Abstract: Apparatus for assaying an analyte of blood in a patient's blood vessel comprising: a mounting module adapted so that it can be adhered to the skin of the patient overlying a tissue region comprising the blood vessel; a sensor unit mounted to the module that generates signals responsive to characteristics of the tissue region; and a controller that receives the signals and uses received signals to assay the analyte and to determine a degree to which the sensor unit is aligned with the blood vessel.

Abstract: A method for determining concentration of at least one component of the material, the method comprising: measuring at least one of the real and imaginary parts of the permittivity of the material at each of a first plurality of frequencies for which substantially only a second plurality of known components of the material contributes to the dielectric permittivity of the material, wherein for each of the known components the permittivity as a function of temperature is known and the first plurality is greater than the second plurality; determining the concentration of at least one of the known components responsive to a solution of a set of simultaneous equations determined by the first plurality of measurements and the dependence of the permittivities of the known components on temperature.

Abstract: The present invention is directed towards apparatuses and methods for the automated measurement of blood analytes and blood parameters for bedside monitoring of patient blood chemistry. Particularly, the current invention discloses a programmable system that can automatically draw blood samples at a suitable programmable time frequency (or at predetermined timing), can automatically analyze the drawn blood samples and immediately measure and display blood parameters such as glucose levels, hematocrit levels, hemoglobin blood oxygen saturation, blood gases, lactate or any other blood parameter.

Abstract: Determining the temperature of the water by measuring the absorption coefficient of water (32). The method for determining temperature of a first substance comprising: acquiring a measurement of the absorption coefficient of the first substance at least one wavelength (30); and determining the temperature using the measurement of the absorption coefficient and known values of the absorption coefficient as a function of temperature at the at least one wavelength.

Abstract: A system for monitoring a position of an instrument in a subject includes a light transmission medium configured to transmit light pulses to a desired region to produce an acoustic signal, at least one ultrasound sensor configured to receive the acoustic signal and to produce a transduced signal from the acoustic signal, and a processing unit connected to the at least one ultrasound sensor and configured to locate a source of the acoustic signal using the transduced signal.

Abstract: Apparatus for forming a hole in a region of the heart muscle wall of a patient undergoing myocardial revascularization comprising: means for removing tissue from the region to form the hole; a light source that illuminates the region with light that generates photoacoustic waves therein; at least one acoustic sensor that generates signals responsive to the photoacoustic waves; and a controller that receives the signals and processes them to determine a characteristic of the region useable to control the means for removing tissue.

Abstract: A method for determining temperature of a material (32) comprising: measuring at least one of the real and imaginary part of the permittivity of the material (32) at each of at least one frequency (36) for which substantially only a single component of the material contributes to the dielectric permittivity of the material (32), for which known component the permittivity as a function of temperature is known; and using at least one of the determined real and imaginary part of the permittivity at each of the at least one frequency and the dependence of the permittivity of the known component on temperature to determine temperature of the known component and thereby of the material (32).

Abstract: A tissue viability monitor (TVM) for determining viability of a biological tissue comprising: at least one light source controllable to illuminate the tissue with light that generates photoacoustic waves therein; at least one acoustic transducer that generates signals responsive to the photoacoustic waves; and a controller that receives the signals and processes the signals to determine at least one characteristic of the tissue and a measure of viability responsive to the determined at least one characteristic.

Abstract: The present invention is directed towards apparatuses and methods for the automated measurement of blood analytes and blood parameters for bedside monitoring of patient blood chemistry. Particularly, the current invention discloses a programmable system that can automatically draw blood samples at a suitable programmable time frequency (or at predetermined timing), can automatically analyze the drawn blood samples and immediately measure and display blood parameters such as glucose levels, hematocrit levels, hemoglobin blood oxygen saturation, blood gases, lactate or any other blood parameter.

Abstract: A method of determining a portion of light at a given wavelength which is incident on a material that is absorbed by the material, the method comprising: transmitting a pulse of light at the given wavelength so that the pulse traverses a path through the material; generating a first signal responsive to light in the light pulse that traverses the path length without being absorbed by the material; generating a second signal responsive to energy that the material emits responsive to a portion of the light from the light pulse that is absorbed by the material as the light pulse traverses the path; and using the first and second signals to determine the absorbed portion.

Abstract: Determining the temperature of the water by measuring the absorption coefficient of water (32). The method for determining temperature of a first substance comprising acquiring a measurement of the absorption coefficient of the first substance at least one wavelength (30); and determining the temperature using the measurement of the absorption coefficient and known values of the absorption coefficient as a function of temperature at the at least one wavelength.

Abstract: A method for assaying a component of a localized region of interest in a body comprising: illuminating the region with at least one pulse of radiation having a wavelength at which the radiation is absorbed by the component to generate a change in an acoustic property of the region; transmitting ultrasound so that it is incident on the region; measuring at least one effect of the change on the incident ultrasound; using the measured at least one effect to determine an absorption coefficient for the radiation in the region; and using the determined absorption coefficient to determine concentration of the component in the region.

Abstract: A method for assaying a component of a localized region of interest in a body comprising: illuminating the region with at least one pulse of radiation having a wavelength at which the radiation is absorbed by the component to generate a change in an acoustic property of the region; transmitting ultrasound so that it is incident on the region; measuring at least one effect of the change on the incident ultrasound; using the measured at least one effect to determine an absorption coefficient for the radiation in the region; and using the determined absorption coefficient to determine concentration of the component in the region.

Abstract: A method for determining temperature of a material (32) comprising: measuring at least one of the real and imaginary part of the permittivity of the material (32) at each of at least one frequency (36) for which substantially only a single component of the material contributes to the dielectric permittivity of the material (32), for which known component the permittivity as a function of temperature is known; and using at least one of the determined real and imaginary part of the permittivity at each of the at least one frequency and the dependence of the permittivity of the known component on temperature to determine temperature of the known component and thereby of the material (32).

Abstract: A system for monitoring a position of an instrument in a subject includes a light transmission medium configured to transmit light pulses to a desired region to produce an acoustic signal, at least one ultrasound sensor configured to receive the acoustic signal and to produce a transduced signal from the acoustic signal, and a processing unit connected to the at least one ultrasound sensor and configured to locate a source of the acoustic signal using the transduced signal.

Abstract: A method for assaying a component of a localized region of interest in a body comprising: illuminating the region with at least one pulse of radiation having a wavelength at which the radiation is absorbed by the component to generate a change in an acoustic property of the region; transmitting ultrasound so that it is incident on the region; measuring at least one effect of the change on the incident ultrasound; using the measured at least one effect to determine an absorption coefficient for the radiation in the region; and using the determined absorption coefficient to determine concentration of the component in the region.

Abstract: A network element and a method for propagating data packet from an input port of a network element to an output port of the network element, the network element comprising a plurality of input ports and a plurality of output ports interconnected by an optical switch, the method including the steps of: receiving the data packet at an input port; processing the data packet to determine a destination output port out of the output ports of the network element; partitioning the data packet to a plurality of fixed sized cells; for each fixed sized cell of the data packet: optically transmitting in parallel optical signals to an optical switch, the optical signals being representative of all the bits of a fixed sized cell, switching the optical signals across the optical switch in view of the destination output port, during a single switching cycle, and converting the optical signals to electrical signals being representative of the fixed size cells; accumulating electrical signals being representative of fixed size