Patents Examined by Allen C. Ho
  • Patent number: 11191504
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, an X-ray diagnosis apparatus includes an X-ray generator, an X-ray diaphragm, an X-ray detector, an image capturing unit, a blood vessel running information acquiring unit, a device position specifying unit, and a diaphragm controller. The X-ray generator emits X-rays. The X-ray diaphragm restricts a region to be irradiated with X-rays emitted from the X-ray generator. The X-ray detector detects X-rays emitted from the X-ray generator. The image capturing unit acquires an X-ray image based on a detection result obtained by the X-ray detector. The blood vessel running information acquiring unit acquires blood vessel running information. The device position specifying unit specifies the position of a device in the X-ray image. The diaphragm controller controls the X-ray diaphragm based on the blood vessel running information and the position of the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Canon Medical Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuo Imagawa, Shingo Abe, Akihito Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11181489
    Abstract: Provided herein are methods and apparatus for characterizing high aspect ratio (HAR) structures of fabricated or partially fabricated semiconductor devices. The methods involve using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to determine average parameters of an array of HAR structures. In some implementations, SAXS is used to analyze symmetry of HAR structures in a sample and may be referred to as tilted structural symmetry analysis-SAXS (TSSA-SAXS) or TSSA. Analysis of parameters such as tilt, sidewall angle, bowing, and the presence of multiple tilts in HAR structures may be performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignees: Lam Research Corporation, The Government of the United States of America, represented by the Secretary of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    Inventors: William Dean Thompson, Regis Joseph Kline, Daniel F. Sunday, Wenli Wu, Osman Sorkhabi, Jin Zhang, Xiaoshu Chen
  • Patent number: 11181491
    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure are directed to an analysis of a material of a component. A radiation source is activated to transmit radiation to the component. A beam pattern is obtained based on the component interfering with the radiation. The beam pattern is compared to a reference beam pattern. An anomaly is detected to exist in the material when the comparison indicates a deviation between the beam pattern and the reference beam pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: Raytheon Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Iuliana Cernatescu, David U. Furrer, Venkatarama K. Seetharaman
  • Patent number: 11172908
    Abstract: Various methods and systems are provided for x-ray imaging. In one embodiment, a method comprises acquiring, with an x-ray detector tilted at an angle with respect to an x-ray source, an x-ray image, calculating the angle from the x-ray image, generating a corrected x-ray image based on the calculated angle, and displaying the corrected x-ray image. In this way, tilt artifacts caused by the x-ray detector being tilted with respect to the x-ray source may be removed from an x-ray image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: GE Precision Healthcare LLC
    Inventors: Vinayak Yardi, Prabhu Rajasekaran, Nasir Ahmed Desai, Ashwini Chikkanayakanahalli Vasudeva
  • Patent number: 11175244
    Abstract: The invention provides a novel microfluidic platform for use in electro-crystallization and electro-crystallography experiments. The manufacturing and use of graphene as X-ray compatible electrodes allows the application of electric fields on-chip, during X-ray analysis. The presence of such electric fields can be used to modulate the structure of protein (or other) molecules in crystalline (for X-ray diffraction) or solution form (for X-ray scattering). Additionally, the presence of an electric field can be used to extend the lifetime of fragile samples by expediting the removal of reactive secondary radiation damage species.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: University of Massachusetts
    Inventors: Sarah L. Perry, Shou Sui
  • Patent number: 11173323
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method evaluates a protocol for radiation therapy for a target volume of a patient. The method uses a computer system executing software instructions establishing computer processes. The computer processes receiving and storing data defining the protocol and characterizing the target volume. The computer processes parse the data to extract parameters characterizing the protocol. The computer processes apply the extracted parameters and the target volume to a model that represents relationships among sub-processes and variables pertinent to execution of the protocol in a patient. The computer processes obtain from the model an evaluation of the protocol and providing the evaluation as an output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Inventor: Reshma Munbodh
  • Patent number: 11173325
    Abstract: Methods for treating tumors by administering FLASH radiation and a therapeutic agent to a patient with cancer are disclosed. The methods provide the dual benefits of anti-tumor efficacy plus normal tissue protection when combining therapeutic agents with FLASH radiation to treat cancer patients. The methods described herein also allow for the classification of patients into groups for receiving optimized radiation treatment in combination with a therapeutic agent based on patient-specific biomarker signatures. Also provided are radiation treatment planning methods and systems incorporating FLASH radiation and therapeutic agents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: Varian Medical Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Renate Parry, Eric Abel, Swati Girdhani, Stanley Mansfield, Patrick Kupelian, Deepak Khuntia
  • Patent number: 11175246
    Abstract: A collector device for determining a metal in an exploration sample containing a concentration of the metal not directly detectable by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), comprises an adsorbent material capable of concentrating metal from a digestion mixture produced by digesting the exploration sample, which is configured for association with an analysis window of the XRF detector to facilitate determination of the amount of metal value in the exploration sample. A sample preparation vessel, method and system used to prepare exploration samples for analysis includes a vessel for receiving the exploration sample, a digestion tablet and a digestion medium; a closure to allow the vessel to be agitated to produce a digestion mixture comprising dissolved metal and the collector device. The closure and the collector device are coupled so that collector device is retrieved from the vessel by removing the closure. The digestion tablet includes a metal lixiviate and an alkali compound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: COMMONWEALTH SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION
    Inventor: Melvyn Lintern
  • Patent number: 11166685
    Abstract: A radiation detector according to an embodiment includes a plurality of radiation detector modules and a fixing frame. When a radiation detector module is attached to the fixing frame, a guiding part with a groove shape formed at an end of a support member of the radiation detector module on a side of the fixing frame is fitted to a guiding pin provided to an end of the fixing frame, so that the radiation detector module is positioned in a radiation irradiation direction while a movement thereof in a channel direction and a row direction is restricted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: CANON MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masao Takayasu, Minoru Horinouchi, Akira Nishijima
  • Patent number: 11169021
    Abstract: A UV detection device is removably attached to a surface of a structure and includes a photodetector to detect UV light incident on the structure. The UV detection device includes signal processing and a transmitter that wirelessly transmits UV detection data to a remote monitoring station where the detection signals are accumulated and analyzed to determine the total exposure of the structure to UV light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventor: Morteza Safai
  • Patent number: 11163089
    Abstract: A neutron imaging device employs a neutron source including a sealed enclosure, gamma ray detector(s) spaced from the neutron source, and particle detector(s) disposed in the sealed enclosure of the neutron source. The output of the particle detector(s) can be used to obtain a direction of particles generated by the neutron source and corresponding directions of neutrons generated by the neutron source. Such information can be processed to determine locations in the surrounding borehole environment where the secondary gamma rays are generated and determine data representing formation density at such locations. In one aspect, the gamma ray detector(s) of the neutron imaging device can include at least one scintillation crystal with shielding disposed proximate opposite ends of the scintillation crystal. In another aspect, the particle detector(s) of the neutron imaging device can include a resistive anode encoder having a ceramic substrate and resistive glaze.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: SCHLUMBERGER TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Harold Pfutzner, Mohammed Badri, Mustapha Abbad
  • Patent number: 11154260
    Abstract: An apparatus for computed tomography imaging of a patient has a rotatable mount that is actuable to rotate about a rotation axis and that supports, at opposite ends an x-ray source and an x-ray detector, wherein the x-ray source is disposed to direct a radiation beam through the patient and toward the detector. A patient positioning apparatus positions the patient relative to the rotation axis. A control logic processor controls rotation of the rotatable mount and acquires image data for the patient at each of a number of angular positions about the rotation axis. A collimator is disposed in front of the x-ray source and controlled by the control logic processor to center the radiation beam, at each of the plurality of angular positions, on a region of interest that is spaced apart from the rotation axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: TROPHY
    Inventors: Sylvie M. Bothorel, Vincent Loustauneau, Colombe Maury, Jean-Marc Inglese
  • Patent number: 11154725
    Abstract: Devices, systems, and methods for planning radiosurgical treatments for neuromodulating a portion of the renovascular system may be used to plan radiosurgical neuromodulation treatments for conditions or disease associated with elevated central sympathetic drive. The renal nerves may be located and targeted at the level of the ganglion and/or at postganglionic positions, as well as preganglionic positions. Target regions include the renal plexus, celiac ganglion, the superior mesenteric ganglion, the aorticorenal ganglion and the aortic plexus. Planning of radiosurgical treatments will optionally employ a graphical representation of a blood/tissue interface adjacent these targets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Varian Medical Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Patrick Maguire, Edward Gardner
  • Patent number: 11147985
    Abstract: The invention relates to a dynamic sliding-window-like initialization for, for example, iterative VMAT algorithms. Specifically, a dynamic sliding window conversion method is contemplated where typical dynamic VMAT constraints are taken into account to find an optimal set of suitable openings (i.e. binary masks) that can be used as quasi-feasible start initialization for any VMAT algorithm that can refine until a deliverable plan is reached. Here, a multileaf leaf tip trajectory least square constrained optimization is performed to find a set of optimal unidirectional trajectories for all MLC leaf pairs of all arc points. To ensure that a quasi-feasible (or better quasi-deliverable) solution is returned, for example, a maximum dose rate, a maximum gantry speed, a maximum leafs speed, and a maximum treatment time may be enforced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V.
    Inventors: Alfonso Agatino Isola, Christoph Neukirchen, Torbjoern Vik, Harald Sepp Heese, Rolf Juergen Weese
  • Patent number: 11147525
    Abstract: A medical imaging device includes an x-ray source disposed at a first end of an arm, and an x-ray detector disposed at a second end of the arm opposite of the x-ray source. At least one of the x-ray source, the x-ray detector, and a portion of the arm are selectively adjustable with respect to the arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: HOLOGIC, INC.
    Inventors: Richard Keil, Daniel Santos, Mark Guetersloh, Kevin Wilson, Tri Pham, Alexsey Danilkin
  • Patent number: 11143605
    Abstract: A system and a method use x-ray fluorescence to analyze a specimen by illuminating a specimen with an incident x-ray beam having a near-grazing incident angle relative to a surface of the specimen and while the specimen has different rotational orientations relative to the incident x-ray beam. Fluorescence x-rays generated by the specimen in response to the incident x-ray beam are collected while the specimen has the different rotational orientations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: Sigray, Inc.
    Inventors: Wenbing Yun, Sylvia Jia Yun Lewis, Janos Kirz, Benjamin Donald Stripe
  • Patent number: 11147151
    Abstract: A rotary anode driving device includes a DC power supply, an inverter circuit which is connected to the DC power supply and includes a plurality of switching elements and, the inverter circuit generates an AC voltage from a DC voltage of the DC power supply, and outputs the AC voltage to a stator coil which generates a rotating magnetic field of an X-ray tube; a pulse width modulation (PWM) waveform generator configured to generate an AC voltage of two phases or three phases as the AC voltage from the DC voltage by performing PWM control of the switching elements of the inverter circuit; and a capacitor connected in series to an input side of a stator coil of at least one phase of the stator coil, the capacitor having an electrostatic capacitance constituting a series resonant circuit with the stator coil to which the capacitor is connected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2021
    Assignee: Shimadzu Corporation
    Inventor: Yasuhiro Demura
  • Patent number: 11134903
    Abstract: A digital dental x-ray sensor device includes a rounded, three dimensional housing that lacks corners, edges, or other relatively sharp features that are known to cause discomfort when used in a patient's mouth. The rounded housing can be spherical, ellipsoid, or any similar regular or irregular rounded shape, and can be formed by ensuring that all curves of the surface of the rounded housing have a minimum radius that is sufficient to prevent features that can dig into the soft tissue of the inside of a patient's mouth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Inventor: Shayda Cullen
  • Patent number: 11134910
    Abstract: Disclosed is a mammography device capable of recognizing a target person, the mammography device including: a body unit; an arm frame connected to the body unit, and rotating in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction; an X-ray generator placed at a top of the arm frame, and emitting X-rays; a mammography plate provided at a position corresponding to the X-ray generator, and obtaining an X-ray image of a breast of a target person; a compression unit placed between the X-ray generator and the mammography plate, and moving vertically to compress a target part; a sensor unit placed inside the mammography plate, and detecting whether the target person is present; and a control unit controlling an operation of the arm frame on the basis of whether the target person is detected by the sensor unit. Accordingly, a safety accident that may occur in a mammography process using the mammography device is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2021
    Assignee: VIEWORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Seok Jong Kim
  • Patent number: 11123029
    Abstract: A method is for producing a grid-like beam collimator. In an embodiment, the method includes printing a suspension, including a binder and metal particles, in several stacked layers to build a layer stack with a grid structure including a number of crossing webs, and removing the binder from the layer stack. In an embodiment, the printing includes applying a curable liquid stiffening material at least on a surface of the grid structure, and curing the curable liquid stiffening material after the applying.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: SIEMENS HEALTHCARE GMBH
    Inventors: Andreas Freund, Harald Geyer, Stefan Wirth, Guido Stiebritz, Thomas Studnitzky, Kay Reuter, Francois Dary, Mike Stawovy