Abstract: Various embodiments for providing removable, pluggable and disposable opto-electronic modules for illumination and imaging for endoscopy or borescopy are provided for use with portable display devices. Generally, various rigid, flexible or expandable single use medical or industrial devices with an access channel, can include one or more solid state or other compact electro-optic illuminating elements located thereon. Additionally, such opto-electronic modules may include illuminating optics, imaging optics, and/or image capture devices, and airtight means for suction and delivery within the device. The illuminating elements may have different wavelengths and can be time-synchronized with an image sensor to illuminate an object for 2D and 3D imaging, or for certain diagnostic purposes.

Abstract: Various embodiments for providing removable, pluggable and disposable opto-electronic modules for illumination and microscopic imaging are provided, for use with portable display devices. Generally, various medical or industrial miniature microscopes can include one or more solid state or other compact electro-optic illuminating elements, electronic vision systems and means of scanning located thereon. Additionally, such opto-electronic modules may include illuminating optics, imaging optics, and/or image manipulation and processing elements. The illuminating elements may have different wavelengths and can be time-synchronized with an image sensor to illuminate an object for imaging or detecting purpose or other conditioning purpose. All control and power functions of such disposable microscope units can be made in the control unit that the disposable microscopes are plugged into.

Abstract: Various embodiments for providing removable, pluggable and disposable opto-electronic modules for illumination and imaging for endoscopy or borescopy are provided for use with portable display devices. Generally, various medical or industrial devices can include one or more solid state or other compact electro-optic illuminating elements located thereon. Additionally, such opto-electronic modules may include illuminating optics, imaging optics, and/or image capture devices. The illuminating elements may have different wavelengths and can be time-synchronized with an image sensor to illuminate an object for imaging or detecting purpose or other conditioning purpose. The removable opto-electronic modules may be plugged onto the exterior surface of another medical device, deployably coupled to the distal end of the device, or otherwise disposed on the device.

Abstract: Various embodiments of opto-electronic display modules for viewing real time, stored or computer generated images and video information in 3D or 2D are presented. The various 2D or 3D viewer embodiments of the present disclosure allow independent use of the imaging information in a way that is convenient to the user without affecting the other tasks that the user needs to perform. Multiple viewers of the present embodiment can be used concurrently by multiple users, where each viewer is fully maneuverable and controllable for and by each specific user. Additionally, the viewer of the present disclosure may communicate to various input devices as well as send user commands to such devices in an electrical, optical, or wireless transmission format.

Abstract: Various embodiments for providing removable and pluggable opto-electronic modules for illumination and imaging for endoscopy or borescopy are provided for use with portable display devices. Generally, various medical or industrial devices can include one or more solid state or other compact electro-optic illuminating elements located thereon. Additionally, such opto-electronic modules may include illuminating optics, imaging optics, and/or image capture devices. The illuminating elements may have different wavelengths and can be time-synchronized with an image sensor to illuminate an object for imaging or detecting purpose or other conditioning purpose. The removable opto-electronic modules may be plugged in on the exterior surface of a device, inside the device, deployably coupled to the distal end of the device, or otherwise disposed on the device.

Abstract: Various embodiments for providing solid state illumination in conjunction with wavelength multiplexing imaging schemes for mono and stereo endoscopy or borescopy are provided. In one embodiment, the current disclosure provides a device configured for insertion into a body cavity. The device can include a tubular portion having a proximal end and a distal end. The distal end of the tubular portion can be configured to be at least partially inserted into the body cavity. The device can also include a solid state electro-optic element located on the tubular portion. Furthermore, the device can include a power source electrically coupled to the solid state electro-optic element.

Abstract: The invention relates to an identification chip for insertion in an object located in a liquid. The identification chip comprises an acoustic resonator (100), which exhibits a number of distinct resonant frequencies, where the combination of resonant frequencies is unique to the identification chip. This enables the identification chip to be identified by exposing it to an acoustic polling signal, measuring an acoustic response signal and analysing the frequency of the response signal. The resonator (100) comprises a cavity-forming part (110, 120) and a membrane (130). The acoustic resonant frequencies are determined by at least one cavity (140), which is enclosed by the cavity-forming part (110, 120) and the membrane (140). The identification chip can be implanted in a fish, with the object of identifying the fish when it is located in water.

Abstract: A contraband detection and article reclaim system includes at least one article inspection system configured to derive inspection data from an article and compare the inspection data to target object data to detect contraband, and to assign matching information to each article in which contraband was detected that matches the article to its inspection data. The at least one article inspection system is connected to a server and the inspection data and the matching information are transferred to the server. An article tagging system is configured to generate a tag for each article in which contraband was detected. The tag includes the matching information about the article and at least one workstation coupled to said server and configured to permit entry of the matching information so that the inspection data of an article in which contraband was detected can be transferred to the workstation and to display the inspection data.

Abstract: A multiview X-ray based inspection system detects contraband such as explosives, weapons, drugs and money in packages such as baggage. Each bag moves through at least three stationary, fan-shaped beams of x-rays that are in parallel planes spaced from each other in the direction of bag travel, to produce three projection views of the bag taken from different angles. These projection views are processed to extract two-dimensional outlines of likely individual objects in the bag, and the two-dimensional outlines are matched between different projection views to extract three-dimensional outlines of likely objects in the bag. The system uses these three-dimensional outlines to estimate effective atomic numbers and mass densities of material in these objects, and then to determine the presence of likely contraband in the baggage by testing these estimates against windows in a multi-dimensional space in which one dimension is effective atomic number and another is mass density.

Abstract: A differential amplifier circuit achieves offset cancellation by supplying an offset correction current from a current copier circuit to the output of the differential amplifier. The current copier is programmed by closing a first switch to short the differential input terminals of the amplifier, by opening a second switch to break the feedback loop of the amplifier, and by closing a third switch to allow the current copier to sense the offset output voltage at the output of the amplifier. The current copier generates an equal and opposite offset cancellation current which is summed with the offset current from the amplifier. The current copier circuit includes a storage capacitor for storing a voltage required to produce such offset cancellation current. After programming the storage capacitor, the third switch is opened, the first switch is opened, and the second switch is closed for normal operation.

Abstract: A column-driver integrated circuit, and related method, for driving the columns of LCD displays uses paired digital-to-analog converters to provide analog signals in an upper voltage range and in a lower voltage range. During a first drive cycle, first and second digital data words are provided to the first and second digital-to-analog converters; the first and second digital data words represent the magnitudes, within the upper voltage range and lower voltage range, respectively, of the analog signals to be driven onto first and second columns of the LCD display. The analog signal generated by the first D/A converter is selected, as by a multiplexer, onto the first column of the display, and the analog signal generated by the second D/A converter is selected onto the second column of the display.

Abstract: An X-ray inspection device (10) for detecting a specific material of interest in items of various sizes and shapes (24A, 24B, 24C) includes an X-ray source system located at an inspection region and constructed to expose the examined item to at least one beam of X-ray radiation, and one or more X-ray detection systems (60, 80, 100). The X-ray inspection device also includes one or more dimension detectors (120) constructed to measure a selected dimension of the examined item, an interface system connected to receive X-ray data and dimension data, and a computer programmed to utilize the data for recognition of the specific material of interest and to indicate its presence in the examined item. Each detection system includes one or more arrays of X-ray detectors arranged in a linear, circular or semi-spherical geometry.

Abstract: The present invention provides an inspection system having a scanner system coupled to an operator console. The scanner system is preferably an x-ray based system that has an x-ray source to emit, for example, dual energy x-rays, a detector or an array of detectors that detect the emitted x-rays, and a conveyor system. The conveyor system has a conveyor belt that moves the article to be inspected through the emitted x-rays. The operator console includes a display device, an operator input device and a controller. The operator console is configured to provide information and control capabilities to an operator all within the same viewing field or arc. The operator console is configured to permit customization by individual operators and/or customization for a specific location where the inspection system is deployed (e.g., an airport or office building) without changing components.

Abstract: A power-saving column driver integrated circuit, and a power-saving method for driving a liquid crystal display, include a series of multiplexers coupled to the columns of the display. The multiplexers selectively couple each of the columns to a common external storage capacitor during a portion of each row drive period for discharging each of the pixels in the selected row of the liquid crystal display to a median bias voltage. During the remaining portion of each row drive period, the multiplexers selectively couple voltage drivers to the columns of the LCD pixel array for applying a desired driving voltage to each column of the array. The polarity of the driving voltages applied to each column alternates on succeeding row drive periods, and the resulting voltage that is summed on the storage capacitor averages to the median bias voltage.

Abstract: A device and method is provided for finding a specific material superimposed on an unknown background when the locations of the specific material and the background are unknown, for example, inside an item of baggage. The invention comprises exposing an area of an item to be inspected to x-rays of two substanitally different energies, making effective use of the characteristic material specific differences in photoelectric effect scattering and Compton scattering, and comparing the pairwise differential attenuation of the x-rays at nearby exposed subareas to determine whether differences in attenuation can be attributed to the presence of different amounts of the specific material overlying the respective subareas. The most probable subareas are indicated on a standard image on a monitor as being the most likely location of the overlying specific material.

Abstract: An integrated circuit assembly using tape automated bonding (TAB) reduces the number of TAB test pads formed upon the TAB film, for purposes of testing the integrated circuit prior to surface mounting, by sharing at least some of such test pads between at least two output terminals of the integrated circuit. A control signal indicates to the integrated circuit that a TAB test mode of operation is in effect. A second control signal indicates which of the two output signals should be enabled to the shared test pad during the TAB test mode. Multiplexers are provided at the output terminals, and are responsive to such control signals, for selectively allowing one of such output signals to be conducted to the test pad, while temporarily presenting a high impedance at the other output terminal. A method of testing such integrated circuit assembly includes the step of trimming such test pads from the tape automated bonding film after testing and before surface mounting.

Abstract: A column-driver integrated circuit, and related method, for driving the columns of LCD displays uses paired digital-to-analog converters to provide analog signals in an upper voltage range and in a lower voltage range. During a first drive cycle, first and second digital data words are provided to the first and second digital-to-analog converters; the first and second digital data words represent the magnitudes, within the upper voltage range and lower voltage range, respectively, of the analog signals to be driven onto first and second columns of the LCD display. The analog signal generated by the first D/A converter is selected, as by a multiplexer, onto the first column of the display, and the analog signal generated by the second D/A converter is selected onto the second column of the display.

Abstract: The present invention provides an inspection system having a scanner system coupled to an operator console. The scanner system is preferably an x-ray based system that has an x-ray source to emit, for example, dual energy x-rays, a detector or an array of detectors that detect the emitted x-rays, and a conveyor system. The conveyor system has a conveyor belt that moves the article to be inspected through the emitted x-rays. The operator console includes a display device, an operator input device and a controller. The operator console is configured to provide information and control capabilities to an operator all within the same viewing field or arc. The operator console is configured to permit customization by individual operators and/or customization for a specific location where the inspection system is deployed (e.g., an airport or office building) without changing components.

Abstract: An inspection system for detecting a specific material of interest in items of baggage or packages includes a multi-view X-ray inspection probe and one or more material sensitive probes. The multi-view X-ray inspection probe employs X-ray radiation transmitted through or scattered from an examined item to identify a suspicious region inside the item. An interface is used to receive from said X-ray inspection probe X-ray data providing spatial information about the suspicious region and to provide this information to a selected material sensitive probe. The material sensitive probe then acquires material specific information about the previously-identified suspicious region and provides it to a computer. The computer uses a high level detection algorithm to identify presence of the specific material in the suspicious region. The material sensitive probe may be a directional probe such as a coherent scatter probe, or a non-directional probe such as a Compton scatter probe or an NQR probe.

Abstract: CMOS transistor logic circuitry is permitted to operate at higher power supply voltages while retaining lower voltage processing geometries by providing each input signal as dual input signals that track each other within two different voltage ranges. A shield voltage is provided approximately midway between the uppermost and lowermost power supply voltages. The first input signal ranges between the lowermost power supply voltage and the shield voltage, and the second input signal ranges between the shield voltage and the uppermost power supply voltage. The first and second input signals drive the gates of n-channel and p-channel CMOS switching transistors, respectively, the drain terminals of which are coupled to first and second output terminals, respectively. N-channel and p-channel shield transistors are connected in series between the first and second output terminals, and have their gate terminals coupled to the shield voltage.