Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080208195 | Surgical Instrument With Telescoping Attachment - A surgical instrument for the dissection of bone and other tissue includes a spindle, a dissection tool and an coupler disposed between the spindle and the dissection tool. The coupler includes a tool collet and an attachment locking mechanism operable to permit tool collet operation and telescoping movement of an attachment tube with respect to the dissection tool. A method is also provided for convenient coupling of the dissection tool and adjustment of the attachment tube length. | 08-28-2008 |
20120143006 | ENDOSCOPIC SHEATH ASSEMBLY - A sheath assembly for an endoscope includes an elongate tubular body and a plug. The endoscope has a handle portion and a scope portion extending therefrom to a tip. The body includes first and second wall sections and extends along a longitudinal axis between first and second distal openings located at distal and proximal ends thereof, respectively. The first wall section extends radially about the longitudinal axis to define a scope lumen. The scope portion is receivable in the scope lumen with the distal and proximal ends. The second wall section extends radially about a portion of the first wall section and longitudinally between second distal and proximal end openings. The first and second wall sections define an integral suction lumen in fluid communication with a first source of negative pressure. The plug is mated with the distal end opening and includes a lens surface through which energy is transmissible. | 06-07-2012 |
20130267777 | ENDOSCOPIC SHEATH ASSEMBLY - A sheath assembly for an endoscope includes an elongate tubular body and a plug. The endoscope has a handle portion and a scope portion extending therefrom to a tip. The body includes first ( | 10-10-2013 |
20130340238 | Surgical Instrument With Telescoping Attachment - A surgical instrument for the dissection of bone and other tissue includes a spindle, a dissection tool and an coupler disposed between the spindle and the dissection tool. The coupler includes a tool collet and an attachment locking mechanism operable to permit tool collet operation and telescoping movement of an attachment tube with respect to the dissection tool. A method is also provided for convenient coupling of the dissection tool and adjustment of the attachment tube length. | 12-26-2013 |
20140357955 | ENDOSCOPIC SHEATH ASSEMBLY - A sheath assembly for an endoscope includes an elongate tubular body and a plug. The endoscope has a handle portion and a scope portion extending therefrom to a tip. The body includes first and second wall sections and extends along a longitudinal axis between first and second distal openings. The first wall section extends radially about the longitudinal axis to define a scope lumen. The scope portion is receivable in the scope lumen. The second wall section extends radially about a portion of the first wall section and longitudinally between second distal and proximal end openings. The first and second wall sections define an integral suction lumen in fluid communication with a first source of negative pressure. The plug is mated with the distal end opening for closing the scope lumen and includes at least one suction opening disposed in co-registration with the first distal end opening. | 12-04-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100198275 | FORCE SENSING DISTAL FEMORAL ALIGNMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE - Devices, systems, and methods are provided for facilitating the aligning and balancing of the knee during total knee replacement surgery. A femoral assembly is engaged with a distal femur. The positions of medial and lateral portions of the femoral assembly relative to a stationary portion of the femoral assembly can be separately adjusted to adjust the alignment of the knee. A force sensor will be provided to sense the forces in the medial and lateral portions of the knee, and the medial and lateral portions of the femoral assemblies will be adjusted so that the sensed forces are balanced. The alignment of the knee is visually verified using a knee alignment verification member coupled to the femoral assembly. The knee alignment verification member may emit laser beams along the mechanical axes of the femur and tibia, or the knee alignment verification member may couple to alignment rods aligned along these axes. | 08-05-2010 |
20120259342 | SYSTEM FOR POSITIONING A CUTTING GUIDE IN KNEE SURGERY - A system is provided for positioning a cutting guide on a femur of a knee to make a cut along a distal end of the femur during knee surgery. The system may generally include an adjustable femoral attachment member configured to attach to a cut distal end of the femur, a cutting guide removably attachable to the femoral attachment member and configured to guide a surgical saw to make an additional cut on the distal end of the femur, and a force sensor for positioning between the femoral attachment member and a proximal end of a tibia of the knee. The force sensor may include a medial portion for sensing a medial force in the knee and a lateral portion for sensing a lateral force in the knee. | 10-11-2012 |
20130102929 | KNEE BALANCING DEVICES, SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Devices, systems and methods are provided for facilitating knee balancing during a knee replacement surgery. A system can include a force sensor, a main body, a moveable sensor platform, and an adjustment mechanism. The force sensor can sense one or more forces applied within a knee joint, including forces applied on a medial side and a lateral side. The movable sensor platform can be coupled between the force sensor and the main body. The adjustment mechanism can adjust the moveable sensor platform, relative to the main body, thereby adjusting a collective height of the system. A method can include inserting portions of a knee balancing system into a gap formed between a cut distal end of a femur and a cut proximal end of a tibia, adjusting an adjustable mechanism of the system to increase or decrease a collective system height, and sensing and displaying the medial and lateral forces. | 04-25-2013 |
20150230804 | FORCE SENSING DISTAL FEMORAL ALIGNMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE - Devices, systems, and methods are provided for facilitating the aligning and balancing of the knee dicing total knee replacement surgery. A femoral assembly is engaged with a distal femur. The positions of medial and lateral portions of the femoral assembly relative to a stationary portion of the femoral assembly can be separately adjusted to adjust the alignment of the knee. A force sensor will be provided to sense the force's m the medial and lateral portions of the knee, and the medial and lateral portions of the femoral assemblies will be adjusted so that the sensed forces are balanced. The alignment of the knee is visually verified using a knee alignment verification member coupled to the femoral assembly. The knee alignment verification member may emit laser beams along the mechanical axes of the femur and tibia, or the knee alignment verification member may couple to alignment rods aligned along these axes. | 08-20-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090102019 | CONTROLLED DOPING OF SEMICONDUCTOR NANOWIRES - A catalyst particle on a substrate is exposed to reactants containing a semiconductor material in a reactor. An intrinsic semiconductor nanowire having constant lateral dimensions is grown at a low enough temperature so that pyrolysis of the reactant is suppressed on the sidewalls of the intrinsic semiconductor nanowire. Once the intrinsic semiconductor nanowire grows to a desired length, the temperature of the reactor is raised to enable pyrolysis on the sidewalls of the semiconductor nanowire, and thereafter dopants are supplied into the reactor with the reactant. A composite semiconductor nanowire having an intrinsic inner semiconductor nanowire and a doped semiconductor shell is formed. The catalyst particle is removed, followed by an anneal that distributes the dopants uniformly within the volume of the composite semiconductor nanowire, forming a semiconductor nanowire having constant lateral dimensions and a substantially uniform doping. | 04-23-2009 |
20090107964 | DEBRIS MINIMIZATION AND IMPROVED SPATIAL RESOLUTION IN PULSED LASER ABLATION OF MATERIALS - A method of minimizing the deposition of debris onto a sample being ablated. The method comprises: 1) reducing a laser pulse energy to approximately a threshold level for ablation; 2) focusing the energy using an immersion object lens having a final element and 3) ablating a region of the sample using a multitude of laser pulses, each pulse being sufficiently separated in time to reduce a concentration of ablation products in a gas phase. | 04-30-2009 |
20110309449 | INTERFACE-FREE METAL GATE STACK - A method of fabricating a gate stack for a transistor includes forming a high dielectric constant layer on a semiconductor layer. A metal layer is formed on the high dielectric constant layer. A silicon containing layer is formed over the metal layer. An oxidized layer incidentally forms during the silicon containing layer formation and resides on the metal layer beneath the silicon containing layer. The silicon containing layer is removed. The oxidized layer residing on the metal layer is removed after removing the silicon containing layer. | 12-22-2011 |
20120057273 | NANOSTRUCTURE ELECTRODE FOR PSEUDOCAPACITIVE ENERGY STORAGE - A nanoporous templating substrate, which is an anodically oxidized alumina (AAO) substrate, is employed to form a pseudocapacitor having high stored energy density. A pseudocapacitive material is deposited conformally along the sidewalls of the AAO substrate by atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition), and/or electrochemical deposition employing a nucleation layer. The thickness of the pseudocapacitive material on the walls can be precisely controlled in the deposition process. The AAO is etched to form an array of nanotubes of the PC material that are cylindrical and structurally robust with cavities therein. Because the AAO substrate that acts as scaffolding is removed, only the active PC material is left behind, thereby maximizing the energy per mass. In addition, nanotubes may be de-anchored from a substrate so that free-standing nanotubes having randomized orientations may be deposited on a conductive substrate to form an electrode of a pseudocapacitor. | 03-08-2012 |
20120266935 | HOMOGENIZING LIGHT-PIPE FOR SOLAR CONCENTRATORS - A light pipe that can be employed for a Concentrator Photo-Voltaic (CPV) system is provided. The light pipe homogenizes light by diffusion and/or refraction, and can be embodied in a structure that has a low aspect ratio. The diffusion and/or refraction can be effected by concave or convex surfaces of a transparent medium that forms a body of the light pipe, by light diffracting particles, and/or by a diffracting surface. Optionally, multiple transparent media can be employed with a refracting and/or diffracting interface therebetween. The reduced aspect ratio of the light pipe can improve reliability of mechanical alignment in the CPV system as well as reducing the cost of manufacturing and/or aligning the light pipe within the CPV system. | 10-25-2012 |
20120270385 | SWITCHING DEVICE HAVING A MOLYBDENUM OXYNITRIDE METAL GATE - A field effect transistor (FET) includes a body region and a source region disposed at least partially in the body region. The FET also includes a drain region disposed at least partially in the body region and a molybdenum oxynitride (MoNO) gate. The FET also includes a dielectric having a high dielectric constant (k) disposed between the body region and the MoNO gate. | 10-25-2012 |
20130277751 | INTERFACE-FREE METAL GATE STACK - A gate stack for a transistor is formed by a process including forming a high dielectric constant layer on a semiconductor layer. A metal layer is formed on the high dielectric constant layer. A silicon containing layer is formed over the metal layer. An oxidized layer incidentally forms during the silicon containing layer formation and resides on the metal layer beneath the silicon containing layer. The silicon containing layer is removed. The oxidized layer residing on the metal layer is removed after removing the silicon containing layer. | 10-24-2013 |
20130280901 | INTERFACE-FREE METAL GATE STACK - A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a program for fabricating a gate stack for a transistor is disclosed. The program includes instructions configured to perform a method. The method includes forming a high dielectric constant layer on a semiconductor layer. A metal layer is formed on the high dielectric constant layer. A silicon containing layer is formed over the metal layer. An oxidized layer incidentally forms during the silicon containing layer formation and resides on the metal layer beneath the silicon containing layer. The silicon containing layer is removed. The oxidized layer residing on the metal layer is removed after removing the silicon containing layer. | 10-24-2013 |
20150126025 | INTERFACE-FREE METAL GATE STACK - A gate stack for a transistor is formed by a process including forming a high dielectric constant layer on a semiconductor layer. A metal layer is formed on the high dielectric constant layer. A silicon containing layer is formed over the metal layer. An oxidized layer incidentally forms during the silicon containing layer formation and resides on the metal layer beneath the silicon containing layer. The silicon containing layer is removed. The oxidized layer residing on the metal layer is removed after removing the silicon containing layer. | 05-07-2015 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20110042759 | SWITCHING DEVICE HAVING A MOLYBDENUM OXYNITRIDE METAL GATE - A field effect transistor (FET) includes a body region and a source region disposed at least partially in the body region. The FET also includes a drain region disposed at least partially in the body region and a molybdenum oxynitride (MoNO) gate. The FET also includes a dielectric having a high dielectric constant (k) disposed between the body region and the MoNO gate. | 02-24-2011 |
20110168885 | DETERMINING DOPING TYPE AND LEVEL IN SEMICONDUCTING NANOSTRUCTURES - Systems and methods for determining doping type and level in semiconducting nanostructures include generating light from a laser source, directing the light on the device via an extended microscope, collecting electrons emitted from the device in an electron analyzer and calculating the doping type and level of the device. | 07-14-2011 |
20110188172 | HIGH ENERGY DENSITY STORAGE MATERIAL DEVICE USING NANOCHANNEL STRUCTURE - A capacitor includes a plurality of nanochannels formed in a dielectric material. A conductive film is formed over interior surfaces of the nanochannels, and a charge barrier is formed over the conductive film. An electrolytic solution is disposed in the nanochannels. An electrode is coupled to the electrolytic solution in the nanochannels to form the capacitor. | 08-04-2011 |
20120293915 | HIGH ENERGY DENSITY STORAGE MATERIAL DEVICE USING NANOCHANNEL STRUCTURE - A capacitor includes a plurality of nanochannels formed in a dielectric material. A conductive film is formed over interior surfaces of the nanochannels, and a charge barrier is formed over the conductive film. An electrolytic solution is disposed in the nanochannels. An electrode is coupled to the electrolytic solution in the nanochannels to form the capacitor. | 11-22-2012 |
20130128413 | HIGH ENERGY DENSITY STORAGE MATERIAL DEVICE USING NANOCHANNEL STRUCTURE - A capacitor includes a plurality of nanochannels formed in a dielectric material. A conductive film is formed over interior surfaces of the nanochannels, and a charge barrier is formed over the conductive film. An electrolytic solution is disposed in the nanochannels. An electrode is coupled to the electrolytic solution in the nanochannels to form the capacitor. | 05-23-2013 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100006550 | METHOD FOR MINIMIZING SAMPLE DAMAGE DURING THE ABLATION OF MATERIAL USING A FOCUSED ULTRASHORT PULSED LASER BEAM WHEREIN THE SLOPE OF FLUENCE BREAKDOWN IS A FUNCTION OF THE PULSE WIDTH - In one aspect the invention provides a method for laser induced breakdown of a material with a pulsed laser beam where the material is characterized by a relationship of fluence breakdown threshold (Fth) versus laser beam pulse width (T) that exhibits an abrupt, rapid, and distinct change or at least a clearly detectable and distinct change in slope at a predetermined laser pulse width value. The method comprises generating a beam of laser pulses in which each pulse has a pulse width equal to or less than the predetermined laser pulse width value. The beam is focused above the surface of a material where laser induced breakdown is desired. The region of least confusion (minimum beam waist or average spot size) is above the surface of the material in which laser induced breakdown is desired since the intensity of the beam falls off in the forward direction, preferably the region of the beam at or within the surface is between the region of least confusion and sufficient to remove material and the minimum intensity necessary for laser induced breakdown of the material to be removed, most preferably the region of minimum intensity is disposed at the surface of the material to be removed. The beam may be used in combination with a mask in the beam path. The beam or mask may be moved in the x, y, and Z directions to produce desired features. The technique can produce features smaller than the spot size and Rayleigh range due to enhanced damage threshold accuracy in the short pulse regime. | 01-14-2010 |
20130211388 | Apparatus for Minimizing Sample Damage During the Ablation of Biological Tissue Using a Focused Ultrashort Pulsed Laser Beam Wherein the Slope of Fluence Breakdown is a Function of the Pulse Width - An apparatus for laser induced breakdown of a tissue. The apparatus has a source of a beam of one or more laser pulses in which each pulse has a pulse width equal to or less than a pulse width value corresponding to a change in slope of a curve of fluence breakdown threshold (Fth) as a function of laser pulse width (T), the change occurring at a point between first and second portions of the curve, the first portion spanning a range of relatively long pulse width where Fth varies with the square root of pulse width (T1/2) and the second portion spanning a range of short pulse width relative to the first portion with Fth versus T slope which differs from that of the first portion; and an optical system focusing the one or more pulses of the beam to a point above the surface of the tissue to cause laser induced break down of the tissue. | 08-15-2013 |
20130269764 | Back Contact Work Function Modification for Increasing CZTSSe Thin Film Photovoltaic Efficiency - Techniques for increasing conversion efficiency of thin film photovoltaic devices through back contact work function modification are provided. In one aspect, a photovoltaic device is provided having a substrate; a back contact on the substrate, wherein at least a portion of the back contact has a work function of greater than about 4.5 electron volts; an absorber layer on a side of the back contact opposite the substrate; a buffer layer on a side of the absorber layer opposite the back contact; and a top electrode on a side of the buffer layer opposite the absorber layer. The absorber layer preferably has thickness that is less than a depletion width+an accumulation width+a carrier diffusion length. | 10-17-2013 |
20150265351 | Laser Surgical Apparatus and Methods of its Use Minimizing Damage During the Ablation of Tissue Using a Focused Ultrashort Pulsed Laser Beam Wherein the Slope of Fluence Breakdown is a Function of the Pulse Width - A laser apparatus for use in a surgical procedure including a housing forming a part of a handpiece and including interior and exterior regions. A laser cavity extending within the interior region of the housing. A cooling arrangement generating a stream of a first coolant. A precooling unit containing a second concentrated coolant. The cooling arrangement communicates with the precooling unit, so that a cooling stream having thermal calorific capacity higher than the thermal calorific capacity of the first coolant enters the laser cavity. The apparatus has a source of a beam of one or more laser pulses in which each pulse has a pulse width equal to or less than a pulse width value corresponding to a change in slope of a curve of fluence breakdown threshold (Fth) as a function of laser pulse width (T), the change occurring at a point between first and second portions of the curve, the first portion spanning a range of relatively long pulse width where Fth varies with the square root of pulse width (T½) and the second portion spanning a range of short pulse width relative to the first portion with Fth versus T slope which differs from that of the first portion; and an optical system focusing the one or more pulses of the beam to a point above the surface of the tissue to cause laser induced break down of the tissue. | 09-24-2015 |