Patents Assigned to Dalhousie University
  • Patent number: 11911632
    Abstract: Systems and methods are described for the monitoring of patient motion via the detection of changes in capacitance, as measured using a capacitance position sensing electrode array. The changes in capacitance may be processed to determine a corresponding positional offset, for example, using a calibration data set relating capacitance to offset for each electrode of the array. The detected positional offset may be employed to provide feedback to a surgeon or operator of a medical device, or directly to the medical device for the control thereof. A medical procedure may be interrupted when the positional offset is detected to exceed a threshold. Alternatively, the detected positional offset may be employed to manually or automatically reconfigure a medical device to compensate for the detected change in position. Various configurations of capacitive position sensing devices are disclosed, including embodiment in incorporating capacitive sensing electrodes with a mask or other support structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: Dalhousie University
    Inventor: James Leonard Robar
  • Patent number: 11885877
    Abstract: Encoded transmit signals are provided to an ultrasound array such diverging ultrasound waves are sequentially transmitted. Each diverging ultrasound wave is generated by a respective set of encoded transmit signals, where each set of encoded transmit signals is encoded by a respective row of an N×N invertible orthogonal matrix. Only a selected subset of M rows, with N<M, is employed to encode the transmit signals. Sets of receive signals detected in response to the transmitted diverging ultrasound waves are decoded via a transposed matrix generated based on the invertible orthogonal matrix, with each set of decoded receive signals being associated with insonification via a subset of the ultrasound array elements in the fixed aperture. Synthetic aperture beamforming is performed on the decoded receive signals to generate an ultrasound image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Christopher Samson, Jeremy Brown, Katherine Latham, Robert Adamson
  • Patent number: 11806553
    Abstract: Systems and devices are provided for generating focused ultrasound pulses based on a transducer assembly having a piezoelectric layer coupled to an acoustic lens. In some example embodiments, the piezoelectric layer is a composite piezoelectric material having an acoustic impedance configured to match the acoustic impedance of the acoustic lens. The acoustic lens may be formed from aluminum, or an alloy thereof, and may have a distal surface having a non-spherical profile for producing a focal region that is smaller than an equivalent spherical lens. The acoustic lens may have an f-number less than unity. In some embodiments, the acoustic lens is coated with a polymer acoustic impedance matching layer that is compatible with deposition via chemical vapor deposition, such as a p-xylylene based polymer. In some embodiments, the acoustic lens is formed from aluminum or an alloy thereof, and the polymer acoustic impedance matching layer is a Parylene layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Jeffrey Kyle Woodacre, Jeremy Brown
  • Patent number: 11612763
    Abstract: Systems and methods are described for the monitoring of patient motion via the detection of changes in capacitance, as measured using a capacitance position sensing electrode array. The changes in capacitance may be processed to determine a corresponding positional offset, for example, using a calibration data set relating capacitance to offset for each electrode of the array. The detected positional offset may be employed to provide feedback to a surgeon or operator of a medical device, or directly to the medical device for the control thereof. A medical procedure may be interrupted when the positional offset is detected to exceed a threshold. Alternatively, the detected positional offset may be employed to manually or automatically reconfigure a medical device to compensate for the detected change in position. Various configurations of capacitive position sensing devices are disclosed, including embodiment in incorporating capacitive sensing electrodes with a mask or other support structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2023
    Assignee: Dalhousie University
    Inventor: James Leonard Robar
  • Publication number: 20220257489
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for removing a tattoo in a region of skin the method comprises administering to a least a portion of the tattoo a composition comprising an effective amount of a bisphosphonate and at least one pharmaceutically acceptable excipient to at least cause fading of the tattoo in said region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 3, 2022
    Publication date: August 18, 2022
    Applicant: Dalhousie University
    Inventor: Alec Guy FALKENHAM
  • Patent number: 11344490
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for removing a tattoo in a region of skin the method comprises administering to a least a portion of the tattoo a composition comprising an effective amount of a bisphosphonate and at least one pharmaceutically acceptable excipient to at least cause fading of the tattoo in said region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: Dalhousie University
    Inventor: Alec Guy Falkenham
  • Patent number: 11344747
    Abstract: A radiation treatment planning system and method for generating plans to treat plural target volumes, each associated with a prescribed dose, does not require delivery of radiation to every target volume from every beam direction. Allowing target volumes to be omitted for some control points facilitates generation of treatment plans that deliver less radiation dose to non-target tissues by allowing beam shaping to more closely fit the remaining target volumes. Simulated annealing using an objective function may be applied to determine parameters such as the number of control points for which a target volume is not targeted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: Dalhousie University
    Inventors: Robert Lee MacDonald, Alasdair Syme, Christopher G. Thomas
  • Patent number: 11291858
    Abstract: Generating a plan for radiation treatment of multiple target volumes such as, for example, multiple brain tumors, involves optimizing a grouping of the target volumes into subsets and generating treatment plans for each subset. Resulting treatment plans may minimize radiation dose to tissues outside of the target volumes. A radiation treatment planning system may be configured to operate in this manner and to upload control signals which cause a radiation therapy device such as a linear accelerator to execute the radiation treatment plans.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: Dalhousie University
    Inventors: Robert Lee MacDonald, Alasdair Syme, Christopher G. Thomas
  • Patent number: 11255965
    Abstract: Fresnel elevation focusing at a selected elevation angle is performed by transmitting a sequential set of Fresnel-focused ultrasound pulses, where a different Fresnel phase pattern is used for each pulse, and where the receive signals are coherently compounded. The different Fresnel patterns cause the secondary lobe energy to be reduced via averaging of variations of the pressure fields in the secondary lobe regions. In some embodiments, the method of coherently compounded Fresnel focusing is combined with coherently compounded defocused wave (e.g. plane wave or diverging wave) imaging in the azimuth direction. Each of the elevation slices are collected by changing the Fresnel patterns respectively employed when the sequence of plane waves or diverging waves are transmitted, such that the coherent compounding can benefit both planes simultaneously. Hadamard receive encoding and subsequent dynamic receive beamforming may be employed to further improve performance in the elevation direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Jeremy Brown, Christopher Samson, Katherine Latham
  • Patent number: 11161863
    Abstract: The present disclosure discusses (i) a compound having a chemical formula according to Formula (I), or its enantiomer; and (ii) a compound that is reactive with a hydride to produce a compound having a chemical formula according to Formula (I), or its enantiomer. Formula (I) is: Formula (I) where R1 and R2 are H, optionally substituted C1-C3 alkyl, or linked together to form an optionally substituted C3 or C4 alkyl group; R3 and R3? are H; R4 and R4? are the same, and are optionally substituted C1-C6 alkyl; and R5 and R5? are the same, and are optionally substituted aryl or heteroaryl. In some examples, R4 and R5 are linked, and R4? and R5? are linked, where both linking groups are the same. The present disclosure also discusses methods of asymmetric reduction of an imine, and methods of forming the catalysts and pre-catalysts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
    Inventor: Alexander William Harrison Speed
  • Patent number: 10996332
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for performing imaging with a crossed-electrode ultrasound transducer array, where ultrasound transducer array is configured for focusing in one direction via conventional time-delay phased array beamforming, and for focusing in a second direction via a Fresnel aperture formed via the application of bias voltages. The ultrasound transducer array connections are switched between transmit and receive operations, such that the Fresnel aperture is generated in the first direction upon transmit, and in the second direction upon receive. One or both of the transmit Fresnel aperture and the receive Fresnel aperture are configured as a set of delay-corrected Fresnel sub-apertures, where the delay associated with each Fresnel sub-aperture is selected to compensate for variations in path lengths between the Fresnel sub-apertures and the focal point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Jeremy Brown, Katherine Latham
  • Patent number: 10989810
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides systems and methods for ultrasound imaging using a modified variable sampling beamforming technique. Unlike conventional methods of variable sampling beamforming, in which in-phase and quadrature samples are obtained for each pixel location, in various example embodiments of the present disclosure, the pixel locations are quadrature-spaced such that for each 5 sample point, an adjacent sample point along an A-line is employed as the quadrature sample. The samples at each array element may be triggered according to the time of flight between a first pixel location and the location of the array element, such that successive samples, corresponding to successive pixel locations along the selected A-line, are obtained such that adjacent samples are spaced by a 10 time interval corresponding to a quarter of an odd number of wavelenghths of the beamformed transmit pulse, and such that only one sample is acquired per pixel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Jeremy Brown, Christopher Samson, Jeff Leadbetter
  • Patent number: 10858358
    Abstract: Methods and compositions are provided for the treatment of familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) through the administration of a therapeutically effective amount of a sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor type 2 (S1PR2) antagonist. Also provided herein are (Z)-2-cyano-1-(2,6-dichloropyridin-4-yl)-3-((4-isopropyl-1,3-dimethyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-6-yl)methyl)guanidine and analogs thereof, and their use in treating retinopathies and diseases characterized by insufficient angiogenesis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Christopher McMaster, Gordon Simms
  • Patent number: 10857390
    Abstract: Systems and methods are described for the monitoring of patient motion via the detection of changes in capacitance, as measured using a capacitance position sensing electrode array. The changes in capacitance may be processed to determine a corresponding positional offset, for example, using a calibration data set relating capacitance to offset for each electrode of the array. The detected positional offset may be employed to provide feedback to a surgeon or operator of a medical device, or directly to the medical device for the control thereof. A medical procedure may be interrupted when the positional offset is detected to exceed a threshold. Alternatively, the detected positional offset may be employed to manually or automatically reconfigure a medical device to compensate for the detected change in position. Various configurations of capacitive position sensing devices are disclosed, including embodiment in incorporating capacitive sensing electrodes with a mask or other support structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: Dalhousie University
    Inventor: James Leonard Robar
  • Publication number: 20200347058
    Abstract: Methods and compositions are provided for the treatment of familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) through the administration of a therapeutically effective amount of a sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor type 2 (S1PR2) antagonist. Also provided herein are compounds which contain bioisosteric replacements of the urea group of JTE-013 and analogs thereof, and their use in treating retinopathies and diseases characterized by insufficient angiogenesis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2020
    Publication date: November 5, 2020
    Applicant: DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Christopher McMaster, Gordon Simms
  • Patent number: 10525283
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for determining an angular trajectory for dynamically rotating a multileaf collimator during arc therapy. According to various embodiments, a suitable collimator trajectory may be determined based on the reduction or minimization of a residual unblocked area residing between a planning target volume and leaves of the multileaf collimator in the beam's eye view over the set of control points corresponding to an arc therapy plan. Various example methods are provided for determining collimator trajectories based on whitespace reduction, and for providing quantitative measures of whitespace optimization associated with a given trajectory. In some embodiments, the whitespace may be calculated using terms that account for the overlap of a planning target volume with an organ at risk of exposure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2020
    Assignee: Dalhousie University
    Inventors: Robert Lee MacDonald, Alasdair Syme, Christopher G. Thomas
  • Publication number: 20190367733
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a biomaterial fabrication process for the manufacture of a collagen based fabric for an aligned collagen fiber network.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 26, 2018
    Publication date: December 5, 2019
    Applicant: Dalhousie University
    Inventor: John Paul FRAMPTON IV
  • Patent number: 10487082
    Abstract: Methods and compositions are provided for the treatment of familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) through the administration of a therapeutically effective amount of a sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor type 2 (S1PR2) antagonist. Also provided herein are (Z)-3-((2,6-dichloropyridin-4-yl)amino)-3-(((4-isopropyl-1,3-dimethyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-6-yl)methyl)amino)acrylonitrile and analogs thereof, and their use in treating retinopathies and diseases characterized by insufficient angiogenesis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Christopher McMaster, Gordon Simms
  • Patent number: 10481278
    Abstract: Radiation dosimeters are disclosed whereby a passive multilayer substrate is provided to confer tissue equivalence. In an example embodiment, a multilayer substrate is formed over a semiconductor-based radiation sensing layer, where the multilayer substrate includes at least one low-atomic-number layer of having an effective atomic number that is smaller than that of water, and at least one high-atomic-number layer having an effective atomic number that is greater than that of water. The low-atomic-number layers and high-atomic-number layers are provided with respective thicknesses and compositions for modulating the dependence of the signal produced by the radiation dosimeter on photon energy, such that the signal, when calibrated to provide a measure of dose, exhibits approximate tissue-equivalence over a prescribed photon energy range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Alasdair Syme, Ian Hill
  • Patent number: 10441813
    Abstract: Embodiments generally relate to cancer treatment with radiation sources. The present technology discloses techniques that can enable an automatic generation of radiotherapy trajectories using anatomical data of a patient. It can improve conformal dose distributions and target volume coverage by considering a radiation risk decided by an organs-at-risk (OAR)'s relative location to the target volume and the radiation source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: R. Lee MacDonald, Christopher G. Thomas, James Leonard Robar