Abstract: This invention provides an oral apparatus and method capable of alleviating or curing snore and obstructive sleep apnea by applying a negative pressure through a mini oral interface to the oral cavity. The mini oral interface creates a secure connection between the interface and mouth or teeth and prevents the interface from falling off. The oral interface also provides fixation between upper and lower lips (or tooth) and prevents opening of patient's mouth during sleeping. The negative pressure pulls the tongue toward upper palate and also pulls the soft palate forward as well. By moving the tongue and the soft palate in a forward direction, the patency of the upper airway near the pharynx is maintained to prevent sleep-disordered breathing. The negative pressure will pull the lips inward to close the mouth ad prevent air from entering the oral cavity from atmosphere.

Abstract: This invention provides an oral apparatus and method capable of alleviating or curing snore and obstructive sleep apnea by applying a negative pressure through a mini oral interface to the oral cavity. The mini oral interface creates a secure connection between the interface and mouth or teeth and prevents the interface from falling off. The oral interface also provides fixation between upper and lower lips (or tooth) and prevents opening of patient's mouth during sleeping. The negative pressure pulls the tongue toward upper palate and also pulls the soft palate forward as well. By moving the tongue and the soft palate in a forward direction, the patentcy of the upper airway near the pharynx is maintained to prevent sleep-disordered breathing. The negative pressure will pull the lips inward to close the mouth ad prevent air from entering the oral cavity from atmosphere.

Abstract: A test system for testing directional capabilities of an audio device includes a horizontal linear actuator and a vertical linear actuator. The horizontal linear actuator supports a rotary actuator upon which the audio device is placed. The vertical linear actuator supports a sound source. To test the device, the actuators are controlled to establish multiple relative positions of the audio device and the sound source. A test sound is emitted at each of the relative positions. The audio device is configured to provide data generated in response to the test sound at each of the relative positions. The test system receives and records the data along with coordinates indicating the relative positions to which the data corresponds.

Abstract: The present invention discloses a negative-pressure oral apparatus capable of relieving discomfort of soft tissues in the oral cavity and improving fixation of the oral apparatus to prevent the oral apparatus from falling off due to mouth opening. The oral apparatus is compact and elastic so that it fits various shapes and sizes of the oral cavity and is easy to be put on and taken off to provide convenience and safety to the user. In another embodiment, a method for maintaining a negative oral pressure and collecting liquid by coupling the oral apparatus to a liquid collecting apparatus capable of effectively providing the oral cavity with a negative pressure to expel liquid in the oral apparatus and deliver the liquid to an absorbing element in the liquid collecting apparatus so as to prevent liquid leakage or contamination.

Abstract: The accuracy and computationally efficient estimation of time different (or delay) of arrival (TDOA) data is improved for localization of a sound. In one aspect, for each acoustic source event, multiple sets of TDOA data are generated, where each set uses a different sensor or microphone to be the reference. One of the microphones is ultimately selected to be the reference microphone based, in part, on correlation functions of the various sets of TDOA data. The selected reference microphone is then used in sound source localization or other signal processing applications. The direction of the sound source is found using a VMRL finding algorithm as a function of a channel vector containing information of the selected channels, the reference channel and a TDOA vector.

Abstract: A disclosed coaxial audio speaker may include a treble sound unit and a bass sound unit co-axially surrounding the treble sound unit. The bass sound unit may be in form of a single magnetic gap mechanism and have a magnetic-conductive base. The magnetic-conductive base may be with an auxiliary magnetic adjoining space and a coil movement space adjacent to the auxiliary magnetic adjoining space. A magnet, a vibrating vocal tone diaphragm along with a wiring board may be disposed within the coil movement space. A bass vibration audio source point and a treble vibration audio source point may be at the same horizontal level. Therefore, the size of the audio speaker may be reduced. And the broader electricity adjustability may be achieved as the bass vibration audio source point and the treble vibration audio source point may be horizontally aligned.

Abstract: A disclosed coaxial audio speaker may include a treble sound unit and a bass sound unit co-axially surrounding the treble sound unit. The bass sound unit may be in form of a single magnetic gap mechanism and have a magnetic-conductive base. The magnetic-conductive base may be with an auxiliary magnetic adjoining space and a coil movement space adjacent to the auxiliary magnetic adjoining space. A magnet, a vibrating vocal tone diaphragm along with a wiring board may be disposed within the coil movement space. A bass vibration audio source point and a treble vibration audio source point may be at the same horizontal level. Therefore, the size of the audio speaker may be reduced. And the broader electricity adjustability may be achieved as the bass vibration audio source point and the treble vibration audio source point may be horizontally aligned.

Abstract: A headphone structure for adjusting audio frequencies is provided, which comprises a front housing, a rear housing, a sound-producing unit in the front housing and an elastic ear-contacting body sleeving the front housing. The front housing has at least one slot or recess, and the elastic ear-contacting body sleeves the front housing to form at least one gap. The headphone structure for adjusting audio frequencies of the present invention has better results for the adjustment of bass frequencies. In addition, the headphone structure of the present invention is not complicated and is easy to manufacture. The headphone structure of the present invention can be applied to various types of headphone, such as in-ear headphones and circumaural headphones.

Abstract: A disclosed coaxial audio speaker may include a treble sound unit and a bass sound unit co-axially surrounding the treble sound unit. The bass sound unit may be in form of a single magnetic gap mechanism and have a vibrating vocal tone diaphragm along with a wiring board. The bass sound unit may further include a magnetic resistant ring selectively disposed therein. Within the magnetic resistant ring lies the treble sound unit. Therefore, the size of the audio speaker may be reduced because of the co-axially disposed bass sound unit and the treble sound unit. And the broader electricity adjustability may be achieved as vibration audio source points of the bass sound unit and the treble sound unit may be horizontally aligned.

Abstract: A disclosed coaxial audio speaker may include a treble sound unit and a bass sound unit co-axially surrounding the treble sound unit. The bass sound unit may be in form of a dual magnetic gap mechanism and have a vibrating vocal tone diaphragm along with a wiring board. The bass sound unit may further include a magnetic resistant ring selectively disposed therein. Within the magnetic resistant ring lies the treble sound unit. Therefore, the size of the audio speaker may be reduced because of the co-axially disposed bass sound unit and the treble sound unit. And the broader electricity adjustability may be achieved as vibration audio source points of the bass sound unit and the treble sound unit may be horizontally aligned.

Abstract: A disclosed multi-ring coaxial audio speaker may include a treble sound unit, a first bass sound unit co-axially surrounding the treble sound unit, and a second bass sound unit co-axially surrounding the first bass sound unit. The first bass sound unit, the second bass sound unit, and the treble sound unit may be co-axially disposed with respect to each other. Bass vibration audio source points and a treble vibration audio source point may be at the same horizontal level, to achieve the broader electrical adjustability. The size of the audio speaker may be reduced as well.

Abstract: The present disclosure provides an off-axial audio speaker using single audio source. The audio speaker includes a bass sounding unit and a treble sounding unit. The bass sounding unit is off-axially surrounded by the treble sounding unit and includes two magnets, a single magnetic gap mechanism, a vibration sounding membrane disposed with a single sound coil, and a wiring board. A magnetic resistance ring is selectively disposed within the bass sounding unit, and the treble sounding unit is disposed in the magnetic resistance ring. The vibration audio source point of the bass sounding unit is horizontally aligned with the vibration audio source point of the treble sounding unit. Therefore, the size of the audio speaker can be reduced, and vibration audio source points are aligned for realizing a relatively broader range of electrical adjustability and enabling the audio speaker to output both bass and treble sound.

Abstract: This invention provides devices and systems and methods therefrom for properly controlling negative pressure applied to oral cavity, facilitating breathing and treating sleep apnea and snoring. The systems comprise a negative pressure system providing a vacuum source and an oral device comprising a shield, a tube passing through the shield, a flexible negative pressure deliverable part connected to the shield or the tube, an optional tongue protector, where the negative pressure deliverable part is conformable to the contour of the upper palate. Negative pressure is delivered to the front and back zones inside the oral cavity via the negative pressure deliverable part to eliminate air space in the oral cavity.

Abstract: A power semiconductor includes a semiconductor substrate, a metal oxide semiconductor layer, a N-type buffer layer and a P-type injection layer. The semiconductor substrate has a first surface and a second surface. The metal oxide semiconductor layer is formed on the first surface for defining a N-type drift layer of the semiconductor substrate. The N-type buffer layer is formed on the second surface through ion implanting, and the P-type injection layer is formed on the N-type buffer layer through ion implanting. By utilizing the semiconductor substrate having drift layer and forming the N-type buffer layer and the P-type injection layer on the second surface of the semiconductor substrate through ion implanting, the ion concentration is adjustable. As a result, the electron hole injection efficiency and the width of depletion region are easily adjusted, the fabricating processes are simplified, and the fabricating time and cost are reduced.

Abstract: This invention provides an oral apparatus and method capable of alleviating or curing snore and obstructive sleep apnea by applying a negative pressure through a mini oral interface to the oral cavity. The mini oral interface creates a secure connection to mouth and prevents disengaging from patient's mouth during sleeping. The negative pressure pulls the tongue toward upper palate and also pulls the soft palate forward as well. By moving the tongue and the soft tissue in a forward direction, the patency of the upper airway near the pharynx is maintained to prevent sleep-disordered breathing. The negative pressure will pull the lips inward to close the mouth preventing air from entering the oral cavity from atmosphere. The negative pressure will also pull the soft palate into contact with the rear surface of the tongue to create a seal that prevents the air from entering the oral cavity through the nasal airway.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for suturing tissue. An elongated deployment shaft carries a needle deployment assembly with needles carrying suture material. A needle catcher is disposed over the shaft and configured to engage and retain at least a portion of each of the needles carrying the suture material when the needles are passed through the tissue to be sutured to a proximal position.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for suturing tissue. An elongated deployment shaft carries a needle deployment assembly with needles carrying suture material and a stabilizer that is reconfigurable between an unexpanded insertion profile and an expanded profile. A catcher tube over the shaft having a catcher at a distal end may retain at least a portion of the needles carrying the suture material when the needles are passed through the tissue to be sutured into engagement with the catcher. A sheath over the catcher tube may sandwich tissue to be sutured against the stabilizer when expanded. A first actuator may move the catcher tube distally relative to the shaft to decrease a distance between the proximal end of the stabilizer and the distal end of the stabilizer to expand the stabilizer and may move the sheath distally relative to the shaft to sandwich the tissue.

Abstract: A treble and bass headphone structure comprises: a headphone back cover; a headphone support frame contacted with the headphone back cover; a dynamic bass sound unit contacted with the headphone back cover; a partition contacted with the dynamic bass sound unit; a headphone front cover contacted with the partition; a film ribbon tweeter sound unit entered and accommodated in an accommodating slot of the headphone front cover from the headphone front cover; and a soft ear-cover contacted with the headphone front cover; wherein the headphone front cover covers up the headphone back cover.

Abstract: A treble and bass headphone structure comprises: a headphone back cover; a headphone support frame contacted with the headphone back cover; a dynamic bass sound unit contacted with the headphone back cover; a partition contacted with the dynamic bass sound unit; a headphone front cover contacted with the partition; a film ribbon tweeter sound unit entered and accommodated in an accommodating slot of the headphone front cover from the headphone front cover; and a soft ear-cover contacted with the headphone front cover; wherein the headphone front cover covers up the headphone back cover.

Abstract: Described is a microfluidic process for manufacturing partially cross-linked alginate solution, wherein the alginate solution is a homogenous liquid which exhibits an elastic response (G?) which is equal to or greater than its viscous response (G?). In particular, the process may comprise microfluidic mixing of sodium alginate and calcium gluconate solutions to provide an injectable partially cross-linked alginate solution.