Abstract: A system configured to enable remote control to allow a first user to provide assistance to a second user. The system may receive a command from the second user granting remote control to the first user, enabling the first user to initiate a voice command on behalf of the second user. In some examples, the system may enable the remote control by treating a voice command originating from the first user as though it originated from the second user instead. For example, the system may receive the voice command from a first device associated with the first user but may route the voice command as though it was received by a second device associated with the second user. To enable this functionality, during a remote control session the first device may disable wakeword detection so that the voice command is correctly routed to the second device.

Abstract: A method of wireless communication includes receiving, at a first device, a reference channel and a target channel. The reference channel includes a set of reference samples, and target channel includes a set of target samples. The method also includes determining a variation between a first mismatch value and a second mismatch value. The method also includes adjusting the set of target samples based on the variation to generate an adjusted set of target samples. The method further includes generating at least one encoded channel based on the set of reference samples and the adjusted set of target samples. The method also includes transmitting the at least one encoded channel to a second device.

Abstract: A system is disclosed for creating a hole in a body vessel or hollow organ. Such holes are useful in surgically preparing the hollow organ or body vessel for connection with another hollow organ, body vessel or prosthetic conduit. For example, an assist device is generally connected to the left ventricle through a ventriculotomy created at the apex of the left ventricle. This ventriculotomy is most easily created with a punch or trephine. Control over such a procedure must be precise so as not to damage the ventricular wall or intracardiac structures such as papillary muscles, chordae tendinae, etc. The punch of the current invention allows for precise location and alignment of the cutting segment. The punch of the current invention also allows for precise advance of the cutting blade and a very clean cut of the tissue. Such clean cuts improve the healing when the hole in the body vessel or hollow organ is closed or attached to a connection, either prosthetic or natural.

Abstract: The present invention provides a sliding and locking knot that does not require an additional half hitch to lock and suture retaining structures having such a knot. The sliding and locking knot has a low knot profile suitable for use in surgical areas with low clearance and to avoid interference with surrounding tissue. Additionally, the sliding and locking knot maintains suture strength and is easy to form. Also provided are methods for anchoring tissue to a bony structure using the bone anchor and sliding and locking knot of the present invention.

Abstract: A suturing device suitable for anastomosis procedures. The suturing device includes a suture guid and a needle holder. The suture guide includes a foot portion having an axis defined along a length of the foot portion. The foot portion includes a plurality of apertures, each aperture holding a suture. The needle holder movably holds at least one needle relative to a first side of the foot portion and movably holds at least one needle relative to a second side of the foot portion. The needles are movable into respective apertures, and the at least one needle on the first side of the foot portion is at an angle relative to the at least one needle on the second side of the foot portion.

Abstract: A medical device can be used to entrain biological or foreign material during a medical procedure for the fragmentation of the material. The device also can be used to remove the material safely from the body. The device has a core element with a first portion extending substantially longitudinally and a second portion wound to form at least a helical coil in the shape of cone. A flat wire can substantially wrap the first and second portions of the core element, or a wire can substantially wrap the first portion and a sheath can substantially cover the second portion.

Abstract: Suture cutter embodiments include elements for cutting back the leads of a suture after the suture has been tied into a knot, e.g., as a result of drawing tissue portions together. The suture cutter may include mechanisms which can be used to push and position a knot, so that a single device may be used to both push a knot and trim the excess material therefrom.

Abstract: The new connector system comprises a novel cutting instrument and a novel type of connectors for hollow anatomical structures. The cutting instrument comprises a barbed pointed end and a surrounding cutting edge. The barbed pointed end pierces the wall of a hollow anatomical structure. The cutting edge cuts an annular opening in the wall of a hollow anatomical structure. The annular opening surrounds the piercing pointed end that retains the cutout portion of the wall. The cut opening is predefined to correspond to an opening of another hollow structure. Two hollow structures with corresponding openings are joined by an annular connector holding together their approximated walls.

Abstract: An anastomosis punch device, and method of using same, for creating a circular hole in the aortic wall, where the device also segregates the hole from the blood flow path such that no blood is lost through the hole during attachment of the vein graft. The invention is a hand-held punch comprising an elongated housing to be gripped by the surgeon, the housing retaining in a coaxially aligned manner a distally extended punch head and cutting disk mounted onto a shaft, a cutting sleeve having a distal cutting rim which cuts a circular plug in cooperation with the punch head, an umbrella-like flexible dam formed of an elastic material and adjoined to the punch shaft adjacent said punch head in a manner which allows it to be deployed radially outward with the enlarged open rim facing the proximal direction, and a deployment ram movable axially relative to the dam to spread open the dam.

Abstract: Openings in a mammalian body made by any medical procedure or non-medical event are sealed with a bioabsorbable plug or sewn with a bioabsorbable suture. In one exemplary embodiment, the plug in dehydrated, unexpanded condition is pushed by a pushing device through the lumen of a needle until a first part of the plug is external to the opening and a second part is internal to the opening. The needle is then withdrawn while the position of the pushing device is maintained. The pushing device is then withdrawn, leaving the plug in sealing relation to the opening. The body's moisture causes the plug to expand to complete the sealing of the opening, or the expansion may be caused by exposure to air, light, or other stimulant. The opening may be formed in soft tissue, internal organs, or hard tissue. The plug seals the flow of liquid or gaseous biological fluids.

Abstract: A device for stripping veins (5), includes a catheter element (9) which extends in the axial direction from a proximal end to a distal end (10), wherein the distal end (10) is provided with cutting devices, with cutting elements (24), which are movable between a first or neutral position, in which the cutting elements (24) extend essentially in the axial direction of the catheter element (9), and a second or working position, in which the cutting elements (24) are directed outwards with respect to the catheter element (9).

Abstract: A constriction device that constricts body tissue is configured to be safely sutured to constricted body tissue. The device includes a generally cylindrical elastic sleeve including opposed opened ends and having a wall of substantially uniform thickness that receives body tissue therein to be constricted. The sleeve includes a plurality of suture holes to receive a suture to maintain the sleeve the tissue constricted by the sleeve. The sleeve includes a suture hole reinforcement structure, as for example an increased wall thickness, about each suture hole to permit the device to be sutured to constricted body tissue without damaging the device.

Abstract: Electromagnetic coils having rectilinear cross-section core elements and an armature bar having a rectilinear cross-section are described in a handheld tattoo apparatus. This results in increased vibrational smoothness as sensed by the tattoo artist.

Abstract: A guide wire torque device has an elongate tubular body with interior long axial channel and a rotary clamp wheel for gripping and ungripping a guide wire extending through the channel. The clamp wheel is accommodated within an integral enlargement of the tubular body with a segment of the wheel surface extending through the surface of the enlargement for rotation by a user's thumb in order to grip and ungrip the guide wire for feeding, withdrawing or rotating the wire with respect to a catheter.

Abstract: Several inventions are disclosed. A cell architecture using hexagonal shaped cells is disclosed. The architecture is not limited to hexagonal shaped cells. Cells may be defined by clusters of two or more hexagons, by triangles, by parallelograms, and by other polygons enabling a variety of cell shapes to be accommodated. Polydirectional non-orthogonal three layer metal routing is disclosed. The architecture may be combined with the tri-directional routing for a particularly advantageous design. In the tri-directional routing arrangement, electrical conductors for interconnecting terminals of microelectronic cells of an integrated circuit preferably extend in three directions that are angularly displaced from each other by 60.degree.. The conductors that extend in the three directions are preferably formed in three different layers. A method of minimizing wire length in a semiconductor device is disclosed. A method of minimizing intermetal capacitance in a semiconductor device is disclosed.

Abstract: An information processing system for consulting centralized information originating in operational applications including a server and a plurality of microcomputers that issue requests to the server. The server includes data stored in the form of files and a metadictionary developed around a plurality of tables specific to the documentation and the administration of the system. Notably, the data is organized in domains, subdomains and functions, and are analyzed by a logical process contained in the metadictionary, which includes axes and indicators that describe the applications. The logical process makes it possible, at the moment the data to be imported into the server is defined, to create tables that contain the data of complementary tables, called consolidation tables, to authorize a generic response to all the requests made of the data and to optimize access performance.

Abstract: In order to divide an analyzing region in a semiconductor device into a plurality of fractional elements of a predetermined configuration, the analyzing region is initially divided into an arbitrary number of the fractional elements. With respect to a newly added nodal point, the fractional elements enclosing the new nodal point within a circumscribing range thereof are extracted as objective fractional elements for further division. Among the extracted fractional elements, specific fractional element having the perimetric fraction located within a predetermined modifying the perimeter of the fractional element group consisted of the extracted fractional elements. The fractional elements are re-establishes on the basis of the modified perimeter and the new nodal point.

Abstract: A computer system emulates segment bounds checking with a paging system. Pages entirely within a segment are designated as `clear pages`, while the first and last pages containing segment bounds may be partially-valid pages. The computer system has a memory with a segment descriptor table and an active segment descriptor cache. The active segment descriptor cache holds a copy of the segment descriptors for the active segments in a central processing unit (CPU). The active segment descriptor cache also hold the first and last clear page numbers and the first and last linear address offsets for the active segment. A software segment load routine copies portions of the segment descriptor from the segment descriptor table to the active segment descriptor cache when a user program loads a new segment. Only the segment base address is copied to the CPU die; the segment limit and selector need not be stored on the CPU die.

Abstract: A method used by a digital computer for generating a preferred processing order of the vertices in a directed graph. The method also detects any cycles that exist in the directed graph. The vertices of the directed graph represent components of a system and the arcs represent the interrelationships between components. Each arc is defined by a vertex pair consisting of a starting vertex and an ending vertex. Each vertex is either assigned or unassigned to a processing order and marked as either a leaf vertex or a non-leaf vertex. The method includes traversing the set of arcs of the directed graph and marking the starting vertex as a non-leaf vertex for each arc whose ending vertex is unassigned, traversing the set of vertices and for each vertex that is unassigned and a leaf vertex, assigning the vertex to the processing order; and for each vertex that is unassigned and a non-leaf vertex, marking it as a leaf vertex.

Abstract: A process modification of the content of a sequence of images which can be represented as a matrix of pixels. For that purpose a non-deformable target zone to be replaced in the scene is identified and is characterized, both in position and in dimensions, by reference to marks located close to each other and connected to the target zone in each image. The position with respect to the marks to be assigned to a model which can be superimposed on the target zone, stored in digital form, is determined. For each particular image, the geometrical transformation to be carried out on the model so that it corresponds to variations in the appearance of the target zone in all the successive images in the same shot is determined automatically using a correlation calculation based on the marks. Data suitable for enabling replacement of each current representation of the target are derived from the transformation and output. Apparatus for carrying out the method is also described.