Patents by Inventor Ralph E. Crump

Ralph E. Crump 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).

  • Combined microwave heating and surface cooling of the cornea
    Patent number: 4881543
    Abstract: A non-invasive method and apparatus of reshaping the cornea to correct hyperopia, keratoconus, or myopia is described. The central stroma of the cornea is heated by microwave electromagnetic energy to the shrinkage temperature of collagen. The microwave applicator for heating stroma comprises an open-ended, coaxial antenna driven at 2450 MHz with apparatus for surface cooling of the cornea by flow of saline transverse to the antenna axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 1988
    Date of Patent: November 21, 1989
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: B. Stuart Trembly, Ralph E. Crump