| UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
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| 20120071757 | Ultrasound Registration - The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for registering three-dimensional ultrasound images to an external coordinate system, such as the coordinate system attached to a camera-based imaging system or the coordinate system used to define the movements of a surgical robot. The apparatus generally comprises a tool with markers that can be accurately and repeatably located in both the ultrasound and external coordinate systems. In the case of the surgical robot frame, this tool may be a component of the surgical robot itself, such as a portion of a surgical manipulator. The method generally comprises positioning the toot upon the surface of a portion of patient tissue, imaging the tool using the ultrasound, simultaneously imaging the tool using the camera system or monitoring the current mechanical configuration of the surgical robot, localizing corresponding tool elements in both frames, and finally using the corresponding elements as registration fiducials to solve the geometric transformation that relates the two frames. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20110272282 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ENHANCED SCODA - Methods and apparatus for concentrating particles may be applied, for example, to concentrating DNA, RNA, proteins and the like. Proteins may be pre-treated to facilitate concentration by scodaphoresis. The pre-treatment may comprise, for example, heating or chemical treatment to denature and/or apply a net charge to the protein, binding handle particles to the protein and combinations thereof. High-conductivity samples may be subjected to a conductivity-reduction step to facilitate electrical injection of target particles into scodaphoresis media. The conductivity-reduction step may comprise a buffer exchange process or a salt extraction process, for example. Methods and apparatus can allow two or more different types of target particles to be extracted from the same sample and separately concentrated. These various aspects may be applied individually or in any combination. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110248214 | INORGANIC MESOPOROUS MATERIALS WITH CHIRAL NEMATIC STRUCTURES AND PREPARATION METHOD THEREOF - The present invention describes a composition and a method for producing mesoporous silica materials with a chiral organization. In the method, a polymerizable inorganic monomer is reacted in the presence of nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) to give a material of inorganic solid with cellulose nanocrystallites embedded in a chiral nematic organization. The NCC can be removed to give a stable porous structure that retains the chiral organization of the NCC template. The new materials may be obtained as iridescent free-standing films with high surface area. Through control of the reaction conditions, the colour of the films can be varied across the entire visible spectrum. These are the first materials to combine mesoporosity with long-range chiral ordering that leads to photonic properties. Examples of possible applications of the materials are: lightweight reinforcement materials, low k dielectric materials, tunable reflective filters, adsorbents, stationary phases for chromatography of chiral or achiral substances, supports for catalysts (e.g., for asymmetric synthetic transformations), and as a template to generate other new porous materials (e.g., porous carbon or porous metals), preferably with chiral nematic structures. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20110062394 | RARE EARTH-DOPED SAPPHIRE FILMS AND RELATED METHODS - The present invention relates to the growth of single phase rare earth-doped sapphire (α-Al | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110020825 | PROTEIN C POLYMORPHISMS USEFUL AS AN INDICATOR OF PATIENT OUTCOME - The invention provides methods and kits for obtaining a prognosis for a patient having or at risk of developing an inflammatory condition. The method generally comprises determining a protein C promoter genotype of a patient for a polymorphism in the protein C promoter region of the patient, comparing the determined genotype with known genotypes for the polymorphism that correspond with the ability of the patient to recover from the inflammatory condition and identifying patients based on their prognosis. The invention also provides for methods of identifying other polymorphisms that correspond with the ability of the patient to recover from the inflammatory condition. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20100303894 | POX VIRIDAE TREATMENT - A vaccine composition for combating | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100160778 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING VISCOELASTIC PARAMETERS IN TISSUE - Described herein are a method and apparatus for determining viscoelastic parameters of a tissue. A vibration signal is applied to the tissue and displacements at a plurality of locations within the tissue are measured at a plurality of times. The viscoelastic parameters of the tissue, including elasticity and viscosity, can then be determined by fitting a finite element model of the tissue to the vibration signal and the measured displacements and by solving for the viscoelastic parameters of the model. A value for density of each element of the model is selected and the absolute values for the viscoelastic parameters of each of the elements in the model is determined. Alternatively, the difference in relaxation-times between two locations within the tissue can be determined from the difference in phases of the strains at the two locations. | 06-24-2010 |
