Patents Assigned to Stichting IMEC Nederland
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Patent number: 11957443Abstract: A system for electrical impedance tomography comprises: a plurality of electrodes; a plurality of impedance measurement units, each being associated with two or more electrodes, and wherein each impedance measurement unit comprises a current generator for generating a stimulation current between the electrodes and an amplifier for amplifying a measurement voltage between the electrodes; wherein the system is configured to perform a plurality of impedance measurements, wherein, for each impedance measurement, one impedance measurement unit is set in a stimulation mode for providing a stimulation current into the object, and wherein the impedance measurement unit being set in the stimulation mode is switched among the plurality of impedance measurement units, and wherein each impedance measurement unit is configured to be set in a calibration mode during at least one of the plurality of impedance measurements.Type: GrantFiled: December 3, 2021Date of Patent: April 16, 2024Assignee: Stichting IMEC NederlandInventors: Seulki Lee, Mario Konijnenburg, Gijs Van Gestel, Nahm Il Koo
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Patent number: 11953612Abstract: A method of ranging between a first and a second radio signal transceiver comprises calculating a preliminary estimate of a value proportional to a one-way frequency domain channel response, for a frequency of a plurality of frequencies and for each of a first antenna combination and a second antenna combination of a plurality of antenna combinations; calculating a comparison value for the preliminary estimate, for the frequency and for each of the first antenna combination and the second antenna combination; determining, for the frequency and the first antenna combination, a corrected estimate of the value proportional to the one-way frequency domain channel response based on the preliminary estimate and the comparison value, for the first antenna combination and the second antenna combination; and performing a ranging calculation between the first and the second radio signal transceiver based on a plurality of such corrected estimates.Type: GrantFiled: June 4, 2021Date of Patent: April 9, 2024Assignee: Stichting IMEC NederlandInventors: Lichen Yao, Pepijn Boer, Jac Romme
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Patent number: 11864876Abstract: A light-to-digital converter (2) comprises a light-to-current converter (10); a current integrator (4) with an integrator output (30) resettable to a baseline level; and a counter (18) with a digital output (26), wherein the light-to-current converter (10) is switchably connectable as a positive integration input to the current integrator (4), for, during a light-collecting phase (404-406), integrating a current from the light-to-current converter (10), the integrator output (30) starting from the baseline value and ending at a value to be digitized; a reference current source (14) is switchably connectable as a negative integration input to the current integrator (4), for, during a counting phase (406-408) subsequent to the light-collecting phase (404-406), integrating a reference current from the reference current source (14), the integrator output (30) starting from the value to be digitized and ending at the baseline value, the time spent integrating the reference current corresponding to the value to beType: GrantFiled: May 28, 2020Date of Patent: January 9, 2024Assignees: IMEC VZW, KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN KU LEUVEN, STICHTING IMEC NEDERLANDInventors: Qiuyang Lin, Jiawei Xu, Shuang Song, Nick Van Helleputte, Filip Tavernier
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Patent number: 11860265Abstract: A method for extracting spatial resolution and/or velocity resolution of a single-input single-output radar acquiring raw radar data with a frequency scanning antenna is provided. The method includes steering a radar beam with the aid of the frequency scanning antenna with respect to an area to be illuminated by the radar, and dividing the area into at least two angular sectors. In this context, the at least two angular sectors are configured in a manner that the at least two angular sectors overlap with respect to each other.Type: GrantFiled: July 28, 2021Date of Patent: January 2, 2024Assignee: Stichting IMEC NederlandInventors: Rainer Oliver Hornung, Peng Zhang, Marco Mercuri, Paul Mateman, Lichen Yao
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Patent number: 11857308Abstract: A system for respiratory monitoring of a subject comprises: a bioimpedance measurement sensor, which is configured for arrangement in relation to the subject for acquiring a bioimpedance signal; a processing unit, which is configured to receive the acquired bioimpedance signal and receive a reference signal, the reference signal representing a respiratory effort of the subject or a respiratory airflow at a time of bioimpedance signal acquirement, the processing unit being further configured to divide the bioimpedance signal into an effort component representing a respiratory effort of the subject and a flow component representing a respiratory airflow of the subject based on the received bioimpedance signal and the received reference signal.Type: GrantFiled: February 8, 2019Date of Patent: January 2, 2024Assignee: STICHTING IMEC NEDERLANDInventors: Willemijn Groenendaal, Ruben De Francisco Martin
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Patent number: 11821978Abstract: A method of secure wireless ranging between a verifier node and a prover node comprises performing a measurement procedure resulting in a two-way phase measurement and a round-trip time measurement between the verifier node and the prover node. The measurement procedure comprises the verifier node transmitting on the frequency a verifier packet, the prover node receiving the verifier packet and performing a phase measurement of a verifier carrier signal and a time-of-arrival measurement of a verifier frame delimiter, the prover node transmitting a prover packet, and the verifier node receiving the prover packet and performing a phase measurement of the prover carrier signal and a time-of-arrival measurement of the prover frame delimiter. The method further comprises calculating a distance between the verifier node and the prover node based on the two-way phase measurements and the round-trip time measurements for the plurality of frequencies.Type: GrantFiled: February 19, 2020Date of Patent: November 21, 2023Assignees: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Stichting IMEC NederlandInventors: Mohieddine El Soussi, Jacobus Romme, Pepijn Boer, Roel Peeters
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Patent number: 11817632Abstract: A circuit for optoelectronic down-conversion of a terahertz, THz, signal comprises a first photodiode and a second photodiode configured to be excited by an optical beat signal. The photodiodes are coupled in series through a common antenna. The terminals of the antenna are coupled to form an output terminal and the antenna is configured to receive the terahertz, THz, signal. The photodiodes thereby, via the optical beat signal, respectively, down-convert the THz signal and generate a current comprising an intermediate frequency, IF, component and a direct current, DC, component. The respective generated currents are summed at the output terminal, thereby obtaining the IF components and cancelling the DC components.Type: GrantFiled: September 3, 2021Date of Patent: November 14, 2023Assignees: Imec vzw, Stichting IMEC NederlandInventors: Peter Offermans, Davide Guermandi, Ashwyn Srinivasan
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Patent number: 11750206Abstract: Example embodiments relate to systems and methods for analog-to-digital signal conversion. One embodiment includes a system for analog-to-digital signal conversion. The system includes an analog input signal. The system also includes a digital-to-analog converter configured to generate a reference signal. Further, the system includes an amplifier configured to amplify an error signal that includes a difference between the analog input signal and the reference signal. Additionally, the system includes a level-crossing based sampling circuit that includes a first comparator configured to compare the error signal with respect to a first reference level, and a second comparator configured to compare the error signal with respect to a second reference level, thereby generating event-based reset signals corresponding to a plurality of sampling instances in order to reset the digital-to-analog converter.Type: GrantFiled: December 28, 2021Date of Patent: September 5, 2023Assignee: Stichting IMEC NederlandInventors: Ming Ding, Martijn Timmermans, Pieter Harpe
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Patent number: 11717172Abstract: The present invention provides a method (100) for determining at least one parameter related to the microcirculation function of a person, said method comprising the steps of a) determining (101) an arrival time (AT) of a pulse wave, wherein the AT is the time between the onset of an activity of the heart producing said pulse wave and the arrival of said pulse wave in a part of the body of said person; b) varying (102) an applied pressure (P) on said part of the body over time and determining said AT as a function of applied pressure and time; and c) assessing (103) said at least one parameter related to the microcirculation function based on said determination of AT and said AT as a function of applied pressure and time in steps a) and b). The present invention further provides a system (1) for determining at least one parameter.Type: GrantFiled: August 19, 2020Date of Patent: August 8, 2023Assignee: STICHTING IMEC NEDERLANDInventors: Evelien Hermeling, Eva Wentink
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Patent number: 11721358Abstract: A device for calculating cardiovascular heartbeat information is configured to receive an electronic audio signal with information representative of a human voice signal in the time-domain, the human voice signal comprising a vowel audio sound of a certain duration and a fundamental frequency; generate a power spectral profile of a section of the electronic audio signal, and detect the fundamental frequency (F0) in the generated power spectral profile; filter the received audio signal within a band around at least the detected fundamental frequency (F0) and thereby generating a denoised audio signal; generate a time-domain intermediate signal that captures frequency, amplitude and/or phase of the denoised audio signal; detect and calculate heartbeat information within a human cardiac band in the intermediate signal.Type: GrantFiled: June 17, 2020Date of Patent: August 8, 2023Assignee: Stichting IMEC NederlandInventors: Carlos Agell, Evelien Hermeling, Vojkan Mihajlovic
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Patent number: 11690529Abstract: An electronic system for bioimpedance signal acquisition, comprises: a current signal injection module configured for generating a current signal to be applied to a subject; a bioimpedance signal measurement module configured for measuring a bioimpedance signal based on a voltage generated by the current signal; a data quality detection module configured for detecting an AC or a DC level of the measured bioimpedance signal and detecting whether the AC or DC level is within or outside an AC reference value range and a DC reference value range, respectively; and a signal adaptation module configured for modifying at least one parameter of the current signal injection module or the bioimpedance signal measurement module based on said detection of the AC or DC level in relation to the AC reference value range and the DC reference value range, respectively.Type: GrantFiled: December 11, 2018Date of Patent: July 4, 2023Assignee: Stichting IMEC NederlandInventors: Willemijn Groenendaal, Seulki Lee, Ruben De Francisco Martin
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Patent number: 11689209Abstract: An analog-to-digital converter, ADC, circuitry, comprises: an integrator connected to a capacitor, the integrator being configured to switch between integrating an analog input signal for ramping an integrator output and integrating a reference input signal for returning integrator output towards a threshold; a comparator for comparing integrator output to the threshold; and a timer for determining a time duration during which the reference input signal is integrated, the time duration providing a digital representation of an analog input signal value; the ADC circuitry further comprising a feedforward noise shaping loop configured to store a quantization error signal based on digitizing a first sample, the comparator being configured to receive a feedforward noise shaping signal for changing the threshold for digitizing a later sample of the analog input signal following the first sample.Type: GrantFiled: February 1, 2022Date of Patent: June 27, 2023Assignees: KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN, IMEC VZW, STICHTING IMEC NEDERLANDInventors: Qiuyang Lin, Nick Van Helleputte, Roland Van Wegberg, Shuang Song
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Patent number: 11684772Abstract: An electrode (10) for transcranial current stimulation is provided. The electrode (10) comprises at least two pins (11a, 11b) for contacting the skin of a living or human being, and a current delivering unit (12) connected to the at least two pins (11a, 11b). The current delivering unit (12) is configured to estimate the corresponding range of the respective contact impedance with respect to the skin for each of the at least two pins (11a, 11b) or to analyze the corresponding level of the respective contact impedance with respect to the skin for each of the at least two pins (11a, 11b). The current delivering unit (12) is configured to distribute a desired current over all of the at least two pins (11a, 11b) or to select a set of the at least two pins (11a, 11b) for delivering a set of partial currents in order to achieve the desired current.Type: GrantFiled: May 12, 2021Date of Patent: June 27, 2023Assignee: STICHTING IMEC NEDERLANDInventor: Vojkan Mihajlovic
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Patent number: 11686807Abstract: A method of wireless ranging between an initiator node and a responder node, involves performing a measurement procedure resulting in a two-way phase measurement between an initiator node and a responder node, the measurement procedure involving the initiator node transmitting an initiator carrier signal; the responder node performing a phase measurement of the initiator carrier signal relative to a responder node clock reference; the responder node transmitting a responder carrier signal; and the initiator node performing a phase measurement of the responder carrier signal relative to the initiator node clock reference, the method further involving calculating a distance between the initiator node and the responder node using as input the two-way phase measurements for the plurality of nominal frequencies; and a clock reference offset correction of the initiator node and of the responder node.Type: GrantFiled: April 10, 2020Date of Patent: June 27, 2023Assignee: Stichting IMEC NederlandInventors: Jac Romme, Pouria Zand
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Patent number: 11689245Abstract: A polar transmitter is provided. The polar transmitter includes a baseband generation unit configured to generate phase data bits and amplitude data bits of an output pulse. The polar transmitter further includes a bandwidth control unit downstream to the baseband generation unit configured to regulate the width of the output pulse. Moreover, the polar transmitter includes a pulse shaping unit downstream to the bandwidth control unit configured to generate a predefined amplitude envelope of the output pulse. In this context, the pulse shaping unit includes a delay-line with a plurality of taps, where each tap output is configured to be amplitude weighted in order to generate the amplitude envelope of the output pulse.Type: GrantFiled: November 4, 2021Date of Patent: June 27, 2023Assignee: Stichting IMEC NederlandInventors: Erwin Allebes, Johan van den Heuvel, Gaurav Singh
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Patent number: 11583617Abstract: A dialysis device (100) comprises: a dialyzer for exchange of substances between a blood flow and a dialysate flow in a dialysis area (106) of the dialyzer, wherein the dialyzer comprises a dialyzer membrane (110) for passing toxins in the blood flow to the dialysate flow through pores (112) of the dialyzer membrane (110); and a capacitively coupled generator (120) for generating electromagnetic fields in the dialysis area (106) for loosening electrostatic bonds between toxins and proteins in the blood flow, wherein the generator (120) is capacitively coupled to the blood flow and to the dialysate flow on opposite sides of the dialyzer membrane, and wherein the dialysate membrane (110) is formed of a material having lower conductance than blood and dialysate such that a large electromagnetic field strength is provided across the pores (112) of the dialyzer membrane (110).Type: GrantFiled: November 8, 2019Date of Patent: February 21, 2023Assignee: STICHTING IMEC NEDERLANDInventors: Fokko Wieringa, Mario Konijnenburg
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Patent number: 11576623Abstract: A method of generating a model for generating a synthetic electrocardiography (ECG) signal comprises: receiving subject-specific training data for machine learning, said training data comprising a photoplethysmography (PPG) signal acquired from the subject and an ECG signal acquired from the subject, wherein the ECG signal provides a ground truth of the subject for associating the ECG signal with the PPG signal; using associated pairs of a time-series of the PPG signal and a corresponding time-series of the ECG signal as input to a deep neural network, DNN; and determining, through the DNN, a subject-specific model relating the PPG signal of the subject to the ECG signal of the subject for converting the PPG signal to a synthetic ECG signal using the subject-specific model.Type: GrantFiled: December 17, 2019Date of Patent: February 14, 2023Assignees: IMEC VZW, STICHTING IMEC NEDERLAND, REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTAInventors: Dwaipayan Biswas, Luke Everson, Mario Konijnenburg, Christiaan Van Hoof, Nick Van Helleputte
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Patent number: 11559220Abstract: A measurement unit for measuring a bio-impedance of a body, the measurement unit comprising a current generator circuit, a readout circuit, and a baseline cancellation current circuit, wherein the current generator circuit is configured to amplify a reference current to form a measurement current to be driven through a body to generate a measurement voltage representing the bio-impedance; wherein the readout circuit comprises a Instrumentation amplifier (IA) which has a transconductance stage and a transimpedance stage, wherein the IA is configured to: produce a first current in the transconductance stage, the first current being proportional to the measurement voltage, receive a second current from the baseline cancellation current circuit, produce an output voltage in the transimpedance stage, the output voltage being proportional to a difference between the first current and the second current and representative of the measured bio-impedance; wherein the baseline cancellation current circuit is confiType: GrantFiled: February 6, 2020Date of Patent: January 24, 2023Assignees: IMEC VZW, STICHTING IMEC NEDERLANDInventors: Hyunsoo Ha, Nick Van Helleputte
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Patent number: 11480654Abstract: Example embodiments relate to radar transceivers. One embodiment includes a radar transceiver. The radar transceiver includes a chirp generator for generating a chirp having an initial frequency and a final frequency. The radar transceiver also includes a controllable variable gain amplifier having an input connected to an output of the chirp generator. Further, the radar transceiver includes a control unit connected to a control input on the chirp generator and to a control input on the controllable variable gain amplifier. The control unit is adapted to output a first control signal to the chirp generator such that the chirp generator starts generating the chirp. The control unit is also adapted to output a second control signal to the controllable variable gain amplifier such that the controllable variable gain amplifier starts increasing an amplification in the controllable variable gain amplifier from a first amplification level to a second amplification level.Type: GrantFiled: February 13, 2020Date of Patent: October 25, 2022Assignee: Stichting IMEC NederlandInventors: Yao-Hong Liu, Marco Mercuri
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Patent number: 11463232Abstract: A system is provided for generating a time reference in duty-cycled wireless communications. The system includes at least one master module including a master transceiver adapted to transmit data packets. The system further includes at least one slave module including a slave transceiver adapted to receive the data packets. The slave module further includes a signal generator adapted to generate a clock signal with a period equal to the time interval of two data packets transmitted by the master module. Moreover, the slave module further includes a slave timer adapted to utilize the clock signal as a time reference in order to perform the sleep/wakeup control for the slave module.Type: GrantFiled: January 5, 2021Date of Patent: October 4, 2022Assignee: Stichting IMEC NederlandInventors: Ming Ding, Yao-Hong Liu