Patents by Inventor Francis T. Cheng

Francis T. Cheng has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20090204353
    Abstract: Methods are provided that operate on raw dissociation data and dissociation curves to generate calibrations of the detected data and to further improve analysis of the data. The data can be taken from each support region of a multi-region platform, for example, from each well of a multi-well plate. Each support region can be loaded with portions of the same sample. In some embodiments, a dissociation curve correction can be calibrated for the sample, prior to a run of an experiment using such sample. In some embodiments, a method is provided for generating a melting transition region of dissociation curves that show the melting characteristics of the sample. In some embodiments, dye temperature dependence correction can be performed on the dissociation curve data to further improve analysis. In some embodiments, a feature vector can be derived from the melt data, and the feature vector can be used to further improve genotyping analysis of the dissociation curves.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2009
    Publication date: August 13, 2009
    Applicant: Life Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Francis T. Cheng, Casey R. McFarland
  • Publication number: 20090037117
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for processing a melting or dissociation curve of a DNA or other sample, for example, during PCR processing. In some embodiments, detection of the melting point and melting curve behavior can be enhanced by taking a derivative of the curve, and detecting peaks in the differential dissociation curve. In some embodiments, the derivative operation can comprise the use of edge-processing, or other detection algorithms. In some embodiments, the dissociation analysis can comprise removing low-frequency (or pedestal) components of the differential dissociation curve. In some embodiments, the differential dissociation curve can exhibit a smoothed or more regular appearance than the raw detected data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 25, 2008
    Publication date: February 5, 2009
    Applicant: Applera Corporation
    Inventor: Francis T. Cheng
  • Patent number: 6094152
    Abstract: A robust histogram analysis algorithm is used in accordance with the present invention to control the electronic portal image analog to digital (A/D) window such that the acquired images will have sufficient contrast for their uses in radiotherapy. The algorithm includes setting an initial estimate of a region of interest within a histogram, the histogram including pixel counts and pixel values related to the pixel counts, and determining two dominant peaks inside the region of interest. One of the two dominant peaks is below a predetermined value and the other of the two dominant peaks is between the predetermined value and a second predetermined value. If the one dominant peak is more than two times the standard deviation of the other dominant peak, then a first local minimum to the right of the one dominant peak will be the revised boundary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2000
    Assignee: Siemens Medical Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Francis T. Cheng