Abstract: A surgical barrier device includes an inflatable thermal blanket formed integrally with, or attached to, a surgical drape. The inflatable thermal blanket is inflatable through an inlet by a thermally-controlled inflating medium. An aperture array on the undersurface of the inflatable thermal blanket exhausts the thermally controlled inflating medium from the inflatable thermal blanket. The surgical drape extends from the inflatable thermal blanket and is sized to substantially cover the entirety of the patient's body. Where patient access is required, the drape has an opening to provide access to a surgical site.

Abstract: A data communication system transports a sequence of digital data frames that convey client input data encoded with secondary data. The system can utilize known, proprietary, or future techniques for digital data encoding, digital watermarking, data encryption, or the like. The secondary data can be frame alignment data, private data intended only for certain destination devices, and/or other data types. In a practical embodiment, the data frames are compliant with optical transport networks.

Abstract: An adaptor enables a convective treatment system to be modified for cooling by providing a bath of pressurized, cooled air intended to lower the body core temperature of a person. The adaptor may be constructed for being coupled between a blower assembly that provides a stream of pressurized air and a convective treatment device that receives the stream of pressurized air, distributes it, and provides it for bathing the body of a person in a general bath of cooled air in order to produce a desired clinical effect such as prevention or alleviation of hyperthermia or for thermal comfort. Such an adaptor may be embodied as an enclosure having a shaped internal cavity. The shape is useful for effectively and efficiently distributing a flow of pressurized over, around and through a bed of ice disposed in the cavity. Ports are provided in the enclosure for introducing a flow of pressurized air into, and receiving a flow of pressurized air from, the cavity.

Abstract: A thermal blanket includes an inflatable covering with a head end, a foot end, two edges, and an undersurface. The covering includes a plurality of inflatable chambers that are inflated when a thermal-controlled inflating medium is introduced into the thermal blanket through an inlet at the foot end. When inflated, the thermal blanket self-erects into a structure and provides a bath of thermally-controlled inflating medium to the interior of the erected structure through an aperture array on the undersurface of the inflatable covering. The thermal blanket is constructed for substantially longitudinal disposition over a portion of a patient's body extending from the pelvic area to the feet of the patient's body. Provision may be made for securing the inflatable covering to the patient's body at the head end. Provision may further be made for an uninflatable foot drape at the foot end.

Abstract: A thermal blanket includes an inflatable covering with a head end, a foot end, two edges and an undersurface. The covering is inflated through an inlet at the foot end by a thermally-controlled inflating medium. An aperture array on the undersurface of the covering exhausts the thermally-controlled inflating medium from the covering. Exhaust port openings are provided at the edges of the covering to vent the inflating medium, which enhances circulation of the thermally-controlled medium through the cover. An uninflatable section is provided at the head end, together with an absorbent bib attached to the covering, adjacent the uninflatable section. When inflated, the thermal blanket self-erects and provides a bath of thermally-controlled inflating medium to the interior of the erected structure.

Abstract: A tissue treatment device suitable for use on an extremity or a portion of an extremity, such as a hand or foot, includes a cover formed as a bag, sac, or pouch, and a flexible, absorbent support member. Defined sections of the support member may be removed from the support member to form an opening therein. The support member is for being positioned within the cover to support a portion of the cover off of, and out of contact with, tissue to be treated. The cover has an open end with attachment means disposed thereon for attachment to the extremity or extremity portion that is received in the cover. The support member may be impregnated with a medicament. The removable sections allow formation of an opening that may be customized or adapted to the area of tissue that is to receive treatment. This permits the tissue treatment device to be adapted for use with treatment areas that vary in size, shape, contour, and composition.

Abstract: A modular bandage for treating wounds located on highly contoured, non-planar regions of a person includes a standoff for placement near the wound, and a sheet of material for forming a sealed environment over the wound in conjunction with the standoff. The modular bandage may further include a heater to thermally regulate the sealed environment formed by the standoff and the sheet of material. A sheet of material for such a bandage may include various uniform or compound structures.

Abstract: A high-speed, half rate phase detector provides an effective solution to the problem of XOR gate response to the minimum width signal precursors (Q1 and Q2) of a phase signal that indicates a phase difference between a data signal and a clock signal by combining the precursor signals in a multiplexer and combining the multiplexed signal with the data signal in an XOR gate. This affords the transition information in the transitions of the precursor signals, which is significant of phase difference, without requiring the XOR gate to respond to the minimum widths of those pulses.

Abstract: A warming pack includes a container in the form of a pack, pouch, or bag in which reactants for an exothermic chemical reaction are distributed in one or more flexible matrixes that prevent them from shifting. The rate of the reaction is controlled and the reaction is thermally buffered in order that heat be produced at a constant rate.

Abstract: A method is provided for organizing a communications frame structure with selectable synchronization words. The frame structure includes a header section for overhead bits. The number of bits, position of those bits, and the content of the bits used for synchronization of the frame structure are selected from the header section for use in transmitting information. On the receiving end of the transmission, the same number, position, and content of bits are selected to synchronize the received information stream. A communications repeater and system using the above-described selectable frame synchronization structure method is also provided.

Abstract: An optical transport network data frame structure is configured to provide an in-band data channel. The in-band channel data is contained in the data frame space that would otherwise be allocated to forward error correction (“FEC”) bytes. Consequently, the provision of the in-band data channel does not affect the number of client data bytes contained in the data frame structure. In accordance with a practical embodiment, the data frame structure is compliant with IaDI specifications set forth in ITU-T Recommendation G.709/Y.1331.

Abstract: A system and method have been provided to increase security in scrambled communications by periodically changing the seed masks used to generate the scrambling algorithms at the transmitter and receiver. The scrambling algorithm is changed by periodically modifying the seed masks which establishes the initial state of the scrambling algorithm generators. The same seed mask key is passed through an auxiliary communication channel to the receiver to insure that matching descrambling algorithms are generated.

Abstract: Skew-tolerant Gray codes have the property that consecutive code words differ in only one co-ordinate position, and the additional property that, in each consecutive group of three consecutive code words, the first and third code words differ in only two adjacent coordinate positions.

Abstract: A forced air warming unit has a casing with inlet and outlet openings. The casing encloses a scroll housing with a curved inside surface in which a blower is disposed. A circuit board in the casing encloses the blower in the scroll housing. At least one opening penetrates the circuit board. A heater plate is disposed between the circuit board and the blower. The blower draws air through the inlet opening, along a first side of the circuit board through the at least one opening into the scroll housing. The blower also forces air along a second side of the circuit board which faces the scroll housing, through air passages in the circuit board, along the first side through the at least one opening, into the scroll housing. The blower accelerates air along the curved inside surface and past the heater plate. Heated, pressurized air exits through the outlet opening.

Abstract: A fluid warming cassette with a stiffening frame structure and a key mechanism is provided to support a parenteral fluid container. The fluid container is desirably thin to minimize heat exchange inefficiencies. The frame structure permits the thin fluid container to be inserted into the narrow space between fixed position warming plates of a warming unit. The frame structure has a quadrilateral shape with sides and ends. The fluid container is attached, at its periphery to the sides and ends of the frame structure, within the quadrilateral shape. The key mechanism prevents the cassette from being inserted upside down or backwards in a warming unit. Part of the frame structure may be formed into a handle to assist in both the insertion and removal of the cassette from a warming unit.

Abstract: Apparatus and a system for thermally comforting a patient include pneumatic, convective device providing thermal treatment for persons or animals. The pneumatic convective device is adapted to fit around a person's neck and provides convective warming focused or directed primarily on the thorax or body core. The pneumatic convective device includes an inlet, a region in distribution with the inlet for distributing a stream of pressurized, thermally treated air, and a permeable member for emitting pressurized, thermally treated air from the distribution region.

Abstract: A system and method have been provided for synchronizing the timing of line cards and switch cards in a broadband switch. Synchronization is accomplished using an auxiliary data link between the line and switch cards. One of the switch cards is selected as the master switch card. The master switch card receives timing information from the line cards, and in turn, sends timing correction signals to each of the line cards. Each line card acquires synchronization using its respective timing correction. A master line card is selected from among the line cards, and the slave switch cards adopt the timing of the master line card, becoming synchronized to the master switch card.

Abstract: A non-contact wound treatment device suitable for releasable attachment to a patient's skin surface over a selected wound area in a non-contact position relative to the selected wound area, the wound treatment device comprising an attachment portion suitable for releasable attachment with the patient's skin surface, having an inner perimeter for defining the selected wound area, a wound treatment portion with a substantially planar wound cover and a support member supporting the wound cover, and a transition portion with a membrane connecting the wound treatment portion to the attachment portion, the membrane extending around the outer perimeter of the support member and attached to the attachment portion between the inner and outer perimeter of the attachment portion.

Abstract: A modular bandage for treating wounds located on highly contoured, non-planar regions of a person includes a standoff for placement near the wound, and a sheet of material for forming a sealed environment over the wound in conjunction with the standoff. The modular bandage may further include a heater to thermally regulate the sealed environment formed by the standoff and the sheet of material. A sheet of material for such a bandage may include various uniform or compound structures.

Abstract: A system and method have been provided for programming synchronization features of a multidimensional digital frame structure. Such a frame structure acts as a digital wrapper, and includes overhead, payload, and forward error correction (FEC) sections. Words in the overhead section are used to synchronize the frame structure. The described invention permits the location of the frame synchronization bytes (FSBs) to be made programmable, so that the system and method are flexible for changes in communication protocols. This flexibility also impacts the number, the value, bandwidth, and the allowable bit error rate (BER) of the located FSBs.