Abstract: In order to facilitate appropriate biopsy puncture in magnetic resonance imaging, a puncture needle support tool has a base member 610 attached to an RF coil 200, a slider 630 attached to the base member movably in parallel to the axis of the RF coil, and a puncture needle guide 636 having a puncture needle through hole 638 and an MR marker 640 disposed in parallel to the through hole, capable of linearly moving in a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction on the slider and of rotatively moving in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the RF coil.

Abstract: In order to effectively use an angiography arm and a CT gantry and improve examination efficiency, angiographic imaging of a subject Ha in an angiography room Ra and CT imaging of a subject Hc in a CT room Rc are independently performed in one mode. In another, a CT gantry 40 is moved to the angiography room Ra with an X-ray protection door D open, to alternately perform angiographic imaging and CT imaging on the subject Ha in the angiography room Ra in a cycle of, for example, five minutes.

Abstract: A valve positioner and current-to-pneumatic converter having a reduced number of components and increased current allocation to a current-to-pneumatic conversion module therein, wherein current signals containing set point information are applied to a digital computation circuit through input terminals which carries out control computation to control valve openings so that each valve opening agrees with each corresponding set point; and a current-to-pneumatic conversion module converts the control outputs from the digital computation circuit into pneumatic signals; and further comprising a power voltage generator that generates an internal power voltage from the current signal; a variable impedance circuit connected in series to the power voltage generator and in parallel to the current-to-pneumatic conversion module; and an impedance control circuit that controls the impedance of the variable impedance circuit.

Abstract: In order to perform imaging with water and fat separated in an efficient manner, a tomographic image is obtained having a phase difference of &pgr;/2 between water and fat using magnetic resonance (700), the phase of the tomographic image is multiplied by n (706), the phase after being corrected for wraparound is multiplied by 1/n (714, 716), and a phase image representing magnetic field inhomogeneity is generated. The tomographic image is corrected for phase using the phase image (718), and is separated into a water image and a fat image (726).

Abstract: In order to provide a magnetic resonance signal collection method and apparatus that suppress false images caused by motion of an imaged object, the order of selecting trajectories a-p is randomized. Alternatively, the angular difference is set at 90° between first and next trajectories, and then new trajectories are defined so that the angular difference between adjacent trajectories is a repeatedly bisected angle in sequence.

Abstract: In order to reduce ghost artifacts due to a Maxwell term phase error caused by a data acquisition read gradient, an n-th Maxwell term collection pulse MTCPn is appended before an inversion RF pulse RF180 for an n-th shot in an I-echo N-shot EPI pulse sequence. The n-th Maxwell term collection pulse MTCPn has a waveform whose time integral value is zero, and gives a bias phase error such that a Maxwell term phase error which is caused by a data acquisition read gradient and contained in data filling out a k-space smoothly varies from a 1st row to an N·I-th row in the direction of a phase encoding axis.

Abstract: With the objective of preventing variations in sensitivity even if samples to be inserted between an upper coil and a lower coil opposite to each other are different in body frame, a pre-scan is effected on a sample in a state in which the sample is placed in a space defined between the upper coil and the lower coil, and reflected waves sent from the coils are detected by a directional coupler. Further, a comparison controller controls an attenuator so that the voltages of the reflected waves are equalized. Afterwards, a main scan is carried out.

Abstract: In order to control a collimator so that an X-ray impingement position on an X-ray detector is kept constant, an error of the impingement position of a fan-shaped beam (400) in the direction of side-by-side arrangement of a plurality of detector element rows in a detector element array (24) is detected (101), and the collimator is controlled (103) based on the detected error so that the impingement position of the fan-shaped beam is kept at a constant position.

Abstract: A transfer system used in transferring a semiconductor from one process to another process during manufacture, and comprising first and second upper arms and first and second forearms assembled to form a frog-legs like structure, with the first and second forearms being linked to a forearm link, and a transfer hand attached to the forearm link; wherein the transfer hand is moved by associating the first upper arm motion with the first and second forearm motions, and by associating the second upper arm motion with the first and second forearm motions.

Abstract: The present invention aims to achieve a chip having a construction in which each film of metal, dielectric, and fluorescent material is stacked on a glass substrate 1. Such a construction can enhance the intensity of fluorescence emitted from a fluorescent material owing to the interaction between the fluorescent material and the light propagation mode in that construction.

Abstract: In order to provide a gradient magnetic field application method and apparatus for preventing artifacts due to a magnetic field outside a field of view (FOV), and a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus employing such a gradient magnetic field application apparatus, in performing a plurality of RF excitations of spins of atomic nuclei within a subject to be imaged in the presence of a gradient magnetic field and producing an image based on magnetic resonance signals generated by the spins, at least the polarity of the gradient magnetic field in a first RF excitation (G90) and the polarity of the gradient magnetic field in the next RF excitation (G180) are made opposite to each other.

Abstract: The present invention provides a biochip reader for reading image information appropriate for a plurality of samples with an optical detector, by emitting a plurality of light beams onto a biochip on which the plurality of samples are arranged in spots or linear arrays. The biochip reader is configured so that the spatial positions of the plurality of samples and the plurality of light beams agree with each other. Since this biochip reader configuration requires no scanning, it is possible to read image information from multiple samples at high speed. Furthermore, as long as a comparison is made with reference to the same duration of reading, the required level of light intensity decreases as the number of beams increases. Thus, there is no need for emitting high-intensity beams of laser light as seen in the prior art. Consequently, there is virtually no risk of bleaching fluorescent stain.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the healthy supplementary foods and the technology for making them by enabling the efficient collection of young leaves of rice plant rich in nutrition and processing without losing nutrition characteristic of young leaves of rice plant. Collection of young leaves of rice plant consists in cutting young leaves 2 of the upper side only while leaving the below part of the rice plant when rice plant has grown so old as to be in ears or just before this, allowing for cutting the remaining young leaves after they have grown again after passing a certain period of time. This step will be repeated several times. The young leaves 2 cut out will be pre-processed appropriately like cleaning before they are far infrared dried to contain a given volume of water, thus refraining, for instance, the destruction of the useful compounds- in the young leaves 2 of rice plant.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the lid of the liquid container appropriate for pouring drinks like coffee dropping from a coffee maker and the liquid container, more particularly the lid to be attached to the pouring inlet on the upper part of the liquid container, with a thermometer for measuring the temperature of the liquid inside the above said liquid container, exhibiting the indicator of temperature up on the said lid of the liquid container in order that by knowing the temperature of liquid inside easily from outside, coffee turned cool will not be served by mistake, and also the liquid container having the lid.

Abstract: For the purpose of compensating for a variation in the static magnetic field of an MRI apparatus, RF probes 1P1 and 1P2 are placed and a reference static magnetic field is measured as a reference frequency in the beginning; the static magnetic field is measured at an appropriate time as a frequency to determine the amount of static magnetic field variation from their difference; and the transmission frequency of an RF pulse and the receiving detection frequency of an NMR signal are corrected or the gradient current for a gradient coil is corrected so as to compensate for the amount of the magnetic field variation.

Abstract: To preventing a deterioration in NMR signals due to a slice-leaned state, in executing a pulse sequence by the spin echo method, the inclination angle G2 of the slice gradient at the time of applying a 180° RF pulse P is made smaller than the inclination angle G1 of the slice gradient at the time of applying a 90° RF pulse R.

Abstract: In forming an image without clutters indicative of a dynamic state of an echo source containing a harmonic contrast agent based on the Doppler shift of a ultrasonic echo, the variance T of the velocity of the echo source is evaluated based on the Doppler shift, and the signal strength of the image is adjusted depending on the value of variance.

Abstract: To make it possible to lower the luminance of an LCD to a level suitable for a dark place, either first image data based on which a predetermined image is displayed or second image data based on which the same image is displayed with lower luminance than the predetermined image based on the first image data is transferred to an LCD via a selecting means.

Abstract: In order to reduce residual magnetization caused by gradient pulses, for a gradient pulse having either a positive or negative polarity, a residual magnetization reducing pulse is applied after applying the gradient pulse, or for two or more successively applied gradient pulses having different polarities, the amplitude of the gradient pulse(s) is adjusted to reduce residual magnetization thereafter.

Abstract: In order to obtain an optimum PRF, the velocity distribution of an echo source is calculated based on the Doppler shift of an ultrasonic wave echo, the profile of the velocity distribution is calculated (172), the reflection of the profile is corrected (174), the maximum value of the velocity in the corrected profile is detected (176), and the PRF of the ultrasonic wave transmission is adjusted based thereon (178).