Patents Examined by Andrew Moyer
  • Patent number: 9836838
    Abstract: Electromagnetic energy is deposited into a volume, an acoustic return signal from energy deposited in the volume is measured, and a parametric map that estimates values of at least one parameter as spatially represented in the volume is computed. A reference level of a region of interest is determined, and upper and lower color map limits are specified, with at least one of them being determined in relation to the reference level. The parametric map is then rendered in the palette of a color map by mapping the estimated values of the parametric map onto the color map according to the color map limits. Two wavelengths of energy can be applied to the volume, and the parametric map computation can be adapted by applying an implicit or explicit model of, or theoretical basis for, distribution of electromagnetic energy fluence within the volume pertaining to the two wavelengths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignee: Seno Medical Instruments, Inc.
    Inventors: Jason Zalev, Bryan Clingman
  • Patent number: 9830710
    Abstract: A method includes receiving an image comprising a human head from an imaging device. Further, the method includes grouping one or more pixels of the image into one or more super pixels. Furthermore, the method includes generating a polar coordinate grid for the image, wherein the polar coordinate grid comprises one or more grid points. Additionally, the method includes labeling the one or more grid points as one of a face region, a hair region, and a background region based on tiered structure constraint. The method also includes labeling the one or more super pixels as one of the face region, the hair region, and the background region based on the one or more labels of the one or more grid points. Further, the method includes transmitting a notification comprising the one or more labels of the one or more super pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Peter Henry Tu, Jixu Chen, Yang Yu
  • Patent number: 9830727
    Abstract: In some implementations, faces based on image data from a camera of a mobile device are detected and one or more of the detected faces are determined to correspond to one or more people in a set of people that are classified as being important to a user. In response to determining that one or more of the detected faces correspond to one or more people in the set of people that are classified as being important to the user, quality scores are determined for the one or more detected faces that are determined to correspond to one or more people that are classified as important to the user. Multiple images with the camera are captured based on the quality scores such that, for each face determined to correspond to a person that is classified as important to the user, at least one of the multiple images includes an image of the face having at least a minimum quality score. A composite image is generated that combines the multiple images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Damien Henry, Murphy Stein
  • Patent number: 9831110
    Abstract: A wafer alignment system includes an image capture device that captures an image of a wafer positioned on a pedestal. An image analysis module analyzes the image to detect an edge of the wafer and a notch formed in the edge of the wafer and calculates, based on a position of the notch, first and second edge positions corresponding to the edge of the wafer. An offset calculation module calculates an angular offset of the wafer based on the first position and the second edge positions. A system control module controls transfer of the wafer from the pedestal to a process cell based on the angular offset.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2017
    Assignee: LAM RESEARCH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Gustavo G. Francken, Brandon Senn, Peter Thaulad, Zhuozhi Chen, Richard K. Lyons, Christian DiPietro, Christopher M. Bartlett
  • Patent number: 9824262
    Abstract: Systems and methods are described for determining laterality-adjusted attraction compatibility from digitized images of human faces in relaxed and smiling states. A plurality of distances between sets of data points of interest are identified, and used to determine in a consistent manner one or more biometric indices associated with each of the faces, and determine attraction compatibility between humans based upon a selected proximity of the computed biometric indices, dependent on the condition of laterality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2017
    Inventor: Jon Charles Daniels
  • Patent number: 9811912
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a storage unit, a slice image generating unit, a region extracting unit and a tubular structure extracting unit. The storage unit stores a volume image of a three-dimensional region of a subject. The slice image generating unit generates a plurality of slice images corresponding to a plurality of slices each substantially perpendicular to a predetermined reference axis from the volume image. The region extracting unit extracts a target region from the plurality of slice images. The tubular structure extracting unit detects an end point from the extracted region, and extracts a tubular structure based on the end point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Jia Wu, Tatsuo Maeda, Yanli Wang
  • Patent number: 9813734
    Abstract: A device and method for decoding, from a bitstream including encoded data, intra prediction modes indicated for decoding an image. Context adaptive binary arithmetic decoding is performed using a variable probability to generate decoded luma context-dependent segments. Context adaptive binary arithmetic decoding is performed using a variable probability to generate a decoded chroma context-dependent segment. Bypass decoding using a fixed probability is performed to generate decoded luma context-independent segments. Luma intra prediction modes are derived from one of the decoded luma context-dependent segments and a corresponding one of the decoded luma context-independent segments. A chroma intra prediction mode is derived from the decoded chroma context-dependent segment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: SUN PATENT TRUST
    Inventors: Hisao Sasai, Takahiro Nishi, Youji Shibahara, Toshiyasu Sugio, Kyoko Tanikawa, Toru Matsunobu
  • Patent number: 9811729
    Abstract: Iris recognition can be accomplished for a wide variety of eye images by using plenoptic imaging. Using plenoptic technology, it is possible to correct focus after image acquisition. One example technology reconstructs images having different focus depths and stitches them together, resulting in a fully focused image, even in an off-angle gaze scenario. Another example technology determines three-dimensional data for an eye and incorporates it into an eye model used for iris recognition processing. Another example technology detects contact lenses. Application of the technologies can result in improved iris recognition under a wide variety of scenarios.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: UT-Battelle, LLC
    Inventors: Hector J. Santos-Villalobos, Chris Bensing Boehnen, David S. Bolme
  • Patent number: 9805248
    Abstract: Both pixel-oriented analysis and the more accurate yet slower object-oriented analysis are used to recognize patterns in images of stained cancer tissue. Images of tissue from other patients that are similar to tissue of a target patient are identified using the standard deviation of color in the images. Object-oriented segmentation is then used to segment small portions of the images of the other patients into object exhibiting object characteristics. Pixelwise descriptors associate each pixel in the remainder of the images with object characteristics based on the color of pixels at predetermined offsets from the characterized pixel. Pixels in the image of the target patient are assigned object characteristics without performing the slow segmentation of the image into objects. A pixel heat map is generated from the target image by assigning pixels the color corresponding to the object characteristic that the pixelwise descriptors indicate is most likely associated with each pixel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: Definiens AG
    Inventor: Nicolas Brieu
  • Patent number: 9805279
    Abstract: A method determining user liveness is provided that includes calculating, by a device, eye openness measures for a frame included in captured authentication data, and storing the eye openness measures in a buffer of the device. Moreover the method includes calculating confidence scores from the eye openness measures stored in the buffer, and detecting an eye blink when a maximum confidence score is greater than a threshold score.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: DAON HOLDINGS LIMITED
    Inventor: Mircea Ionita
  • Patent number: 9805453
    Abstract: A system suitable for reducing static or slow moving echoes from acoustic boundaries in a system such as pipe walls, blood vessels, tissue structures so that an image from flowing or time varying media such as water, oil, blood etc may be imaged more clearly, the system including an analog-to-digital converter for digitizing a received analog signal from a detector, means for digitally separating static or slow moving components of the digital signal, a digital-to-analog converter to provide an analog version of the separated static or slow moving components of the signal, and a subtractor to subtract the analog version of the static or the slow moving components of the signal from an analog signal received from a detector to produce an analog signal corresponding to the remaining flow components of the signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: John Robert Ward
  • Patent number: 9805275
    Abstract: A drift-assessment device includes a turn information detection unit that detects turn information of a vehicle, an image recognition and detection unit that detects position information of the vehicle relative to a lane, a vehicle speed detection unit that detects a vehicle speed, a selection unit that selects the image recognition and detection unit when the vehicle speed is equal to or greater than a predetermined vehicle speed and selects the turn information detection unit when the vehicle speed is less than the predetermined vehicle speed, and a drift-assessment unit that determines the drift of the vehicle based on the position information of the vehicle relative to the lane when the selection unit selects the image recognition and detection unit and determines the drift of the vehicle based on the turn information of the vehicle when the selection unit selects the turn information detection unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yuji Okuda
  • Patent number: 9807293
    Abstract: An imaging device comprises an image data acquisition circuit for forming a subject image while shifting focus position by a given amount and acquiring a plurality of image data, an image selection circuit for selecting images to be combined based on shift amount of focus position when image data was acquired by the image acquisition circuit, and image data resolution, and an image combination circuit for combining the plurality of image data that was selected by the image selection circuit, to generate image data having a large depth of field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: Olympus Corporation
    Inventor: Tetsuya Toyoda
  • Patent number: 9798936
    Abstract: The present application provides an obstacle detection system and method thereof. The obstacle detection method comprises: obtaining a first image captured by a camera at a first time point; identifying a vertical edge candidate in the first image, and measuring a first length of the vertical edge candidate based on the first image; obtaining a second image captured by the camera at a second time point; measuring a second length of the vertical edge candidate based on the second image; calculating a difference between the first length and the second length; and comparing the difference with a predetermined length difference threshold, if the difference is greater than the length difference threshold, outputting a message that an obstacle is found.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2017
    Assignee: Harman International Industries, Incorporated
    Inventors: Ruyi Jiang, Yankun Zhang, Chuyang Hong, Norman Weyrich
  • Patent number: 9792686
    Abstract: A method is disclosed for generating sinograms by sampling transducers acoustically coupled with a surface of a volume after a pulse of light, each transducer being associated with a channel in an optoacoustic imaging system, and processing at least two multi-channel sinograms, each corresponding to a different one of the at least two different predominant wavelengths, to create at least two processed sinograms. The processing step includes a step of sub-band acoustic compensation. Image reconstruction is performed based upon the processed sinograms to generate at least two optoacoustic images. Image post processing is performed on the optoacoustic images to generate post-processed images. A parametric map is generated based upon information contained in the post-processed images, and an ultrasound image is generated using the transducers. The parametric map and the ultrasound image are co-registered and a co-registered image is displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Assignee: Seno Medical Instruments, Inc.
    Inventor: Jason Zalev
  • Patent number: 9792688
    Abstract: To obtain a position detection device capable of detecting highly accurate and robust position by suppressing affect of error detection of an edge, provided is a configuration for performing a validity determination of edges detected by binarizing an image signal (21) converted by a light-receiving element (3) for receiving light irradiated from a light source (1) toward a scale (2) having a code pattern, and performing position detection after removing the edges determined to be invalid as edges that have been affected by foreign matter and the like among the edges on which the validity determination has been performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Assignees: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Osamu Nasu, Haruhiko Takeyama, Toru Sasaki, Takuya Noguchi, Hajime Nakajima, Yoshinao Tatei, Shigenori Takeda, Takeshi Musha, Amit Agrawal, Jay E. Thornton
  • Patent number: 9786043
    Abstract: A method of inspecting a unit under test containing brazed dielectric to metal bond, includes providing at least one image of the bond and determining a characteristic of the bond based on at least one of a presence and size of a glassy phase in or adjacent to the bond.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: BLOOM ENERGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michael Petrucha, Jerome A. Mack
  • Patent number: 9779507
    Abstract: A method and system are provided for determining an orientation of a unit dose package, such as by determining whether the cavity that houses the medication is facing upwards or downwards. As a result of the determination of the orientation of the unit dose package, a method and system may also be provided for selectively picking a unit dose package, thereby enabling automated restocking of singulated unit dose packages by taking into account the orientation of the unit dose packages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2017
    Assignee: AESYNT INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Patrick Joseph Braun, James Anderson Smith
  • Patent number: 9767604
    Abstract: A method of object recognition and/or registration includes receiving a point cloud, arranging the points of the point cloud into a hierarchical search tree, and determining geometric information of the points located within a region, by identifying a highest level tree nodes where all of descendent leaf nodes are contained within the region and selecting the leaf nodes for the points where no sub-tree is entirely contained within the region, such that the points falling within the region are represented by the smallest number of nodes and performing statistical operations on the nodes representing the points in the region. The geometric information includes descriptors of features in the point cloud. The method further includes comparing the feature descriptors with a database of feature descriptors for a plurality of objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Minh-Tri Pham, Riccardo Gherardi, Frank Perbet, Bjorn Stenger, Sam Johnson, Oliver Woodford, Pablo Alcantarilla, Roberto Cipolla
  • Patent number: 9760980
    Abstract: Devices, systems and methods are disclosed for reducing an amount of moiré pattern exhibited by an image having a halftone pattern. Regions of the image including the halftone pattern may be identified and selectively blurred to reduce the amount of moiré pattern visible to a user. The halftone pattern may be detected using digital wavelets to identify high frequency patterns in the image. The halftone pattern may be blurred using a convolution matrix having a weighted average, and a transition band may be used to reduce an intensity of the blur near the edges of the halftone pattern.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2017
    Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventor: Hao Hu