Patents by Inventor William Michael Dougherty

William Michael Dougherty 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).

  • Optical microscope and method for detecting lens immersion
    Patent number: 9977231
    Abstract: An optical microscope and method for detecting lens immersion in optical microscopy includes an ultrasound circuit acoustically coupled to both an objective lens and a sample of an optical microscope, the ultrasound circuit comprising an ultrasound transmitter and an ultrasound receiver. The optical microscope and method includes transmitting an ultrasound pulse from the ultrasound transmitter to the ultrasound receiver, determining that a transit time of the ultrasound pulse is less than a threshold time, and providing an output signal from the pulse discriminator indicating that the ultrasound pulse is less than the threshold time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventor: William Michael Dougherty
  • OPTICAL MICROSCOPE AND METHOD FOR DETECTING LENS IMMERSION
    Publication number: 20170153437
    Abstract: An optical microscope and method for detecting lens immersion in optical microscopy includes an ultrasound circuit acoustically coupled to both an objective lens and a sample of an optical microscope, the ultrasound circuit comprising an ultrasound transmitter and an ultrasound receiver. The optical microscope and method includes transmitting an ultrasound pulse from the ultrasound transmitter to the ultrasound receiver, determining that a transit time of the ultrasound pulse is less than a threshold time, and providing an output signal from the pulse discriminator indicating that the ultrasound pulse is less than the threshold time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2017
    Publication date: June 1, 2017
    Inventor: William Michael Dougherty
  • Optical microscope and method for detecting lens immersion
    Patent number: 9599807
    Abstract: An optical microscope and method for detecting lens immersion in optical microscopy includes an ultrasound circuit acoustically coupled to both an objective lens and a sample slide of an optical microscope, the ultrasound circuit comprising an ultrasound transmitter and an ultrasound receiver. The optical microscope and method includes transmitting an ultrasound pulse from the ultrasound transmitter to the ultrasound receiver, determining that a transit time of the ultrasound pulse is less than a threshold time, and providing an output signal from the pulse discriminator indicating that the ultrasound pulse is less than the threshold time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: William Michael Dougherty
  • OPTICAL MICROSCOPE AND METHOD FOR DETECTING LENS IMMERSION
    Publication number: 20170003488
    Abstract: An optical microscope and method for detecting lens immersion in optical microscopy includes an ultrasound circuit acoustically coupled to both an objective lens and a sample slide of an optical microscope, the ultrasound circuit comprising an ultrasound transmitter and an ultrasound receiver. The optical microscope and method includes transmitting an ultrasound pulse from the ultrasound transmitter to the ultrasound receiver, determining that a transit time of the ultrasound pulse is less than a threshold time, and providing an output signal from the pulse discriminator indicating that the ultrasound pulse is less than the threshold time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2015
    Publication date: January 5, 2017
    Inventor: William Michael Dougherty