Patents Represented by Attorney, Agent or Law Firm Scott J. Asmus
  • Patent number: 7898807
    Abstract: A substrate for power electronics mounted thereon, comprises a middle ceramic layer having a lower surface and an upper surface, an upper metal layer attached to the upper surface of the middle ceramic layer, and a lower metal layer attached to the lower surface of the middle ceramic layer. The lower metal layer has a plurality of millichannels configured to deliver a coolant for cooling the power electronics, wherein the millichannels are formed on the lower metal layer prior to attachment to the lower surface of the middle ceramic layer. Methods for making a cooling device and an apparatus are also presented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2011
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Richard Alfred Beaupre, Ljubisa Dragoljub Stevanovic
  • Patent number: 7852079
    Abstract: A apparatus for low AC loss thermal shielding includes a plurality of thermally conducting fibers positioned along a desired direction of heat conduction. The fibers are electrically insulated from each other. The fibers are bonded together with a matrix, and a thermal link connects the bonded fibers to a cryogenic cold head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Xianrui Huang, Evangelos T. Laskaris, Paul S. Thompson, Bulent Aksel
  • Patent number: 7844032
    Abstract: A collimator includes a first plate having an aperture therein, the aperture configured to allow passage of a beam of x-rays from a source of a multi-spot source therethrough, and a second plate parallelly positioned with respect to the first plate and configured to receive and attenuate a first portion of the beam of x-rays passing through the aperture in the first plate, the second plate having an aperture therein configured to non-concentrically overlap the aperture in the first plate, to receive a second portion of the beam of x-rays passing through the aperture in the first plate, and to allow passage of the second portion of the beam of x-rays therethrough. A portion of the aperture in the first plate and a portion of the aperture in the second plate form a composite aperture parallel to the beam of x-rays, the composite aperture configured to allow passage of the second portion of the beam of x-rays through the first and second plates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Mark E. Vermilyea, Colin R. Wilson, Yun Zou
  • Patent number: 7838774
    Abstract: A low AC loss electrical conductor includes a plurality of single-filament superconducting strands longitudinally wound about one another. An insulative housing surrounds the plurality of single-filament superconducting strands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Xianrui Huang, Minfeng Xu
  • Patent number: 7829402
    Abstract: A MOSFET device and a method for fabricating MOSFET devices are disclosed. The method includes providing a semiconductor device structure including a semiconductor device layer of a first conductivity type, and ion implanting a well structure of a second conductivity type in the semiconductor device layer, where the ion implanting includes providing a dopant concentration profile in a single mask implant sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Kevin Sean Matocha, Stephen Daley Arthur, Ramakrishna Rao, Peter Almern Losee, Zachary Matthew Stum
  • Patent number: 7829856
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for determining a system matrix for pinhole collimator imaging systems are provided. One method includes using a closed form expression to determine a penetration term for a collimator of the medical imaging system and determining a point spread function of the collimator based on the penetration term. The method further includes calculating the system matrix for the medical imaging system based on the determined point spread function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Floribertus Heukensfeldt Jansen, Girish Bal
  • Patent number: 7826587
    Abstract: A CT system includes a gantry, an x-ray source, a generator configured to energize the x-ray source to a first kVp and to a second kVp, a detector, and a controller. The controller is configured energize the x-ray source to the first kVp for a first time period, subsequently energize the x-ray source to the second kVp for a second time period, integrate data for a first integration period that includes a portion of a steady-state period of the x-ray source at the first kVp, integrate data for a second integration period that includes a portion of a steady-state period of the x-ray source at the second kVp, compare a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) during the first integration period (SNRH) and the second integration period (SNRL), adjust an operating parameter of the CT system to optimize an SNRH with SNRL, and generate an image using the integrated data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: David Allen Langan, John Eric Tkaczyk, James Walter LeBlanc, Colin R. Wilson, Xiaoye Wu, Dan Xu, Thomas Matthew Benson, Jed Douglas Pack
  • Patent number: 7824335
    Abstract: An imaging probe having multi-level transmitter cells. The imaging probe includes a plurality of acoustical sub-elements for transmitting and receiving acoustic energy for imaging. Each of the multi-level transmitter cells is arranged along a respective transmitter cell path between a switching matrix and one of the acoustical sub-elements. The multi-level transmitter cells in the probe are capable of producing signals having multiple voltage levels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Robert Gideon Wodnicki
  • Patent number: 7813474
    Abstract: A CT system includes a rotatable gantry having an opening for receiving a subject to be scanned, a rotatable gantry having an opening for receiving a subject to be scanned, an x-ray source configured to project x-rays having multiple energies toward the subject, and a generator configured to energize the x-ray source to a first voltage and configured to energize the x-ray source to a second voltage, the first voltage distinct from the second voltage. The system further includes a controller configured to cause the generator to energize the x-ray source to the first voltage for a first duration, acquire imaging data for at least one view during at least the first duration, after the first duration, cause the generator to energize the x-ray source to the second voltage for a second duration, and acquire imaging data for two or more views during at least the second duration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Xiaoye Wu, James W. LeBlanc, Paavana Sainath, Thomas John Myers, Charles Hugh Shaughnessy, Uwe Wiedmann
  • Patent number: 7813473
    Abstract: A technique is provided for the temporal interpolation of a projection data set acquired of a dynamic object, such as a heart. The projection data set is acquired using a slowly rotating gantry and a distributed X-ray source. The projection data may be interpolated at each view position to a selected instant of time, such as relative to a cardiac phase. The resulting interpolated projection data characterize the projection data at each view location at any instant in time. The set of interpolated projection data may then be reconstructed to generate images and/or volume with improved temporal resolution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Peter Michael Edic, Bruno De Man, Samit Basu
  • Patent number: 7801277
    Abstract: A system and method for limiting emittance growth in an electron beam is disclosed. The system includes an emitter element configured to generate an electron beam and an extraction electrode positioned adjacent to the emitter element to extract the electron beam out therefrom, the extraction electrode including an opening therethrough. The system also includes a meshed grid disposed in the opening of the extraction electrode to enhance intensity and uniformity of an electric field at a surface of the emitter element and an emittance compensation electrode (ECE) positioned adjacent to the meshed grid on the side of the meshed grid opposite that of the emitter element and configured to control emittance growth of the electron beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Yun Zou, Yang Cao, Louis Paul Inzinna, Vasile Bogdan Neculaes
  • Patent number: 7791252
    Abstract: An ultrasonic imaging system wherein an exemplary system includes an array of transducer elements arranged along a first plane for transmitting first signals and receiving reflected signals for image processing. Circuit structures each have a major surface positioned in a co-planar orientation with respect to a major surface of another of the circuit structures to provide a sequence of the structures in a stack-like formation. Electrical connections are formed between adjacent circuit structures in the sequence. A connector region on each circuit structure includes a distal portion extending away from the major surface-with distal portions of connector regions of adjacent structures spaced apart from one another. A first wiring pattern extends from the major surface to the distal portion of the connector region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Charles Edward Baumgartner, Robert Stephen Lewandowski, Kevin Matthew Durocher, David Chartrand
  • Patent number: 7782058
    Abstract: A system and method for accelerated MR imaging includes a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system having a plurality of gradient coils positioned about a bore of a magnet, and an RF transceiver system and an RF switch controlled by a pulse module to transmit RF signals to an RF coil assembly comprising at least one RF transmit coil and comprising multiple coils to acquire MR images. The MRI apparatus also has a computer programmed to excite multiple pencil regions by use of an under-sampled echo-planar excitation trajectory and acquire MR signals simultaneously on multiple channels of the RF coil assembly. The computer is also programmed to separate contributions from the various multiple pencil regions by use of parallel imaging reconstruction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Christopher Judson Hardy, Luca Marinelli
  • Patent number: 7766833
    Abstract: A system for imaging and providing therapy to one or more regions of interest is presented. The system includes an imaging and therapy catheter configured to image an anatomical region to facilitate assessing need for therapy in one or more regions within the anatomical region and delivering therapy to the one or more regions of interest within the anatomical region. The catheter includes a therapy device having a plurality of independently controllable therapy elements. The independence of the therapy elements is exploited when multiple regions are to receive therapy simultaneously or at a given catheter position within a subject.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Warren Lee, Mirsaid Seyed-Bolorforosh, Douglas Glenn Wildes
  • Patent number: 7759680
    Abstract: Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, a detector panel of an imaging system may be produced from a photodiode array integrated with a thin-film transistor array. The thin film transistor array may have one or more vias formed for increasing the adhesion of the photodiode array to the thin-film transistor array. The vias may comprise sidewalls having stepped structures. The thin-film transistor array may comprise a first metallization layer and a second metallization layer. A third metallization layer may be added to the thin film transistor array wherein diodes of the photodiode array may contact the third metallization layer. Diodes of the photodiode array may contact the first metallization layer and/or the second metallization layer via the third metallization layer without directly contacting the first metallization layer or the second metallization layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ching-Yeu Wei, Douglas Albagli, William Hennessy
  • Patent number: 7756310
    Abstract: A method and system for segmenting structures such as lesions in an image is provided. The method comprises selecting one seed inside a lesion in an image either by a user or automatically. The method further includes deriving a directionally statistical model based on a background region or a foreground region of the lesion and determining candidate voxels along a radial direction. The candidate voxels represent the lesion. The method further includes segmenting the lesion using the candidate voxels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ravindra Mohan Manjeshwar, James Vradenburg Miller, Thomas Baby Sebastian
  • Patent number: 7741611
    Abstract: A radiation detector includes at least one multiple channel pixelated detector driven via a plurality of pixelated anode electrodes and at least one planar cathode electrode. Each detector is configured to reduce the number of active pixelated anode electrodes until a rate of events detected via at least one corresponding planar cathode electrode exceeds a preset threshold above a background count rate within a predetermined time period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Yanfeng Du, Naresh Kesavan Rao, Brian David Yanoff, Wen Li
  • Patent number: 7742672
    Abstract: A base composition is provided. The base composition includes a binder, a reactive monomer, and an anti-haze additive. The binder may include an optically transmissive polymer. The reactive monomer may be both curable and volatile. The binder and the reactive monomer have differing refractive indices relative to each other. A cured layer formed from the base composition may be formed into an article have particular properties. A method of making the layer is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Thomas Bert Gorczyca
  • Patent number: 7742566
    Abstract: A multi-energy imaging system and method for selectively generating high-energy X-rays and low-energy X-ray beams are described. A pair of optic devices are used, one optic device being formed to emit high X-ray energies and the other optic device being formed to emit low X-ray energies. A selective filtering mechanism is used to filter the high X-ray energies from the low X-ray energies. The optic devices have at least a first solid phase layer having a first index of refraction with a first photon transmission property and a second solid phase layer having a second index of refraction with a second photon transmission property. The first and second layers are conformal to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Forrest Frank Hopkins, Susanne Madeline Lee, Peter Michael Edic
  • Patent number: 7742800
    Abstract: A method for increasing sensitivity and/or specificity of a magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging technique for detecting a neurodegenerative disease is provided. The method includes acquiring magnetic resonance spectroscopy data from the brain of a subject, while suppressing certain metabolites in the spectrum via a data acquisition protocol, to improve quantification accuracy for the remaining metabolites, and quantifying a metabolite concentration or a metabolite concentration ratio from the spectral data as an indicator of the neurodegenerative disease.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2010
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ileana Hancu, Napapon Sailasuta, Ralph Eugene Hurd