Patents Examined by Ruifeng Pu
  • Patent number: 9989610
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for performing multi-band slice accelerated imaging includes performing a low-resolution fast multi-dimensional reference scan to obtain a coil sensitivity map. A multiband imaging scan is performed to acquire a plurality of k-space lines representative of an anatomical area of interest. A multi-band signal corresponding to the plurality of k-space lines is separated into a plurality of image slices using a parallel imaging reconstruction technique and the coil sensitivity map.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignees: Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Regents of the University of Minnesota
    Inventors: Dingxin Wang, Vibhas Deshpande, Xiufeng Li, Kamil Ugurbil
  • Patent number: 9989915
    Abstract: A developing cartridge mountable to a development rotary of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a coupling member for transmitting a rotational force from a main assembly engaging portion to a developing roller, the coupling member being engageable and disengageable relative to the engaging portion with rotation of the rotary, the coupling member being movable among a rotational force transmitting angular position, a pre-engagement angular position in which the coupling member is inclined relative to that in the transmitting angular position to engage with the engaging portion, and a disengaging angular position for disengaging therefrom; and an inclination regulating member movable between a regulating position for positioning the coupling member to the pre-engagement position and a retracted position, the inclination regulating member being movable from the retracted position to the regulating position by being abutted by a function member of the rotary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hideto Chino
  • Patent number: 9989605
    Abstract: A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes: a magnetostatic field magnet formed in the shape of a substantially circular cylinder; a gradient coil formed in the shape of a substantially circular cylinder on the inside of the magnetostatic field magnet; a cylindrical part that is formed in the shape of a substantially circular cylinder on the inside of the gradient coil and includes at least one selected from a sound absorbing material layer and a sound blocking material layer; and a ring part that is substantially ring-shaped, covers the space formed between the magnetostatic field magnet and the cylindrical part on at least one end face of a magnet structure being formed in the shape of a substantially circular cylinder and including the magnetostatic field magnet, the gradient coil, and the cylindrical part, and includes at least one selected from an sound absorbing material layer and a sound blocking material layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: TOSHIBA MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yu Ueda, Hiromitsu Takamori
  • Patent number: 9983288
    Abstract: A novel free-breathing myocardial T2* mapping combining multiple single-shot black-blood GRE-EPI images with automatic non-rigid motion correction. The present disclosure describes a method of accurate myocardial T2* measurements that is insensitive to respiratory motion, and is likely to reduce sensitivity to arrhythmia as well since each image is acquired in a single heart beat. The T2*-weighted GRE-EPI images are motion corrected using, e.g., automatic non-rigid motion correction to reduce mis-registration due to respiratory motion. A T2* map is calculated using the motion-corrected T2*-weighted images by fitting pixel intensities to a, e.g., two-parameter mono-exponential model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: Ohio State Innovation Foundation
    Inventors: Ning Jin, Marie-Pierre Jolly, Orlando Simonetti
  • Patent number: 9977109
    Abstract: Provided is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignees: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., INDUSTRY-ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION, YONSEI UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Young-woon Lee, Jin-seong Jang, Do-sik Hwang, Tae-joon Eo, Hae-kyung Jung, Dong-hyun Kim, Min-oh Kim, Na-rae Choi, Dong-yeob Han
  • Patent number: 9977099
    Abstract: A RF conductive member for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) resonator includes an opening, a butterfly pickup loop, and a sensor cable. The RF conductive member has a length, a width, and a depth, and is configured to conduct a RF conductive member current. The opening passes through the depth of the RF conductive member and is disposed along the length of the RF conductive member. The butterfly pickup loop is disposed within the opening and configured to detect the RF conductive member current. The butterfly pickup loop includes a first loop and a second loop. The second loop is proximate the first loop and co-planar with the first loop. The sensor cable extends from the butterfly pickup loop and is configured to communicably couple the butterfly pickup loop with at least one processing unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventor: Eddy Benjamin Boskamp
  • Patent number: 9971002
    Abstract: A local coil and a magnetic resonance imaging system are provided. The local coil includes an antenna part, an adjustment part and a transmission part. The antenna part includes a first capacitor connected in series for adjusting a frequency of the antenna part. The adjustment part includes a tuning/detuning diode and is connected in parallel to the first capacitor, and the tuning/detuning diode is used for adjusting tuning and detuning of the antenna part. The transmission part includes a radio-frequency transmission line that connects the antenna part and the adjustment part, and the transmission part provides a phase difference of an odd multiple of 180° between the antenna part and the tuning/detuning diode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Wen Ming Li, Tong Tong, JianMin Wang
  • Patent number: 9971008
    Abstract: Magnetic field temporal variations in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) volume are determined based on the slope of a phase difference ?? between spin responses in plural slices at a given temporal sampling time. Representations of the determined temporal magnetic field variations are stored for subsequent use, e.g., to achieve more accurate re-gridding of acquired k-space date before reconstruction of images in the spatial domain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: TOSHIBA MEDICAL SYSTEMS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Michael R. Thompson, Andrew J. Wheaton
  • Patent number: 9971273
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an optical scanning unit including a rotatable polygonal mirror, a detecting portion, and a slit; and a controller. The slit includes a first portion where a slit width is a first width with respect to a main scan direction and a second portion, different in position from the first portion with respect to a sub-scan direction, where the slit width is a second width different from the first width with respect to the main scan direction. The controller identifies one of reflecting surfaces of the rotatable polygonal mirror as a reference surface on the basis of a plurality of detected signals acquired by detecting a plurality of light beams which are deflected by the respective reflecting surfaces and which pass through the slit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Fumihiko Yamaya
  • Patent number: 9966865
    Abstract: The power supply apparatus includes a control unit that can perform intermittent operation of alternately repeating a switching period and a switching halt period, wherein the switching period is for performing switching operation of alternately turning on or turning off two switching elements across a turn-off period for turning off both of the two switching elements, and the switching halt period is for halting the switching operation. In a transition from the switching period to the switching halt period, the control unit makes the transition to the switching halt period after turning on a second switching element. In a transition from the switching halt period to the switching period, the control unit also makes the transition to the switching period after turning on the second switching element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Shimura, Hiroki Asano
  • Patent number: 9964913
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus and a voltage supply method are provided which are capable of fulfilling a stable bias supply to a fittable-and-removable image forming unit and moreover offering improved accessibility to the board. The image forming apparatus includes a lower casing, an image forming unit, a high-voltage board, and a left interconnecting unit. The high-voltage board has a plurality of electric components and output terminals in its upper surface portion above the image forming unit. When a top cover of the lower casing is removed off, the high-voltage board is exposed. The left interconnecting unit is fitted to a side end portion of the high-voltage board and electrically connected to the output terminals of the high-voltage board. The left interconnecting unit supplies a voltage to the image forming unit via a side portion of the high-voltage board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventor: Akinori Matsuno
  • Patent number: 9952526
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes a first image forming unit configured to form a first image in a chromatic color, a second image forming unit configured to form a second image in black, an intermediate transfer member, a sensor, a first adjustment unit configured to adjust the image forming position for the black based on an adjustment value, a second adjustment unit configured to adjust image forming position based on an adjustment condition, and a generation unit configured to generate the adjustment condition. The generation unit generates a first adjustment condition based on a user instruction relating to a first test image having chromatic color on a sheet input from the input unit. The generation unit generates a second adjustment condition based on the reading result of the second test image having black on a sheet from a reading device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Naoka Omura, Kunio Takane, Noriaki Matsui, Takuya Hayakawa, Kiyoharu Kakomura, Takayuki Inoue
  • Patent number: 9952544
    Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes an image forming portion for forming an image, a human presence sensor for detecting presence of a human body adjacent the apparatus, and a controller capable of executing an adjustment process operation for the image forming portion when a first predetermined number of prints are produced. When the human presence sensor detects a human body in the neighborhood of the apparatus, the execution of the adjustment process operation is deferred to reduce the waiting time necessitated by the adjustment operation, but if a second predetermined number of prints are produced, the image forming operation of the image forming portion is interrupted, and the deferred adjustment process is executed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masanobu Tanaka, Yasuharu Chiyoda, Oki Kitagawa, Asuna Fukamachi
  • Patent number: 9945917
    Abstract: A method and system for enhanced NQR or GPR include a metamaterial antenna configured to both transmit and receive a magnetic field focused at a near-field distance separated from the antenna at a corresponding antenna frequency corresponding to a nuclear quadrupole resonance frequency of an atom in a target material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION
    Inventors: Christina Hartsell Drake, Clara Rivero Baleine, Nelson Ch Poon
  • Patent number: 9945919
    Abstract: A method is provided for modified gradient timing in a Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging system. The method includes generating radio frequency (RF) excitation pulses in a volume of patient anatomy to provide subsequent acquisition of associated RF echo data and generating a sequence of gradient waveforms on a static magnetic field in three directions each orthogonal to each other for slice selection, phase encoding and readout RF data acquisition in the volume of patient anatomy. The method also includes receiving, by a controller, an indication of the sequence of gradient waveforms to be applied to a plurality of gradient coils and modifying, via the controller, the sequence of gradient waveforms to be applied to the plurality of gradient coils based on one or more parameters to produce a sequence of modified gradient waveforms. The method further includes providing the sequence of modified gradient waveforms to the plurality of gradient coils.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Siemens Healthcare GmbH
    Inventors: Sven Zuehlsdorff, Haris Saybasili, Lars Lauer, David Grodzki
  • Patent number: 9946174
    Abstract: A conductive support for an electrophotographic photoreceptor includes a cylindrical member containing aluminum, wherein the cylindrical member has an arithmetic mean roughness Ra of 1.3 ?m or less, a maximum height of roughness profile Rz of 5.0 ?m or less, and a mean width of roughness profile elements RSm in an axial direction of 80 ?m to 400 ?m.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kenta Shingu, Masaru Agatsuma, Hiroshi Tamemasa, Daisuke Haruyama, Hiroaki Ogawa, Akihiko Nakamura, Shiori Okuda
  • Patent number: 9933497
    Abstract: In a method for determining excitation profiles from excitation pulses in a magnetic resonance, a homogeneous phantom is placed within the measurement volume of the magnetic resonance apparatus, at least one measurement data set of the phantom is acquired by operating the apparatus with a test pulse sequence composed of one excitation pulse, of which the excitation profile is to be determined, and a test gradient that is already activated on at full strength while the excitation pulse (A) is irradiated. The intensity profile of at least one acquired measurement data set in the direction in which the test gradient was switched on is determined in a processor, and the excitation profile of the excitation pulse is determined from the calculated intensity profile. The determined excitation profile is saved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2018
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: David Grodzki
  • Patent number: 9931793
    Abstract: An endless-belt shaped heating element is produced by: dispersing annealed stainless-steel fibers in the heat-resistant resin or a precursor thereof; and, producing a molded article of the heat-resistant resin in which the annealed stainless-steel fibers are dispersed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2018
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Izumi Mukoyama, Junji Ujihara
  • Patent number: 9933504
    Abstract: In a method and apparatus to determine a magnetic resonance image from magnetic resonance data entered into k-space that are acquired with the magnetic resonance apparatus, in the acquisition of the data a deviation from ideal homogeneity, described by an interference field, is present in the imaging region that is covered by the magnetic resonance data. To reduce image artifacts generated by this interference field, the transformation of the magnetic resonance data from k-space into the image domain, at least along a readout direction of a readout gradient used in the acquisition, takes place by multiplication of the data with the inverse of a transformation matrix that is calculated depending on the interference field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2018
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: David Grodzki
  • Patent number: 9927508
    Abstract: Provided is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus. The MRI apparatus includes: a data acquisition unit configured to acquire a first k-space including a first missing line by undersampling an MR signal received from an object at a first time point, acquire a second k-space including a first acquired line corresponding to the first missing line by undersampling an MR signal received from the object at a second time point, and acquire a third k-space including a second acquired line corresponding to the first missing line by undersampling an MR signal received from the object at a third time point; and an image processor configured to interpolate data in the first missing line based on data in the first and second acquired lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignees: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., INDUSTRY-ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION, YONSEI UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Young-yoon Lee, Do-sik Hwang, Tae-joon Eo, Jin-seong Jang, Hae-kyung Jung, Dong-hyun Kim, Min-oh Kim, Na-rae Choi, Dong-yeob Han