Abstract: A pulse delivery system for producing a spark in tissue is disclosed. The system can include at least two electrodes having sharp surface features, where the at least two electrodes are electrically isolated from one another. The sharp features of the electrodes can be separated by a distance of about 2 to 20 mm. The system can also include a pulse generator for delivering pulsed voltage differences between the at least two electrodes. The pulsed voltage differences can producing a voltage difference ranging from about 2.5 kV to about 35 kV for a duration of about 50 ns to 3 ?s. The system can include a controller for determining whether the plurality of pulsed voltage differences produced a spark between the at least two electrodes. A method of producing a spark in tissue for both therapeutic and cosmetic, i.e., non-therapeutic, applications is also disclosed.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
April 14, 2010
Date of Patent:
April 29, 2014
Assignee:
Old Dominion Research Foundation
Inventors:
Kolb F Juergen, Scully Noah, Schoenbach H Karl, Dilip Paithankar
Abstract: A medical instrument for delivering electrotherapy is provided. The instrument includes an outer support member having an open distal end and a base wall portion within the support member arranged to form a cup-like volume at the distal end. The instrument also includes at least one aperture formed in the cup-like volume for applying a suction to the cup-like region. The instrument further includes a first and a second electrode having at least a portion within the cup region or proximate to the cup region for providing an electric field in the cup region when a bias signal is applied between the first and second electrodes.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
May 9, 2008
Date of Patent:
April 1, 2014
Assignee:
Old Dominion Research Foundation
Inventors:
Richard L. Nuccitelli, Uwe F. Pliquett, Pamela Nuccitelli, Changyi Li, Saleh H. Sheikh
Abstract: A medical instrument for delivering electrotherapy to tissue that includes an outer support member having a ground plate at a distal end of the outer support member, and a protrusive element having a tip that extends beyond the ground plate. A portion of the protrusive element proximate the ground plate can act as an electrical insulator and a portion of the protrusive element proximate the distal end of the protrusive element can include a first electrode. The protrusive element can be designed to penetrate into tissue below a tissue surface while a tissue contacting surface of the ground plate rests against the tissue surface. Also disclosed are systems incorporating the medical instrument and methods of electrotherapy to subsurface tissue using the medical instrument.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
April 6, 2009
Date of Patent:
March 25, 2014
Assignee:
Old Dominion Research Foundation
Inventors:
Karl H. Schoenbach, Stephen J. Beebe, Tammo Heeren, Juergen F. Kolb, Shu Xiao, Richard Blomgren, Roelof Trip
Abstract: A computer-based simulation system of modeling crowd behavior is provided. The system includes a cognition module based upon a model of cognitive elements representative of a crowd. The system also includes a physical-action module for modeling the context and action attributes of a crowd. The system further includes an application program interface (API) comprising a set of computer-implemented functions for running the cognition module in conjunction with the physical-action module in a pre-selected computing environment.
Type:
Application
Filed:
April 18, 2006
Publication date:
January 11, 2007
Applicant:
Old Dominion Research Foundation
Inventors:
Frederic McKenzie, Qingwen Xu, Quynh-Anh Nguyen, Mikel Petty