Patents Examined by Renee Naphas
  • Patent number: 8150127
    Abstract: A system automatically synchronizes display of adjacent different medical image sequences of an anatomical portion derived for use in Angiography or another medical procedure. The system includes an imaging system for acquiring first and second sets of data at different stages of a treatment procedure representing corresponding first and second image sequences individually comprising multiple temporally sequential individual images of vessels of a portion of patient anatomy. The sequential individual images encompass introduction of a contrast agent into patient vessels. A display presents the first and second image sequences in substantially adjacent display areas to facilitate user comparison. A contrast agent detector automatically analyzes the first and second image sequences to identify a first image frame in both the first image sequence and the second image sequence indicating presence of a contrast agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2012
    Assignee: Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.
    Inventor: John Baumgart
  • Patent number: 8138463
    Abstract: A method of operating a photosensor comprising: applying a bias voltage to a photosensor (12) comprising n (n>1) photo-sensitive elements (8) connected in series, and determining the photocurrent in the photosensor (12) at a time when the applied bias voltage across the photosensor maintains the photosensor at or close to the point at which it has the greatest signal-to-noise ratio. This may conveniently be done by determining the current in the photosensor at a time when the applied bias voltage across the photosensor is equal or approximately equal to n×Vbi, where Vbi is the bias voltage about which the current in a single one of the photo-sensitive elements (8), in the dark, changes sign. In an embodiment in which the photo-sensitive elements (8) are photodiodes, the bias voltage Vbi is the “built-in” voltage of the photodiodes. The photocurrent generated when n series-connected photodiodes are illuminated is approximately equal to the photocurrent generated when one photodiode is illuminated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Benjamin James Hadwen, Christopher James Brown
  • Patent number: 8138461
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device of the present invention includes a plurality of signal processing circuits classified into a plurality of groups, each signal processing circuit including an amplifier circuit for amplifying an input electric signal and a bias circuit having an input terminal connected electrically to a bias source and supplying a bias input terminal of the amplifier circuit with an operation bias for an amplifying operation of the amplifier circuit; and a plurality of connection wirings arranged each for each of the groups separately, such that the input terminals of the bias circuits of the signal processing circuits in one of the groups are commonly connected through the connection wirings. This provides an integrated circuit device suppressing the lowering of an image quality in consideration of enabling lower power consumption, a low noise characteristic, and high integration, and an imaging apparatus using the integrated circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Daisuke Kobayashi, Daisuke Yoshida
  • Patent number: 8134111
    Abstract: When reverse bias processing is performed on a plurality of photoelectric conversion devices connected in series, different potentials are applied to electrodes of three or more photoelectric conversion devices to simultaneously perform reverse bias processing on two or more reverse photoelectric conversion devices. Thereby, time taken to perform reverse bias processing on the photoelectric conversion devices can be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2012
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Takanori Nakano
  • Patent number: 8119967
    Abstract: A method of using a line-scan sensor device to scan an image includes determining and removing. The device includes sensor cells arranged in a matrix of rows and columns. The determining includes determining when a pixel signal value from a pixel in a first row and in a column deviates from a pixel signal value from a pixel in a second row and in said column. The removing includes removing the pixel signal value of the pixel in the first row and in said column when the pixel signal value from the pixel in the first row and in said column deviates from the pixel signal value from the pixel in the second row and in said column. The pixel in the first row and in said column images a portion of the image and the pixel in the second row and in said column images the same portion of the image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2012
    Assignee: Teledyne DALSA, Inc.
    Inventor: Nixon O
  • Patent number: 8104901
    Abstract: Provided are an image projection system and method, the image projection system including: a light source for providing illumination light; an illumination optics for receiving and illuminating the illumination light; a Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) having 2 rows of modulation devices formed to be offset from each other, each of the modulation devices modulating the light illuminated from the illumination optics; a frame scanner for scanning the modulated light from the SLM onto a screen to thereby generate a two-dimensional (2D) image corresponding to one frame on the screen; and a projection optics for projecting and focusing the modulated light transmitted from the frame scanner onto the screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2012
    Inventor: Sung-Hoon Kwon
  • Patent number: 8096664
    Abstract: A projector for emitting projection light in a projection direction used in a floor set-wall projection and floor set-floor projection modes. The device includes an aspheric reflection mirror, which reflects light from a light source in the projection direction, and a case, which accommodates the mirror. The mirror reflects the projection light to emit the projection light through an opening in the case. The case includes a first setting surface, which is arranged adjacent to a floor when in the floor set-wall projection mode, and a second setting surface, which is arranged adjacent to the floor when in the floor set-floor projection mode. The second setting surface in the floor set-floor projection mode is located immediately below the mirror and bulges to a location that is in alignment with or frontward from a front end of the mirror.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Nobuo Yazaki
  • Patent number: 8089466
    Abstract: A system and method for performing optical navigation uses an illumination optical element positioned between a light source and a navigation surface to bend and collimate a beam of light from the light source, which may be originally emitted in a direction normal to the navigation surface. The illumination optical element includes a concave surface to receive the beam of light from the light source and a convex surface to transmit the beam of light from the illumination optical element toward the navigation surface. The beam of light incident on the navigation surface produces light, which is received at an image sensor array to capture frames of image data for displacement estimation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2012
    Assignee: Avago Technologies ECBU IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.
    Inventor: George E. Smith
  • Patent number: 8080776
    Abstract: A close contact type imaging device is an imaging device for acquiring an image of an object in a state that the object is in close contact to an image sensor. This imaging device has an angle limiting filter. The angle limiting filter is constructed from: a glass substrate of a parallel plate; and a dielectric multilayer film provided on the glass substrate. This angle limiting filter transmits light within a particular wavelength range approximately perpendicularly incident onto the surface, and shields light outside the particular wavelength range and light within the particular wavelength obliquely incident onto the surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2011
    Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation
    Inventors: Hajime Kurahashi, Hideyuki Matsushita
  • Patent number: 8067720
    Abstract: An image sensing device includes a pixel array, a plurality of column amplification units each including a setting unit, and a plurality of reference signal supply units. A first reference signal and a second reference signal are common to a plurality of columns in the pixel array. Each of the plurality of column amplification units amplifies the difference between the first reference signal and the second reference signal to output the amplified difference, or amplifies each of the first reference signal and the second reference signal to output the amplified first reference signal and the amplified second reference signal. The setting unit of each amplification unit sets an amplification factor which is determined in accordance with a signal output from each of the plurality of column amplification units so as to reduce variations of the amplification factor between the plurality of column amplification units.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2011
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Takashi Matsuda
  • Patent number: 8063355
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are a number of different embodiments of reflective multi-turn optical encoders with different light sensing systems. Three different basic configurations of reflective multi-turn optical encoder light sensing systems are disclosed herein: (a) optical encoders employing multiple arrays of light detectors; (b) optical encoders employing multiple arrays of stacked die light sensors, and (c) optical encoders employing variable tone density light sensing systems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2011
    Assignee: Avago Technologies Limited
    Inventors: Sze Kuang Lee, Yee Loong Chin, Weng Fei Wong
  • Patent number: 8057052
    Abstract: Disclosed in a laser projector to display an image by projecting a laser beam from a laser light source to a projection screen including an electromagnetic driven scan mirror to scan the laser beam from the laser light source, a detection unit to detect a back EMF which is generated by a drive of the electromagnetic driven scan mirror at a time of start-up of the laser projector, a first determination unit to determine whether a value of the back EMF which is detected by the detection unit exceeded a predetermined threshold or not and a light source control unit to start a lighting of the laser light source when the value of the back EMF is determined as exceeding the predetermined threshold by the determination unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2011
    Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Nishigaki, Atsuya Hirano, Ken Nishioka, Atsuhiko Chikaoka
  • Patent number: 8042953
    Abstract: A projector includes: plural high-pressure discharge lamps; a high-pressure discharge lamp lighting device for lighting the plural high-pressure discharge lamps; a light combining system that combines and outputs lights from the plural high-pressure discharge lamps; an electro-optical modulation device that modulates the light from the light combining system according to image information; and a projection system that projects the light modulated by the electro-optical modulation device, wherein the high-pressure discharge lamp lighting device supplies alternating lamp currents having alternating-current waveforms with the same waveform and period and phases shifted by a predetermined amount with respect to each of the high-pressure discharge lamps to the respective plural high-pressure discharge lamps.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Takeshi Takezawa
  • Patent number: 8044331
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus and manufacturing method is disclosed. The image pickup apparatus comprises an optical system, an optical wavefront modulator that modulates an optical transfer function, an aperture adjacent to the optical wavefront modulator, and an image pickup device for detecting an object image passing through the optical system and the optical wavefront modulator. A product of a diameter of the aperture at a stop position multiplied by a distance between the aperture and the optical wavefront modulator is less than 2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
    Inventors: Naoto Ohara, Yusuke Hayashi