Abstract: A tele-health apparatus includes a telephone having a microphone, an auscultation piece to acquire sounds, and a solid medium acoustically coupling the auscultation piece to the microphone. The auscultation piece is part of a stethoscope, and the solid medium is a windpipe of the stethoscope. The tele-health apparatus also includes an otoscope operable to be disposed in front of a camera of the telephone. A clip holds the stethoscope and the otoscope, and is fixed to the phone. Software modules installed in the telephone enable the tele-health apparatus to engage a user in a two-way audio and/or video consultation with a physician at a remote device in real-time.

Abstract: A tele-health apparatus includes a telephone having a microphone, an auscultation piece to acquire sounds, and a solid medium acoustically coupling the auscultation piece to the microphone. The auscultation piece is part of a stethoscope, and the solid medium is a windpipe of the stethoscope. The tele-health apparatus also includes an otoscope operable to be disposed in front of a camera of the telephone. A clip holds the stethoscope and the otoscope, and is fixed to the phone. Software modules installed in the telephone enable the tele-health apparatus to engage a user in a two-way audio and/or video consultation with a physician at a remote device in real-time.

Abstract: A tele-health apparatus includes a telephone having a microphone, an auscultation piece to acquire sounds, and a solid medium acoustically coupling the auscultation piece to the microphone. The auscultation piece is part of a stethoscope, and the solid medium is a windpipe of the stethoscope. The tele-health apparatus also includes an otoscope operable to be disposed in front of a camera of the telephone. A clip holds the stethoscope and the otoscope, and is fixed to the phone. Software modules installed in the telephone enable the tele-health apparatus to engage a user in a two-way audio and/or video consultation with a physician at a remote device in real-time.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for channel count reduction in solid-state-based positron emission tomography that multiplexes read-outs from photo-detectors using a sum delay circuit, including a sum channel and a delay-sum channel. The sum channel sums signals from sensors in an array and is digitized to extract the timing and energy information. A delay-sum channel includes a discrete delay line that introduces a known delay after each sensor, creating a time signature for the sensor, followed by a summing circuit that adds the delayed signals. The delay-sum channel is digitized using a high speed counters to extract location information. Start and Stop signals for the counter are derived when the sum channel output and the delay-sum channel output cross a pulse ID threshold, respectively. The pulse ID threshold is chosen to minimize the Compton scatter and not clip the photo-peak events.

Abstract: A medical imaging system can include a frame that has a bore that has a central longitudinal axis that intersects a target area for imaging, and a radiation source to emit radiation in radial directions towards the target area to form a fan or cone of emitted radiation that irradiates a cross-section of the target area with respect to the longitudinal axis. The system can include one or more detector arrays including a plurality of detector segments that extend along a detector axis that extends in a direction that is effectively parallel to the longitudinal axis, such that radiation emitted from the radiation source passes through the target area and is incident on one or more of the detector segments. The detector segments can each include a detecting surface that is tilted such that the detecting surface has a tilt (e.g., a non-zero slope) with respect to the detector axis.

Abstract: A medical imaging system can include a frame that has a bore that has a central longitudinal axis that intersects a target area for imaging, and a radiation source to emit radiation in radial directions towards the target area to form a fan or cone of emitted radiation that irradiates a cross-section of the target area with respect to the longitudinal axis. The system can include one or more detector arrays including a plurality of detector segments that extend along a detector axis that extends in a direction that is effectively parallel to the longitudinal axis, such that radiation emitted from the radiation source passes through the target area and is incident on one or more of the detector segments. The detector segments can each include a detecting surface that is tilted such that the detecting surface has a tilt (e.g., a non-zero slope) with respect to the detector axis.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for channel count reduction in solid-state-based positron emission tomography that multiplexes read-outs from photo-detectors using a sum delay circuit, including a sum channel and a delay-sum channel. The sum channel sums signals from sensors in an array and is digitized to extract the timing and energy information. A delay-sum channel includes a discrete delay line that introduces a known delay after each sensor, creating a time signature for the sensor, followed by a summing circuit that adds the delayed signals. The delay-sum channel is digitized using a high speed counters to extract location information. Start and Stop signals for the counter are derived when the sum channel output and the delay-sum channel output cross a pulse ID threshold, respectively. The pulse ID threshold is chosen to minimize the Compton scatter and not clip the photo-peak events.