge fuel vapors into an air intake system of the engine. The fuel vapors are usually stored in a canister and drawn into a surge tank forming part of the air intake system where they are mixed with fuel for burning whenever a prescribed purge execution condition is satisfied. A purge valve, provided between the canister and the air intake system, is controlled to open, permitting the fuel vapors to be drawn into the air intake system together with fresh air introduced into the canister. Such fuel vapor purge control is known from, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-202815.
Purge gas introduced into the engine is a mixture of fuel vapors and air, and hence, when purging the fuel vapors together with performing the air-to-fuel ratio feedback control, it is necessary to subtract the amount of fuel vapors contained in the purge gas from the amount of fuel injected by an fuel injection valve. In order to determine the concentration of fuel in the purge gas, it is popular to learn the concentration of fuel in the purge gas based on an air-to-fuel ratio feedback control value in the air-to-fuel ratio control. In some types of fuel concentration learning, the learning gain in the purge gas concentration learning control is altered between when the air-to-fuel ratio feedback control value increases and when it decreases. Such fuel concentration learning is known from, for instance, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-323179.
When utilizing air-to-fuel ratio feedback control values to learn the concentration of fuel in a purge gas, the air-to-fuel ratio feedback control value serves as a parameter indicating a deviation of an air-to-fuel ratio from an ideally combustible or target air-to-fuel ratio for maintaining the stoichiometric air-fuel mixture. Specifically, the learned concentration of fuel in a purge gas is increased correspondingly to the learning gain if the air-to-fuel ratio feedback control value is on a side enriching the air-fuel mixture or decreased correspondingly to the learning gain if the air-to-fuel ratio feedback control value is on a side making the air-fuel mixture lean.
In the fuel control system for monitoring an actual air-to-fuel ratio and an air-to-fuel ratio feedback control value, there is a time-phase difference of, for example, approximately .pi./2 between them due to a time lag between fuel injection through a fuel injection valve and response of an oxygen (O.sub.2) sensor to a burnt gas. Consequently, inaccuracy of the concentration of fuel in a purge gas is encountered by direct use of an air-to-fuel ratio feedback control value as a parameter indicating a deviation of an air-to-fuel ratio from a target air-to-fuel ratio results, which is always undesirable for the precise air-to-fuel ratio control.

Fuel control system for automobile engine


Provided are an image sensor and a method of forming the image sensor. The image sensor has a base multi-layered reflection layer interposed between a photodiode and an interlayer insulating layer. The photodiode has a first surface adjacent to the interlayer insulating layer and a second surface opposite the first surface. Here, external light is incident on the second surface of the photodiode. Also, the image sensor includes a sidewall multi-layered reflection layer that encloses the photodiode.

An image sensor of a semiconductor device is a device that converts an optical image to electrical signals. The image sensor has a light receiver that receives light from the outside and converts it to electrical signals. A photodiode is a representative type of light receiver. When external light is incident on a depletion region in the photodiode, electron-hole pairs are generated, and the external light is converted to electrical signals.
Spectral sensitivity is one of crucial characteristics of an image sensor. The higher the percentage of incident light absorbed by the photodiode, the higher the spectral sensitivity. An increase in the spectral sensitivity leads to an increase in light sensitivity of the image sensor to external light, giving the image sensor favorable properties. However, there are many factors that can reduce the spectral sensitivity of the image sensor, such as the configuration of the image sensor, the wavelengths of incident light, etc. For example, many specific elements of an image sensor, such as its lines, can prevent light from being freely incident. Also, the amount of light absorbed by the photodiode can be reduced according to the wavelength of the light. For example, with a longer wavelength, light penetration through the photodiode increases. Thus, regions of light with a long wavelength (in the red spectrum, for example) are likely not to be absorbed completely by the photodiode, thus reducing the spectral sensitivity.

Image sensor and method of forming the same


The present disclosure provides a time synchronization method, including: acquiring, by a slave device, a first optical fiber transmission delay from a master device to the slave device, and a second optical fiber transmission delay from the slave device to the master device; exchanging a time synchronization signal with the master device, and calculating an initial time offset; adjusting the initial time offset by using the first optical fiber transmission delay and the second optical fiber transmission delay to obtain a corrected time offset; and adjusting a local clock according to the corrected time offset. Embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a corresponding device and system.

A precision time protocol IEEE 1588v2 defines a time synchronization technology based on data packet transmission. The technology adopts a timestamp mechanism and a master-slave clock solution to encode time for transmission, and meanwhile, utilizes symmetry of network links and delay measurement technologies to implement synchronization of a frequency and time of master and slave clocks.
The IEEE 1588v2 requires optical fibers for transmitting and receiving signals to be strictly symmetric, that is, an optical fiber transmission delay d1 from a master device to a slave device needs to be equal to an optical fiber transmission delay d2 from the slave device to the master device. If d1 is not equal to d2, an error is caused.
In the prior art, in order to improve time synchronization precision of an asymmetric network, a commonly-adopted method is that, at the time of deployment, acceptance and change of a network structure, manually performing a time synchronization compensation operation, which includes: manually measuring a transmission delay of each pair of optical fibers one by one by utilizing a delay measurement device such as an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) or an optical frequency domain reflectometer (OFDR), and then manually inputting measured transmission delay data into a time synchronization device, thereby implementing time synchronization compensation.

Time synchronization method, device, and system


A refinement in optics providing images with improved sharpness, better control of depth of field, vision-improvement applications, and 3-D capture and display.

Glass lenses to select a single coherent set of photons from a typically chaotic, photons-going-everywhere wave-front of light have been enormously effective. For example, a camera lens selects from said chaotic mess only the photons whose vector to the face of the lens at the point of incidence on that lens fits the current desired focus criteria. Other light, not fitting that criteria identified by the optics, is either less profound on the image plane (and thus overpowered by the preferred light) or selected out by spatial filtering altogether. This has been adequate for a world of applications that make up the very mature field of refractive optics.
However, transmissive-medium lenses also have many inherent disadvantages.
Light Loss: The surface reflects much light back to its source that we would like to go all the way to the viewer (ex. for shorter camera exposures and low-light photography)—at some peripheral angles of incidence there is more light that is reflected than is transmitted.
Transmissive Media Diffraction: Also there is diffraction or light scattering at the surface even with magnesium fluoride phase shifting reduction and, in even the best optics, as it passes through the medium. This, though clever optics like spatial filtering deals effectively with this, limits the ultimate resolution and purity of the image.
Tooling Precision Difficulties with Scale: Also, no optics are perfectly uniform which adds image aberrations. This becomes more of a problem as we try to make lenses much larger (such as large telescope lenses) or much smaller (because of the difficulties of tooling tiny lenses).
Coherency Limits: The very method used to warp light selectively limits the depth of field in cameras, glasses, contacts, etc. often leaving areas in front of or beyond the item focused upon "out of focus" This is also an issue with our own eyes that glass glasses do not help with.
Peripheral Vision in Corrective Optics: Glasses, because of their own limitations, do nothing to help the limited human peripheral vision and typically make it worse with the added limitations to field of view and near-edge optic aberration issues.
Peripheral Vision in Other Optics: Although a typical box-shaped camera could theoretically capture a 180 degree panorama, in practice when you look through the viewfinder of your camera, what you see comes closer to half of that because of the nature of the lenses (not usually being as good as you get closer to the edges), Brewster's angle (the substantial difference in transmissiveness between light incident normal to the surface of the lens versus light at incidences less normal to the glass surface (causing, if you try to capture too, much peripheral vision range with a typical convex lens, dimmer edges and brighter centers, etc.)
Limitations to 2-Dimensional imaging: A true 3-D solution has not been provided with traditional refractive or reflective optics.
Standard Parts Obstacles. It would be nice if you could buy a pair of glasses without having to go to an Optometrist and have a special set made just for you. It would also to be a lot cheaper, faster, and easier to replace. One optic that has met the "one-size-fits-all" need is the Stenopeic filter.
These reflect significant needs for improvement that have not been completely met by transmissive optics
The use of pinhole's for cleaning up light is well known and used in a wide array of optics. The depth of focus of the human eye can be increased with the use of ophthalmic lenses with pinhole-like apertures substantially near the optical center of the lens. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,732 discloses an ophthalmic lens with a pinhole-like aperture where a mask forms the pinhole-like aperture. In one embodiment, the mask is circular in shape. When the pupil is constricted, light enters the retina through the pinhole-like aperture. When the pupil is dilated, light enters the retina through the pinhole-like aperture and the outer edges of the mask.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,414 discloses a contact lens with a pinhole-like aperture. Here, the mask forming the pinhole-like aperture has radial slits and/or scalloped edges. In addition, the mask forming the pinhole-like aperture is two spaced-apart concentric circles. However, the radial slits, scalloped edges and two spaced-apart concentric circles increase diffraction of light, which in turn reduces the contrast of the image.Also, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,955,904, 5,245,367, 5,757,458 and 5,786,883, various modifications to an ophthalmic lens with a pinhole-like aperture are documented. They describe the use of an optical power for vision correction in the pinhole-like aperture, or use of an optical power for vision correction in the area outside the mask. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,040, the mask is powered to bend the light passing through the mask to impinge on the retina at a radial distance outside of the fovea to defocus the light.Other devices have been studied for the improvement of distance vision. The ability of the eye to see distance more clearly with a relatively fixed small aperture is well known. Consequently, methods of correcting distance vision have been proposed that use pinholes devices or similar small aperture designs.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,414 to Wesley and U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,317 to Kalb attempt to correct distance vision by the provision of a relatively small aperture. These designs suffer from diffraction at the edge of a dark ring or masked area, which detracts from any improvement.
However, though many of the pinhole or light-slice based solutions provide limited fields of vision with sharper images, none of the aforementioned new technologies provide unobstructed clear natural vision with a full natural landscape. Stenopeic glasses, which are a spaced array of holes in a set of eyeglasses with otherwise opaque "lenses". They have been used for some time to deal with myopia and other vision problems. These can't be used for driving etc. because of the confusing impression of looking through a spaced array of big holes. The holes have to be spaced as such because if they are moved closer together, the rays overlap and the effect is lost. They also provide poor peripheral vision.
They typically use 1 mm pinholes spaced out in an opaque plastic array to allow you to pick a single pinhole to look through. By looking through a single pinhole, the eye receives a "pencil" of light that has a lot less incident light coming from the sides, etc.
The interesting thing is that this allows users with a variety of widely disparate vision problems to see clearly through the chosen hole. Despite the crudeness of the "find a hole and peek through it" approach, this is extremely interesting. Thus, it is not necessary to have a prescription for them. "One size fits all"
However:                1. These can't be used for driving etc. because of the confusing impression of looking through a spaced array of big holes.        2. The pencil of light is itself partially corrupted        3. The pinholes have to be spaced significantly apart because the pencils' impurities overlap with too-near competition        4. Field of view is extremely limited, and peripheral vision is non-existent.        5. So much light is lost due to the required wide spacing that very good lighting is required.        6. As a practical matter, though initially promising due to their ability to improve vision with an "off-the-shelf" to "one-size-fits-all" optic, they are only usable when sitting still and reading in good light.
The current invention overcomes the limitations of these corrective devices while also overcoming all of the aforementioned problems associated with transmissive optics.


A record medium comprises an original data obtained by superimposing a presentation target data, to which an error correction encoding is performed and an identification information.

The present invention relates to a first record medium on which original data (there are two cases: when the term "original data" is used in the specification an original data which becomes record target to the record medium and an original data which becomes a presentation target from the record medium) is recorded, and a second record medium, which is distinguishable from the first record medium, on which data copied from the first record medium is recorded. This invention also relates to a record medium capable of preventing an unauthorized copy of the original data, a record medium manufacturing device, a computer readable record medium on which a program is recorded, and a data presentation device which presents the data on the record medium.
Various record media to store the digital data of the multimedia data have been developed in recent years. If data is copied from the digital record medium, a record medium on which the same data as the original data is copied is created. It is important to prevent an unauthorized copy to protect a copyright, and in addition, to develop a technology and a market which uses the medium which contains contents from the copyright holder.
For example, conventionally, in some digital record media such as a DAT (Digital Audio Tape) and MD (Mini Disc), a technology which can perform only once (first generation) digital copy is provided, in addition to a general medium in which copying is completely permitted (copy freely).
These technologies are called CGMS (Copy Generation Management System) and SCMS (Serial Copy Management System), and have a mechanism such that prevents copying (second generation) from the medium manufactured by copying from the medium to which only the first generation copy is permitted. As a result, an unauthorized copy cannot be manufactured.
In CGMS and SCMS, information as to whether it is a copied medium (Whether a copy of a next generation can be performed or not?) is shown by flag information in two bits.
However, in such CGMS and SCMS, it is comparatively easy to falsify this on the transmission line when the flag information is transmitted with the main body of contents. Therefore, there is a problem that an unauthorized copy may be performed by the falsification of the flag information. The medium to which it is copied without authorization is generally called a piracy edition, which can circulate.

Record medium, record medium manufacturing device, computer readable record medium on which program is recorded, and data presentation device


A system and method for authenticating a user with a wireless data processing device. For example, a method according to one embodiment of the invention comprises: generating a new authentication code for a user at a data service, the data service communicatively coupled to a wireless device over a wireless network and to a client data processing device over a data network; transmitting the new authentication code to the wireless device; receiving a request from the user to connect to the service through the client data processing device over the data network; requesting the new authentication code from the user over the data network; receiving an authentication code entered by the user on the client data processing device over the data network; comparing the new authentication code with the authentication code entered by the user on the client data processing device; allowing access to resources on the service if the authentication code entered by the user matches new the authentication code; and denying access to resources on the service if the authentication code entered by the user does not match the new authentication code.

1. Wireless Data Processing Devices and Networks
The use of wireless devices has become an increasing part of everyday life. Wireless devices have become popular due to their portability, convenience and ease of use. Today, wireless devices offer a myriad of functions including telephony functions, location services, email, multimedia playback, and electronic calendaring, to name a few. Integrated circuit technology has allowed for the miniaturization of circuits into smaller and smaller form factors; allowing for additional functionality and services to become available on wireless devices. Additionally, decreasing memory sizes have permitted wireless devices to store larger and larger amounts of information. As a result, wireless networks are rapidly expanding bandwidth and services to accommodate this increase in wireless information and functionality.
2. Secure Authentication
Various techniques exist for authenticating users on networks. For example, many networks require a user to enter a user name and password to gain access to network resources. A more secure and more complex mechanism for user authentication is accomplished with a "SecureID" card. The SecureID card generates an authentication code at periodic intervals (e.g., 30 or 60 seconds) using a built-in clock and the card's factory-encoded random key (referred to as a "seed") which is different for each SecureID card. A user authenticating to a network resource such as a server or a firewall needs to enter both a personal identification number and the authentication code being displayed at that moment on their RSA SecurID token. The server or other network resource has a real-time clock synchronized with the built-in clock of the SecureID card. The server checks the authentication code against what the user entered, and makes the decision to allow or deny access.
One problem with SecureID authentication is that users are required to continually carry around a SecureID card in order to gain access to network resources. Moreover, SecureID cards are relatively complex and costly.
Accordingly, what is needed is a less costly and burdensome alternative to SecureID authentication.

Authenticating a user of a wireless data processing device


The present invention is a system and method for three dimensional machine vision including a projector and camera. The projector casts a structured light Quadratic Residue Bar Code on the surface to be mapped. The camera then images the surface. The projected image is shifted, and the process is repeated a number of times, according to the particular arrangement selected for the structured light Quadratic Residue Bar Code. The image data collected from this series of images is then processed by relatively simple matrix operations to determine the location of each camera pixel in three dimensional space.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of three dimensional machine vision, and more particularly, it relates to a three dimensional vision device and method for mapping a three dimensional surface faster and more accurately than previously thought feasible. In addition the invention relates to a structured light bar code pattern for use in the three dimensional vision device and method.
2. Description of Related Art
Previous machine vision techniques, for example those used to map a three dimensional surface, have typically attempted to employ a stereoscopic system in one of two classes. The first class includes systems that combine the images from two cameras some finite distance apart, mimicking human vision.
The second class includes systems that comprise a projector and camera arrangement, again some distance apart, where the projector casts a structured light image onto the surface to be mapped, and the camera images the surface. The deformation of the structured light image from the point of view of the camera is caused by the contour of the surface. From these deformations, the position of the surface in three dimensional space can be calculated.
Both classes of machine vision have difficulty in reconciling the two points of view into information about the third dimension. For example, in the case of a two-camera system, it is difficult to determine the correspondence between the two images. To solve this problem, feature recognition algorithms have been developed which can, with some degree of success, identify and match corresponding features of the two images. These algorithms, however, typically produce errors of at least ±1 pixel, which may be acceptable for some applications, but not for all. This scheme also cannot work for a featureless three dimensional surface.
For projector-camera systems, the problem of determining correspondence between a given projected pixel and its image on the three dimensional surface also exists. Previous systems using structured light suffered because extraneous light "noise" from nearby camera pixels compromised the data, since the light on adjacent pixels is closely correlated (for example, sine wave grayscale). Structured light in two dimensional patterns such as uniform grids require the same feature recognition of the two camera systems to locate the grid vertices, resulting in pixel errors. Further, as will be shown, only one dimensional structured light is required, given a two dimensional camera, to accurately locate the position of the mapped surface in three dimensional space. The second dimension of the light pattern is superfluous.
In addition, for most of the prior art systems sub-pixel resolution has proven difficult or impossible.
A full discussion of various Prior Art systems can be found in Battle, et al., Recent Progress in Coded Structured Light as a Technique to Solve the Correspondence Problem: A Survey, 7 Pattern Recognition 963, 963–982 (1998).

Three dimensional vision device and method, and structured light bar-code patterns for use in the same


For the pre-operative calculation of the power of an intraocular lens, three input parameters are needed: the axial length of the eye (AL), the refractive power of the cornea, and the distance between the front of the cornea and the back focal plane of the intraocular lens, the so-called effective lens position (ELP). The invention shows a novel approach to the determination of the ELP.

For the pre-operative calculation of the power of an intraocular lens, three input parameters are needed: the axial length of the eye (AL), the refractive power of the cornea, and the distance between the front of the cornea and the back focal plane of the intraocular lens, the so-called effective lens position (ELP).
To a good approximation, the post-operative axial length can be substituted by the corresponding value measured pre-operatively. The axial length can be measured either ultrasonically or optically using partial coherence interferometry (PCI). Also—at least for eyes that have not undergone keratorefractive surgery—the post-op corneal power can be predicted based on the pre-op measurement of the front surface corneal radii. This prediction is based on assumptions about the corneal index of refraction and the ratio of front and back surface corneal radii. Keratometry can be measured using manual or automatic optical keratometers, or extracted from a corneal topography obtained via Placido ring projection.
The effective lens position, on the other hand, is inherently a post-operative value. In fact the final position of an IOL does not manifest itself until a number of weeks after surgery, when the capsular bag has shrunk around the implant. A pre-op parameter the ELP approximately corresponds to is the distance from the front of the cornea to the front of the crystalline lens, the so-called anterior chamber depth (ACD). The ACD can be measured ultrasonically or optically using slit projection, or it can be predicted based on the diameter of the clear cornea (the so-called white-to-white distance, WTW) and its central curvature. In commonly used IOL calculation formulas, the ELP is predicted using an empirical fit of several parameters such as ACD and AL. Olsen has suggested that the prediction can be improved by inclusion of additional parameters such as the lens thickness (LT), corneal radius, and pre-op refraction (Acta Ophthalmol. Scand. 2007: 85: 84-87). Most commonly used IOL calculation formulas are based on the same vergence formula to model focusing by the intraocular lens; they only differ in the method for predicting ELP.

Method for determining the power of an intraocular lens


The present invention comprises a tamper resistant garbage or waste container having an exterior housing, an interior bin suitable for receiving waste or garbage, with the interior bin further being provided with a pair of pivoting shafts which extend from either side of the interior bin into the interor of the housing, allowing the entire bin to pivot forward when in use. An additional biasing mechanism is secured to the top of the housing which prevents the bin from pivoting forward when unauthorized access is being attempted. A bias spring is further provided which is attached between the backside of the bin and the interior backwall of the housing, allowing the bin to readily and firmly return to its upright position when not in use.

The present invention relates to the area of garbage or waste can improvements, and more specifically is directed towards garbage cans which are made pet resistant by incorporating a foot pedal or handle which is stepped on or pulled by the user while at the same time a biasing mechanism is released in order to allow a trash or garbage containing bin to pivot forward for easy access to the contents thereof.


Window sash counterbalances using curl springs and holders can increase resistance to sash drop without causing sash hop by using a high coefficient of friction bearing surfaces against which curled up coils of curl springs slide when uncurling or re-curling. The higher friction bearing material produces more frictional resistance to spring uncurling than to spring re-curling and thus resists drop without causing hop. This allows a wider range of sash weights to be counterbalanced by a fewer number of counterbalance forces, saves manufacturing cost.

Window sash have been counterbalanced by curl springs, as explained in U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,548 to Westfall; U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,793 to Westfall, and pending U.S. application Ser. No. 11/668,112 to Tuller. The invention of this application improves on such prior art suggestions.
The counterbalancing of window sash generally requires that counterbalance force approximates sash weight. Otherwise, an overbalanced sash tends to "hop" or rise upward from an intended position, and an under balanced sash tends to "drop" or fall downward from an intended open position. Avoiding hop and drop requires manufacturers to offer counterbalance systems in a range of forces suited to a widely varying weight range of window sash. The correspondingly wide range of forces required for counterbalance systems adds to manufacturing expense.

Frictional drop resistance for sash counterbalanced by curl springs

Caldwell Manufacturing Company North America LLC


The present invention provides a self-centering, tactile thumb joystick for use to control a virtual directional pad displayed on a touch screen of an electronic gadget. The thumb joystick is removeably mounted on the touch screen so that movement of a puck via a stem and a button operates the virtual directional pad to control a software running in the electronic gadget. A resilient member, in the form of an annular spring or garter spring, biasing inwardly against a wall element formed around an opening of a hollow housing of the thumb joystick centers the puck when a user releases activating the button.

Many electronic devices now have a touch screen 10 for inputting data or selecting an input from a menu. Such touch screen 10 includes a display screen 12 and a touch sensing system 14 placed on top of the display screen. The touch sensing system 14 includes a transparent sensing circuit for allowing a user to input or make a selection via virtual buttons. When a user touches a virtual button, a signal is sent from the touch sensing circuit to a controller in the electronic device to register an input or selection. For example, the touch sensing system 14 may be a resistive or a capacitive type. A resistive touch screen will require mechanical pressure to be exerted on a virtual button on the touch screen, such as one button of a 4-point or 360 degree directional pad. A capacitive touch screen will not require mechanical pressure to be exerted on a virtual button; it works by the virtual button sensing a capacitance change when a user's linger or thumb touches it. As a touch screen is flat and smooth, activating a virtual button does not give a tactile feedback to a user; lack of a tactile feedback on a touch screen 10 gives a poor sensory experience, especially to a user for playing a game, say on an iPad or smartphone, when the user can rarely take one's eyes away from the screen.
To provide a solution, US publication no. 2011/0157056 by Karpfinger, describes a physical button that provides a tactile feel and a sensed touch on a touch screen. In one embodiment, the button is disposed in a frame. The frame is deformable and when a force on the button is removed, the frame causes the button to revert back to its unactivated position.
In another approach, U.S. Pat. No. 7,391,410 assigned to Sony Ericsson Mobile, describes a joystick that is pivoted on a lid disposed over a touch screen. The joystick has a pin in contact with the touch screen. Movement of the joystick is thus detected on the touch screen.
Despite availability of the above prior art devices, there is still a need for another touch screen activating device that provides tactile feedback to a user, especially a device that is removeably mounted on a touch screen, for example, for a user to play a game or a user to operate a touch screen remote controller for a television set and so on.

Self-centering tactile thumb joystick for use on a touch screen


A branch prosthesis configured for placement in a branch vessel includes an expandable tubular body portion, an expandable annular flange attached to a proximal end of the body portion, and a sealing sleeve proximally extending from the annular flange. The sealing sleeve is adapted to deform to a generally straight cylindrical hollow shape during implantation. When deployed, the sealing sleeve rolls up to a tightly-wound coil that bears against the annular flange. When used in conjunction with a main prosthesis having a side opening and deployed within in a main vessel, the annular flange of the branch prosthesis engages an outer surface of the main prosthesis around a perimeter of the side opening and the sealing sleeve engages an inner surface of the main prosthesis around the perimeter of the side opening to form a fluid-tight seal between the main prosthesis and the branch prosthesis.

Prostheses for implantation in blood vessels or other similar organs of the living body are, in general, well known in the medical art. For example, prosthetic vascular grafts constructed of biocompatible materials, such as Dacron or expanded, porous polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tubing, have been employed to replace or bypass damaged or occluded natural blood vessels. In general, endovascular grafts typically include a graft anchoring component that operates to hold the tubular graft in its intended position within the blood vessel. Most commonly, the graft anchoring component is one or more radially compressible stents that are radially expanded in situ to anchor the tubular graft to the wall of a blood vessel or anatomical conduit. Thus, endovascular grafts are typically held in place by mechanical engagement and friction due to the opposition forces provided by the expandable stents.
In general, rather than performing an open surgical procedure to implant a graft that may be traumatic and invasive, stent grafts are preferably deployed through a less invasive intraluminal delivery. More particularly, a lumen of the vasculature is accessed at a convenient and low trauma entry point, and the compressed stent graft is routed through the vasculature to the site where the prosthesis is to be deployed. Intraluminal deployment of the self expanding device is typically effected using a delivery catheter with coaxial inner and outer tubes arranged for relative axial movement. For example, a self-expanding stent graft may be compressed and disposed within the distal end of an outer catheter tube distal of a stop fixed to the inner member. The catheter is then routed though a body lumen until the end of the catheter containing the stent graft is positioned at the intended treatment site. The stop on the inner member is then held stationary while the outer tube of the delivery catheter is withdrawn. The stop prevents the stent graft from being withdrawn with the sheath. As the sheath is withdrawn, the stent graft is released from the confines of the sheath and radially self-expands so that at least a portion of it contacts and substantially conforms to a portion of the surrounding interior wall of the lumen, e.g., the blood vessel wall or anatomical conduit.
Grafting procedures are also known for treating aneurysms. Aneurysms result from weak, thinned blood vessel walls that "balloon" or expand due to aging, disease and/or blood pressure in the vessel. Consequently, aneurysmal vessels have a potential to rupture, causing internal bleeding and potentially life threatening conditions. Grafts are often used to isolate aneurysms or other blood vessel abnormalities from normal blood pressure, reducing pressure on the weakened vessel wall and reducing the chance of vessel rupture. As such, a tubular endovascular graft may be placed within the aneurysmal blood vessel to create an artificial flow conduit through the aneurysm, thereby reducing if not nearly eliminating the exertion of blood pressure on the aneurysm.
While aneurysms can occur in any blood vessel, most occur in the aorta and peripheral arteries. Depending on the region of the aorta involved, the aneurysm may extend into areas having vessel bifurcations or segments of the aorta from which smaller "branch" arteries extend. Various types of aortic aneurysms may be classified on the basis of the region of aneurysmal involvement. For example, thoracic aortic aneurysms include aneurysms present in the ascending thoracic aorta, the aortic arch, and branch arteries that emanate therefrom, such as subclavian arteries, and also include aneurysms present in the descending thoracic aorta and branch arteries that emanate therefrom, such as thoracic intercostal arteries and/or the suprarenal abdominal aorta and branch arteries that emanate therefrom, such as renal, superior mesenteric, celiac and/or intercostal arteries. Lastly, abdominal aortic aneurysms include aneurysms present in the aorta below the diaphragm, e.g., pararenal aorta and the branch arteries that emanate therefrom, such as the renal arteries.
Unfortunately, not all patients diagnosed with aortic aneurysms are presently considered to be candidates for endovascular grafting. This is largely due to the fact that most of the endovascular grafting systems of the prior art are not designed for use in regions of the aorta from which side branches extend. The deployment of endovascular grafts within regions of the aorta from which branch arteries extend presents additional technical challenges because, in those cases, the endovascular graft must be designed, implanted, and maintained in a manner which does not impair the flow of blood into the branch arteries.
To accommodate side branches, a main vessel stent graft having a fenestration or opening in a side wall thereof is often utilized. The fenestration is positioned to align with the ostium of the branch vessel after deployment. In use, the proximal end of the graft having one or more side openings is securely anchored in place, and the fenestrations or openings are configured and deployed to avoid blocking or restricting blood flow into the side branches. Fenestrations alone do not form discrete conduit(s) through which blood is channeled into each side branch artery. As a result, the edges of the graft surrounding the fenestrations are prone to: i) the leakage of blood into the space between the outer surface of the aortic graft and the surrounding aortic wall; or ii) post-implantation migration or movement of the stent graft causing misalignment of the fenestration(s) and the branch artery(ies), which may result in impaired flow into the branch artery(ies).
In some cases, another stent graft, often referred to as a branch graft, may then be deployed through the fenestration into the branch vessel to provide a conduit for blood flow to the branch vessel. The branch graft is preferably sealingly connected to the main graft in situ to prevent undesired leakage.
An especially challenging area to deploy and seal branch grafts is the aortic arch. In a significant population of patients with thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA), there is no healthy vessel tissue for fixation and sealing of stent grafts distal to the branches of the aortic arch. Thus, a stent graft deployed in the aortic arch spans across one or more branch arteries.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for improvements for directing flow from fenestrations to the corresponding branch vessels. Embodiments hereof relate to a side branch prosthesis having a mobile and resilient sealing assembly to provide a blood tight seal between the side branch vessel prosthesis and a prosthesis implanted within a main vessel. The sealing assembly may be utilized in conjunction with pre-fenestrated grafts or grafts having fenestrations created in situ.

Branch vessel prosthesis with a roll-up sealing assembly


A heat-shrinkable envelope is composed of at least one shrinkable planar layer on which a reinforcing component of fiber-shaped or thread-shaped reinforcing elements is arranged. These reinforcing elements are arranged in unregulated configuration, for example in the form of a fleece, felt or in an irregular fill. Advantageously, a cover layer may be applied so as to sandwich and bond the reinforcing component between the cover layer and the planar layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat-shrinkable envelope that is composed of at least one shrinkable component in the form of a planar layer, a reinforcing component applied thereon and a cover layer joined to the shrinkable component and the reinforcing component.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A heat-shrinkable article of the type generally set forth above is disclosed in the European application 0 299 439. A reinforcing component is thereby essentially composed of ordered, individual elements that extend in the form of a lattice. The application of the reinforcing elements occur such that the respective planar layers are already present in their cross-linked and stretched condition, so that the reinforcing components are not subjected to any stretching. The reinforcing elements are fashioned such that a shape change corresponding to the shrink of the shrinkable component is possible.
The German published application 37 07 301 discloses a heat-restorable article wherein the reinforcing elements are composed of short fibers (whiskers) of inorganic materials that are distributed in an irregular arrangement in the plastic. The manufacturing process for such an article sequences that a mixture of a thermoplastic synthetic and the fibers is produced, whereupon this mixture is extruded to form a band or tube. This band or tube is subsequently cross-linked, heated to a temperature above the crystal melting point of the synthetic, deformed while heated, and is subsequently cooled in the stretched or, respectively, distorted condition. The short fibers, therefore, are a constituent part of the extrusion mass from the very beginning and, therefore, of the later, shrinkable component. The disadvantage of such an arrangement resides in the fact that threads having a greater length can be introduced only with difficulty and that the extrusion tool must be designed from the very outset such that these additional component parts can be co-extruded. Moreover, there is the risk that the fibers will align in the extrusion direction during the extrusion process. There is also the possibility that the fibers will "bore out" of the surface and, in particular, will penetrate towards the exterior during shrinking. As a consequence of the extrusion process, an orientation of the reinforcing fibers result that can hardly be controlled or is extremely difficult to control. Moreover, the introduction of a larger proportion of fiber material makes the application of extremely-thin outside layers very difficult, whereby it must also be taken into consideration that the extruder worm must co-convey this fiber material. The lengths of the fibers are selected extremely short for this reason and should lie in the range of 0.5-5 mm, this being potentially too short for a particularly good and tea-resistant reinforcing arrangement.
The German published application 37 37 005 discloses a heat-shrinkable article in which threads extending transversely relative to the stretching and shrinking direction and lying parallel to one another are provided, these threads extending over the full length of the heat-shrinkable article (i.e., from one end to the other). Shorter fibers are strewn over this foundation of parallel, individual threads, these shorter fibers being taken from a reservoir and applied in an arbitrary distribution onto the surface of the carrier band provided with the threads. The fibers are composed of cross-linked polymers, i.e. fiber materials that are already cross linked are applied onto the carrier layer. Difficulties are thereby to be of concern under certain circumstances in that the short fiber pieces are applied onto an already-existing ply of continuous parallel threads and the reinforcement insert is lent a somewhat non-uniform structure overall as a result thereof. In the following rolling process, it is also difficult to join the cover layer and the base layer adequately well and reliably with this intrinsically, differently-structured reinforcing insert. With respect to the reinforcing insert, moreover, the manufacturing process occurs in two steps in that the parallel threads are first applied onto a carrier band of, for example, hot-melt adhesive and the delivery of the short fiber elements is subsequently undertaken via a separate scattering and shaking device.


An improved device and method for performing automatic capture/threshold determination that is particularly useful in an implantable cardiac stimulation device. While conventional devices use a fixed shortening of the AV/PV delays during automatic capture/threshold determinations, any shortening can unnecessarily cause discomfort to patients with heart blocks and unnecessarily diminish the atrial kick for other patients. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention periodically measure the AR/PR conduction times and tabulate and/or otherwise process this data. Preferably, these measured conduction times are also correlated with the current heart rate. Finally, when an automatic capture/threshold determination occurs, this measured conduction data, which corresponds to this patient, is used to adjust the AV/PV delays while minimizing patient discomfort and adverse hemodynamic effects. Alternatively, the AV/PV delays may be manually programmable by a medical practitioner.

The present invention is generally directed to an implantable medical device, e.g., a cardiac stimulation device, and is particularly directed to a device, which performs automatic capture and threshold determinations and method for use in such a device.
Implantable cardiac stimulation devices are well known in the art. They include implantable pacemakers which provide stimulation pulses to cause a heart, which would normally beat too slowly or at an irregular rate, to beat at a controlled normal rate. They also include defibrillators, which detect when the atria and/or the ventricles of the heart are in fibrillation or a pathologic rapid organized rhythm and apply cardioverting or defibrillating electrical energy to the heart to restore the heart to a normal rhythm. Implantable cardiac stimulation devices may also include the combined functions of a pacemaker and a defibrillator.
As is well known, implantable cardiac stimulation devices sense cardiac activity for monitoring the cardiac condition of the patient in which the device is implanted. By sensing the cardiac activity of the patient, the device is able to provide cardiac stimulation pulses when they are needed and inhibit the delivery of cardiac stimulation pulses at other times. This inhibition accomplishes two primary functions. Firstly, when the heart is intrinsically stimulated, its hemodynamics are often improved. Secondly, inhibiting the delivery of a cardiac stimulation pulse reduces the battery current drain on that cycle and extends the life of the battery, which powers and is located within the implantable cardiac stimulation device. Extending the battery life will therefore delay the need to explant and replace the cardiac stimulation device due to an expended battery. Generally, the circuitry used in implantable cardiac stimulation devices have been significantly improved since their introduction such that the major limitation of the battery life is primarily the number and amplitude of the pulses being delivered to a patients heart. Accordingly, it is preferable to minimize the number of pulses delivered by using this inhibition function and to minimize the amplitude of the pulses where this is clinically appropriate.
It is well known that the amplitude value of a pulse that will reliably stimulate a patient""s heart, i.e., its threshold value, will change over time after implantation and will vary with the patient""s activity level and other physiological factors. To accommodate for these changes, pacemakers may be programmed to deliver a pulse at an amplitude well above (by an increment or a factor) an observed threshold value. To avoid wasting battery energy, an automatic capture/threshold capability was developed to automatically adjust the pulse amplitude to accommodate for these long and short-term physiological changes. In an existing device, the Affinity(trademark) DR, Model 5330 L/R Dual-Chamber Pulse Generator, manufactured by the assignee of the present invention, an AUTOCAPTURE(trademark) pacing system is provided. The User""s Manual, (copyright)1998 St. Jude Medical, which describes this capability, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In this system, the threshold level is automatically determined in a threshold search routine and is maintained by a capture verification routine. Once the threshold search routine has determined a pulse amplitude that will reliably stimulate, i.e., capture, the patient""s heart, the capture verification routine monitors signals from the patient""s heart to identify pulses that do not stimulate the patient""s heart (indicating a loss-of-capture). Should a loss-of-capture (LOC) occur, the capture verification routine will generate a large amplitude (e.g., 4.5 volt) backup pulse shortly after (typically within 80-100 ms) the original (primary) stimulation pulse. This capture verification occurs on a pulse-by-pulse basis and thus, the patient""s heart will not miss a beat.
In order to determine the threshold level, the automatic capture routine periodically (e.g., every 8 hours or according to a loss-of-capture criteria ) shortens the programmed AV/PV delays. Shortening of the AV/PV (atrial stimulation pulse to ventricular stimulation pulse or intrinsic P-wave to ventricular stimulation pulse) delays guarantees that conduction of an atrial event (e.g., an atrial stimulation pulse (A-pulse) or P-wave) via the AV node to the ventricle will not contribute to a ventricular event. That is, an evoked response and an R-wave will not combine and result in a fusion beat. Typically, the AV/PV delays are respectively shortened to 50 and 25 ms (milliseconds). Accordingly, when a ventricular stimulation pulse (V-pulse) is delivered, any response in the ventricle can be treated as an evoked response to the primary V-pulse and a lack of response will indicate that the V-pulse amplitude level is below the threshold value for stimulating the ventricle. However, this shortened AV/PV delay is likely to be hemodynamically suboptimal and may create patient discomfort or possibly even cause an elevation in heart rate or AV nodal conduction time through modified ANS tone, baroreflex, or release of endogenous catecholamines. All of these may influence the results of the automatic threshold determination. In one case, since the evoked response morphology is correlated with heart rate and myocardial conduction velocity, automatically setting the evoked response sensitivity level based upon evoked responses measured from xe2x80x9cexcitedxe2x80x9d myocardium may allow a higher evoked response sense level to be set for automatic capture detection. Then, when a basal myocardial state is achieved, false losses-of-capture may be more frequent. Additionally, it is well known that elevated sympathetic tone can reduce capture thresholds. If a short AV/PV delay causes an increase in sympathetic tone or released catecholamines, then the capture threshold values determined using the short AV/PV delay may cause the pacing output energy to be set at or below the threshold found at more basal myocardial states. This would result in more xe2x80x9cunnecessaryxe2x80x9d and possibly uncomfortable threshold searches.
Furthermore, while the predetermined, e.g., 50/25 ms, selection is suitable for the vast majority of patients, some patients, e.g., those with first degree heart block, do not require as large a decrease during automatic capture determination and other patients, e.g., those with complete heart block, may not require any AV/PV delay decrease during automatic capture determination. In such patients, a fixed shortening of the AV/PV delays can unnecessarily cause patient discomfort.
Therefore what is needed is a flexible system that can optimize AV/PV delay settings used for automatically determining a threshold amplitude value for the primary ventricular stimulation pulse wherein the optimized AV/PV delays are determined for the individual patient to minimize any adverse hemodynamic effects during the automatic threshold determination.
The present invention provides an improved device and method for performing automatic capture and threshold determination and is particularly useful in an implantable cardiac stimulation device. While conventional devices use a fixed shortening of the AV/PV delays during automatic capture/threshold determinations, any shortening can unnecessarily cause discomfort to patients with heart block and unnecessarily diminish the atrial kick for other patients. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention periodically measure the AR/PR conduction times and tabulate and/or otherwise process this data. Preferably, these measured conduction times are also correlated with the current heart rate. Finally, when an automatic capture/threshold determination occurs, this measured conduction data, which corresponds to this patient, is used to reduce the AV/PV delays while minimizing patient discomfort and adverse hemodynamic effects. Alternatively, the reduced AV/PV delays may be manually programmable by a medical practitioner.
In order to determine whether a stimulation pulse, e.g., a ventricular stimulation pulse captures the paced chamber, automatic capture/threshold systems typically reduce the AV/PV delays to avoid the potential for fusion beats and thus ensure that any cardiac response is solely due to the ventricular stimulation pulse. Typically, the AV/PV delays are reduced from their normal operating values to relatively small and hemodynamically suboptimal values. Embodiments of the present invention calculate AV/PV delays that are small enough to effectively determine the threshold value while minimizing any adverse hemodynamic effects.
A preferred implantable cardiac stimulation device for practicing the present invention is configured for sensing an atrial event through a first electrode implanted to receive an electrical signal from atrial tissue of a patient""s heart and for stimulating the ventricle of a patient""s heart through a second electrode implanted in electrical contact with ventricular tissue of the patient""s heart. A preferred device uses a first detection circuit coupled to the first electrode and configured to receive cardiac signals for determining the presence or absence of an atrial event, a ventricular pulse generator electrically coupled to the second electrode and configured to generate ventricular stimulation pulses at a controlled energy level to thereby stimulate the ventricle of the patient""s heart, and a second detection circuit electrically coupled to the second electrode and configured to receive cardiac signals for determining the presence or absence of a ventricular event wherein the ventricular event alternatively includes an evoked response to each of the stimulation pulses or an intrinsic ventricular depolarization. A preferred device operates under control of a controller which is coupled to the ventricular pulse generator for increasing the ventricular stimulation pulse energy level in response to the absence of at least one evoked response to the ventricular stimulation pulse, whereby the controller periodically causes the ventricular pulse generator to generate ventricular stimulation pulses a threshold detection delay period after an atrial event and whereby the threshold detection delay period is determined based upon a measured time between an atrial event and an intrinsic ventricular depolarization.
In a significant aspect of the present invention, the delay period is determined by periodically measuring the patient""s cardiac cycle rate, periodically measuring the delay between an atrial event and an intrinsic ventricular event, storing the measured delay in association with the measured cardiac cycle rate, and processing one or more measured delays in order to determine the delay period. In a further aspect of the present invention, the measured data is used to determine a delay interval for delivering a ventricular stimulation pulse following an atrial event. Preferred embodiments may include processing the average of the measured data, a weighted average, or an average offset by one or more standard deviations, etc.
In an alternative embodiment, the present invention includes remotely programmable AV/PV delays for use during the automatic capture/threshold determination. In a further aspect of this alternative embodiment, the AV/PV delay is not reduced in response to the presence of a heart block.
The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Implantable cardiac stimulation device having optimized AV/PV delays for improved atrial kick during automatic capture and threshold determinations


A received waveform memory 22 stores one (1) frame of received waveform data acquired by sampling a signal including a time code with a predetermined sampling period, where each sample is represented by a plurality of bits. Correlation value calculating sections 24-26 compare the received waveform data with one (1) frame of first prediction code data corresponding to a code of a position marker or a marker, where each sample is represented by a plurality of bits, one (1) frame of second prediction code data corresponding to a code “0”, and one (1) frame of third prediction code data corresponding to a code “1” respectively. Correlation value comparing section 27 compares the first, second and third correlation values with one another to specify the prediction code data whose correlation is largest to output the code data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a time acquisition apparatus to acquire current time using standard radio wave and a radio wave clock on which the time acquisition apparatus is mounted.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, a long-wave standard time radio wave is transmitted from transmitting stations in various countries such as Japan, Germany, England and Switzerland For example, in Japan, the standard time radio waves of 40 kHz and 60 kHz that have been subjected to amplitude modulation are respectively transmitted from transmitting stations in Hukushima prefecture and Saga prefecture.
The standard time radio wave includes a code sequence which constructs a time code indicating date and time, and is sent in 60 seconds per period. In other words, the period of the time code is 60 seconds.
A clock (radio wave clock) which receives such standard time radio wave including the time code to extract the time code from the received standard time radio wave so as to correct time has been put to practical use.
A receiving circuit of the radio wave clock includes: a band path filter (BPF) to receive the standard time radio wave received by an antenna to extract only a standard time radio wave signal; a demodulating circuit to demodulate the standard time radio wave signal that has been subjected to amplitude modulation by envelope detection and the like; and a processing circuit to read out the time code included in the signal demodulated by the demodulating circuit.
A conventional processing circuit synchronizes a starting point of a timekeeping period for data discrimination with a rising edge of the demodulated signal, and then binarizes the demodulated signal with a predetermined sampling period to acquire TCO data which is a binary bit sequence. Moreover, the processing circuit measures a pulse width (namely, a time of bit "1", or a time of bit "0") of the TCO data to determine any one of code "P", "0" and "1" according to the width size so as to acquire time information based on determined code sequence.
The conventional processing circuit passes through processes including a second bit synchronization processing, a minute bit synchronization processing, code loading, and consistency judging, from starting reception of the standard time radio wave to acquiring the time information When processing is not properly completed in each of the processes, the processing circuit needs to start the processing again from the beginning.
Thus, the processing sometimes needs to be started again many times due to noise included in the signal, and time to acquisition of the time information sometimes becomes seriously long.
The second bit synchronization is to detect a rising edge of the code which comes per one (1) second among the code indicated by the TCO data. By repeating the second bit synchronization, a portion where a position marker "P0" provided at ending of a frame and a marker "M" provided at beginning of the frame are located consecutively can be detected. This consecutive portion comes every one (1) minute (60 seconds). A position of the marker "M" locates in data of the beginning frame among the TCO data. Detecting the marker "M" is hereinafter called the minute bit synchronization.
Since the beginning of the frame is recognized by the above-described minute bit synchronization, then the code loading is started, and after one (1) frame of data is obtained, a parity bit is examined to judge whether or not the data has impossible value (value which can not be real data and time) (the consistency judging). For example, the minute bit synchronization sometimes requires 60 seconds for finding the beginning of the frame. Of course it requires several fold longer time than above time in order to detect the beginning of the frame across several frames.
In US2005/0195690A1, the TCO data is obtained by binarizing the demodulated signal at predetermined sampling intervals (50 ms), and data constellation composed of binary bit sequences is listed, each of the binary bit sequences corresponding to one (1) second (20 samples).
An apparatus disclosed in US2005/0195690A1 compares above bit sequence with a template of the binary bit sequence indicating code "P: position marker", a template of the binary bit sequence indicating code "1", and a template of the binary bit sequence indicating code "0" respectively, to obtain their correlation, and judges which of codes "P", "1" and "0" the bit sequence corresponds to, based on the correlation.
A technique disclosed in US2005/0195690A1 acquires the TOC data which is the binary bit sequence to perform matching with the template. Under a condition that electric field intensity is weak or that much noise is mixed into the demodulated signal, the acquired TCO data would include many errors. Therefore, it was necessary to fine-adjust a threshold of a filter for removing noise from the demodulated signal or an AD converter so as to improve quality of the TCO data.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Time acquisition apparatus and radio wave clock


Compounds are provided that are useful in inhibiting cysteine or serine proteinases. The compounds define a peptide backbone with a sulfur atom substituted in the backbone. A leaving group is associated, or bonded, to a carbon atom adjacent to the sulfur atom. The leaving group is displaceable either by hydrolysis under physiological conditions (with the hydrolyzed compound forming an aldehyde enzyme inhibitor) or by an active-site nucleophile of a cysteine or serine proteinase. When the leaving group is displaced by hydrolysis, then the compound functions as a protected derivative of the aldehyde functional group and is stabilized against oxidation or degradation, yet allows for release of the aldehyde moiety at the pharmacological site of action. The peptide sulfide analogues bearing a leaving group displaced by the active-site nucleophile covalently bond cysteine or serine proteinases and thus irreversibly inhibit these enzymes.

Cysteine proteinases contain a catalytically active cysteine sulfhydryl group and a histidine imidazole group within the active site of the enzyme. The imidazole group polarizes and deprotonates the Cysteine sulfhydryl group. Cysteine proteinases show unusual reactivity toward electrophiles relative to the nucleophilicity of sulfur in cysteine, although each cysteine proteinase appears to hydrolyze different proteins and peptide substrates at different rates. Among the members of this enzyme class are papain, cathepsin B, cathepsin H, cathepsin L, and hepatitis A viral protease. Selective inhibitors of the cysteine proteinase cathepsin B have potential therapeutic value in disease states such as proteinuria in glomerular disease, osteoclastic bone resorption, tumor metastasis, tissue damage in myocardial infarction and muscle wasting in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The cathepsins are implicated in tumor invasion also.
Unlike the aspartic and zinc proteases, the cysteine proteases do not catalyze the direct addition of water to the amide carbonyl group, but rather the acyl moiety is transferred first to the active site thiol (e.g. Cys-25 in papain), and the thioester is cleaved in a second step. Two tetrahedral intermediates are thereby involved, both of which are covalently linked to the enzyme.
A variety of low molecular weight inhibitors of cysteine proteinases known as of 1984 selectively to inhibit such enzymes are described by Rich, Proteinase Inhibitors (Chapter 4, "Inhibitors of Cysteine Proteinases"), Elsevier Science Publishers (1986). One group of cysteine proteinase inhibitors are peptide aldehydes. The peptidyl aldehydes combine with the cysteine thiol to form a thiohemiacetal in the active site. These aldehyde inhibitors are generally analogs of the transition-state. However, inhibitors of the aldehyde class are not very stable in vivo (degrade very quickly) and are also not very shelf-life stable. Although other classes of inhibitors are known (such as peptidyl chloromethanes and peptidyl diazomethanes), these have varying degrees of affinity for selectivity and often have some non-specific activity that raises potential problems of side effects.
Krantz et al., Biochemistry, 30, pp. 4678-4687 (1991) and Krantz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,451, issued Oct. 8, 1991, describe aryloxy and arylacyloxy methyl ketones as thiol protease inhibitors, and particularly certain inhibitors of Cathepsin B. Shaw, Adv. Enzymol. Relat. Areas Mol. Biol., 63, 271 (990) describes peptidyl methyl ketones with a leaving group that can contain --CHS(CH.sub.3).sub.2 in designing inactivators of cysteine proteinases. However, the Shaw sulfur moieties are part of the leaving groups themselves.

Cysteine proteinase inhibitors and inhibitor precursors

The Regents of the University of California


A coherent optical communications system with continuous polarization scrambling, wherein such scrambling is obtained by combining orthogonally polarized radiations at different frequencies emitted by two independent sources. The two sources may be employed to build the transmitted or the local oscillator of the system.

It is known that conventional monomode optical fibers used in optical communications systems exhibit birefringence characteristics varying both in time and along the fiber axis, so that the state of polarization of the propagating signals varies in a continuous and unpredictable manner. In coherent communications systems, and especially systems with heterodyne reception which are the most widely used, it is essential to have a definite and constant state of polarization at the fiber output. Indeed, the receivers can correctly operate only if the state of polarisation of the received signal coincides with that of the signal generated by the local oscillator; otherwise only part of the electromagnetic field undergoes heterodyning, with consequent signal fading which may even be total. The problem could be solved by using polarization maintaining fibers, that solution is seldom adopted since such fibers are rather expensive, have a high attenuation and may give rise to a noise increase if the alignment of the fiber axes at the joints, if any, is not correct. Thus, in coherent communications systems it is preferred to use conventional, low-birefringence optical fibers and to take measures for making the receiver polarisation-insensitive. This is generally achieved by scrambling the state of polarization of either the transmitted signal or the signal generated by the local oscillator in a non-adaptive continuous or discrete manner within each bit period.
Generally such scrambling is performed by means of modulators external to the source. Transmission rates of the order of some hundred Mbit/s or some Gbit/s are used in the coherent systems and the modulators allowing the state of polarization of the signals to be scrambled at a rate compatible with such bit rates are integrated-optics guide elements. Such elements are generally expensive and moreover give rise to high losses, due to both the attenuation of the guide itself and the coupling between the guide and the possible fiber piece allowing connection to an optical fiber.
In accordance with the invention, we provide a coherent optical communications system wherein polarization scrambling is obtained without using devices external to the source but by exploiting two orthogonally-polarised radiations at different frequencies.
The combination of two orthogonally-polarised radiations at different frequencies to obtain insensitivity to polarization fluctuations in detection systems or in optical fiber communications systems has been disclosed in the literature, yet the proposed systems exploiting this combination cannot be used to solve the problem of obtaining polarization scrambling without use of external modulators.
More particularly, the paper "Depolarized source for fiber-optic applications" presented by W. K. Burns et al. at the OFC'91 Conference (San Diego, Calif., Feb. 18-22, 1991) and published at page 205 of the conference proceedings, describes a system in which the two radiations, generated by respective lasers, are combined to obtain in line a depolarized radiation. The paper does not disclose how such depolarized radiation can be combined with information transmission in a coherent system, whereas the goal of the invention is (to provide a coherent system which does not require external devices to obtain polarization scrambling.) The two lasers emit always at a constant frequency, and the difference between the two frequencies is large compared to the frequencies encountered in the application of interest. If such a system was employed to obtain polarization scrambling in a coherent communications system, there would be a risk that the beats with the signal generated by a local oscillator would be outside the detector band, so that demodulation of the information would be impossible. Moreover, polarization scrambling causes a broadening of the information signal band which increases with the polarization scrambling rate. Should the system disclosed in the paper be used, receivers with very wide band would have to be employed, thereby causing a great increase in the noise present in the received signal.
The article "New polarization-insensitive detection technique for coherent optical fibre heterodyne communications" by A. D. Kersey et al., Electronics Letters, Vol. 23, No. 18, Aug. 27, 1987, discloses the use of the two orthogonally-polarised radiations at different frequencies to obtain the output signal of the local oscillator in a polarization diversity heterodyne receiver for a coherent communications system. The two radiations are obtained from a single source, by means of a polarising beam splitter generating the two orthogonal polarizations and of an acousto-optic modulator placed downstream the beam splitter, on the path of only one of the two orthogonally-polarized radiations. Also in this case, the two radiations always have a constant frequency and hence the considerations already made for OFC'91 still hold. Besides, even assuming that both signals outgoing from the acousto-optic modulator are used, and not only the frequency shifted signal, the invention cannot be obtained, since only one of the two radiations would be frequency-modulated. In the method of polarization scrambling in an optical signal transmission system, according to the invention, optical signals are modulated by a binary digital information signal and undergo heterodyne coherent demodulation. Two sources of linearly polarized radiation are frequency modulated by the information signal, so that the two sources emit radiations at a first and a second frequency or at a third and a fourth frequency, respectively, in correspondence with the first and the second logic level of the information signal. The third and fourth frequencies differ from the first and the second frequencies by an amount at least equal to the inverse of the bit period in the binary signal. The states of polarization of the radiations emitted by the two sources are rendered orthogonal in correspondence with each bit of the information signal. The two orthogonally polarized radiations are combined in order to send on a transmission line, for each bit, a signal comprising two orthogonally-polarized components at the first and the third frequency and at the second and the fourth frequency, respectively, whereby a linear polarization is obtained whose plane rotates by at least 360.degree. in the bit period.
Moreover linearly polarized radiations at a first and a second frequency are generated in a local oscillator by means of two independent sources, the two frequencies differing by an amount at least equal to the inverse of the bit period in the binary signal. The states of polarization of the radiations emitted by the two sources are rendered orthogonal and the two orthogonally polarized radiations can be combined in order to generate a signal comprising two orthogonally-polarized components at the first and the second frequency, respectively, whereby a linear polarization is obtained with a plane of polarization rotating by at least 360.degree. in the bit period, this signal being combined with the received modulated signal.
In these systems the frequency difference can be equal to the inverse of the bit period.
The transmission system using polarization scrambling can comprise a transmitter with means for modulating an optical signal with a binary information signal and means for continuously scrambling, in each bit period, the state of polarization of the modulated signals. The system also includes a receiver comprising a local oscillator generating a signal which is combined with the signal. The means for sending the modulated signals on the line and for scrambling the state of polarization of such signals are made by the same group of devices and which can comprise:
a first source of light radiations, which emits radiations linearly polarized in a first plane and is biased by the information signal so as to emit radiations at a first or a second frequency according to whether the information signal presents the first or the second of the two logic levels;
a second source of light radiations, which emits radiations linearly polarized in a second plane orthogonal to the first plane and is biased by the information signal so as to emit radiations at a third or a fourth frequency, according to whether the information signal presents the first or the second of the two logic levels, the third and fourth frequencies being very close to the first and second frequencies but differing therefrom by an amount at least equal to the inverse of the bit period; and means for combining the radiations emitted by the two sources into a single radiation which is sent onto an optical fiber transmission line and comprises, for each of the two logic levels of the information signal, two orthogonally-polarized components having the first and third frequencies or the second and fourth frequencies, respectively, so that, for both logic levels, a resulting linear polarization is obtained the plane of which rotates by at least 360.degree. in the bit period.
Where the local oscillator is used, the means for scrambling the state of polarization of the signals generated by the local oscillator can comprise:
a first source of light radiations, which emits radiations linearly polarized in the first plane;
a second source of light radiations, which emits radiations at a second frequency linearly polarized in a second plane orthogonal to the first plane, the second frequency being very close to the first frequency but differing therefrom by an amount at least equal to the inverse of the bit period of the information signal; and
means for combining the radiations emitted by the two sources into a single radiation which comprises two orthogonally-polarized components and has a resulting linear polarization the plane of which rotates by at least 360.degree. in the bit period.

Frequency modulation coherent optical communications system with continuous polarization scrambling

CSELT-Centro Studi E Laboratori Telecomunicationi S.p.A.


A milling system for use in resecting at least a portion of a joint articulation surface of a bone includes an alignment guide having a top surface and an opposing bottom surface with an opening extending therebetween. Fasteners are used to secure the alignment guide to the bone so that the alignment guide is suspended above the bone. A template is removably mounted to the alignment guide so that a plurality of guide paths extending through the template are aligned with the opening in the alignment guide. A mill extends down through the guide path and has a burr on the end thereof for resecting the bone.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to milling systems and related guides and mills for resecting at least a portion of a joint articulation surface of a bone and mounting an implant thereat.
2. The Relevant Technology
The human body has a variety of movable orthopedic joints such as the knee joint, hip joint, shoulder joint, and the like. These joints are formed by the intersection of two bones. The intersecting end of each bone has a smooth articular surface that is comprised of articular cartilage. As a result of injury, wear, arthritis, disease or other causes, it is occasionally necessary to replace all or part of an orthopedic joint with an artificial implant. This procedure is referred to as a joint replacement or arthroplasty. For example, a total knee arthroplasty comprises cutting off or resecting the articular surfaces at both the distal end of the femur and the proximal end of the tibia. Complementary artificial implants are then mounted on the distal end of the femur and the proximal end of the tibia. Where only a portion of a joint is damaged, a partial joint arthroplasty can be performed. In this procedure, one or more artificial implants replace only a portion of a joint.
Although joint replacement is now a common procedure that has met with popular success, conventional implants and related mounting techniques have significant shortcomings. One significant drawback of many joint replacements is the extended and painful patient recovery. For example, a traditional knee replacement requires an open procedure wherein a relatively large incision is made which severs a portion of the muscle bounding the femur. The large incision is made so as to fully expose the respective ends of the femur and tibia.
This exposure is necessary when using conventional techniques to resect the femur and tibia and to mount the implants. For example, resecting the femur and tibia is typically accomplished by a reciprocating saw which requires substantially full exposure of the respective ends of the femur and tibia. Furthermore, some conventional tibial implants are screwed directly into the resected end face of the tibia. Mounting such screws again requires substantially full exposure of the resected end face. In yet other embodiments, the implants are formed with posts projecting therefrom. The posts are received within sockets formed on the resected end face of the tibia and femur. Forming of the sockets and inserting the posts into the sockets requires substantially full exposure of the resected end face of the tibia and femur.
Substantially the same procedures are often used when resurfacing only a portion of a joint articulation surface. That is, the joint is exposed and a reciprocating saw is used to resect half or a portion of the articular cartilage. The implant is then mounted by using screws or posts. Thus, even in procedures where only a portion of the joint articulation surface is being resurfaced, conventional procedures make an invasive retraction of the soft tissue and remove a large portion of the bone.
In general, the more invasive the surgery, the more painful, difficult, and time consuming the patient recovery. Furthermore, extensive resection of bone not only increases bone trauma but can also make subsequent replacement operations more difficult.
Accordingly, what is needed are systems and methods for preparing a joint articulation surface to receive an implant which are easy to use while minimizing the impact on soft tissue and the amount of bone resection. What is also needed are implants which can be used with such systems that can be mounted with minimum trauma.

Milling system with guide paths and related methods for resecting a joint articulation surface


A double acting synchronizer (18) includes cone clutch friction surfaces (24,40a and 26,42a) and jaw clutch teeth (28,38b and 30,38c) for frictionally synchronizing and positively connecting gears (14,16) to a shaft (12), and a plurality of integrated self-energizing/pre-energizing/blocker assemblies (44). The assemblies include pairs of self-energizing surfaces (54a,54b and 56a,56b) that respectively engage pairs of self-energizing surfaces (46a,46b and 48a,48b) to increase the engaging force of the cone clutches. The pairs of self-energizing surfaces are separated by non-self-energizing surfaces (54e,56e and 46c,48c) which engage to prevent unwanted engagement of the self-energizing surfaces when the synchronizer is in neutral. A detent mechanism resiliently positions the non-self-energizing surfaces for engagement when the synchronizer is in neutral.

Synchronizers for use in multi-ratio transmissions are well known. Such synchronizers may be of the double acting type including pairs of friction and jaw members for respectively synchronizing and positive clutching gears to a shaft, synchronizer assemblies for engaging the friction members in response to initial engaging movement of a shift sleeve, a hub rotatably fixed to the shaft and having external spline teeth slidably receiving internal spline teeth of the shift sleeve which often defines one of the jaw member pairs, a baulking means having blocker teeth for arresting engaging movement of the shift sleeve until synchronization is reached and for transferring a shift force from the sleeve to increase the engaging force of the friction members.
It is also known that such synchronizers may be used to reduce shift time and shift effort required by a vehicle operator by the providing the synchronizers with self-energizing means. EP-A-0663 541 discloses a synchronizer having all of the above.