Abstract: One aspect of the invention relates to an exhaust treatment apparatus having an NOx reduction system comprising first and second catalyst beds in series with associated first and second ammonia injectors. The first catalyst bed with its associated ammonia injector preferably targets removing only about 80 to about 95% percent of the NOx in the vehicle exhaust. The second catalyst bed with its associated injector preferably target removing about 70 to about 100% of the remaining NOx. Staging the reduction system in this manner improves control over NOx reduction and reduces the risk of ammonia slip. Other aspects of the invention relate to methods of treating vehicle exhaust to remove NOx and an SCR reactor comprising a housing having an entrance port, an exit port, and an ammonia injection port, wherein the injection port is configured to inject ammonia in between SCR catalyst beds contained in the housing.

Abstract: One aspect of the invention relates to cooled internal EGR. Cooled internal EGR is achieved by selectively admitting exhaust to an intake manifold. A heat exchanger is used to cool the exhaust within the intake manifold. Another aspect of the invention related to an intake manifold adapted for internal EGR cooling. The manifold has a bulge to retain exhaust, whereby the exhaust admitted to the intake side for internal EGR generally does not flow past the intake manifold and significantly heat or foul any upstream portion of the system. The manifold further includes a heat exchanger for cooling the exhaust. A further aspect of the invention relates to a method of reducing the response time of an EGR system. The method comprises providing a temporary increase in an internal EGR rate during a transition from a first to a second external EGR rate.

Abstract: A cardiovascular imaging and functional analysis system and method is disclosed, wherein a dedicated fast, sensitive, compact and economical imaging gamma camera system that is especially suited for heart imaging and functional analysis is employed. The cardiovascular imaging and functional analysis system of the present invention can be used as a dedicated nuclear cardiology small field of view imaging camera. The disclosed cardiovascular imaging system and method has the advantages of being able to image physiology, while offering an inexpensive and portable hardware, unlike MRI, CT, and echocardiography systems. The cardiovascular imaging system of the invention employs a basic modular design suitable for cardiac imaging with one of several radionucleide tracers.

Abstract: One aspect of the present invention relates to screening patients for an early stage of coronary artery disease. According to this method, a patient is screened based on the time-activity curve for a radioactive tracer passing through a left ventricle region of the patient's body. According to another aspect of the invention, an array of gamma particle detectors is employed to obtain data for a region of interest that is larger than and encompasses a left ventricle region of the patient's body. An analysis of the data identifies the subset of the region of interest that corresponds to the left ventricle region. According to a further aspect of the present invention, a second technique is employed to locate the left ventricle region. A still further aspect of the present invention relates to obtaining images of a patient's heart using a high temporal resolution gamma camera.