Abstract: A cleaning system in which an elongated object having enclosed channels can be inserted in a rotatably mounted container in a tank to coil therein for cleaning by fluids pumped through the object and into the tank.

Abstract: A method for rapidly determining the presence of functional cellular steroid receptors by assaying a tissue sample for nuclear steroid binding is disclosed which comprises treating the tissue with collagenase, incubating the isolated cells with a labelled steroid capable of complexing said receptors and measuring the bound radioactivity and the DNA of the isolated cellular nuclei.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for determining whether or not preterm or end-term labor is imminent which is based upon the relative elevation of the level of eosinophil major basic protein (MBP). The level of MBP in a sample of a physiological fluid of a pregnant woman is measured and the level is compared to a predetermined level indicative of the plateau gestational level of the protein.

Abstract: A phantom for evaluating the operating performance of a magnetic resonance imaging scanner system includes a generally tubular body enclosed at its ends and containing a cylindrical stack of a plurality of leaves. Each leaf has one or more wedge-shaped slices or sectors cut out for identification and reference purposes. Leaves having one, two and four slices formed therein are arranged in a predetermined order in the stack with the slices in a predetermined helical pattern approximately eighteen degrees apart. The container is filled with a liquid and is inserted in the magnetic resonance imaging system to obtain images which can be evaluated to determine if the system is in calibration. A typical evaluation determines MRI slice thickness, slice location, and contiguity of the slices.

Abstract: Both the linear attenuation coefficient and an index describing the heterogeneity of the scatterers of tissue can be obtained simultaneously by the method and system disclosed herein. The system also produces a B-scan image with optimal time-variable gain compensation. The system combines an envelope peak method with a conventional ultrasound pulse-echo scanner. In this method, the peaks of the echo envelopes in a B-scan are multiplied by a controllable gain function. By adjusting the parameter of the gain function, the noise-to-signal ratio (NSR) of the envelope peaks is minimized. The minimum NSR can be used as an index to describe the heterogeneity of the tissue scatterers and the parameter of the gain function corresponding to the minimum NSR is equal to the attenuation coefficient of the tissue.