254results about How to "Effective and practical" patented technology

A method for gathering medical information sorting it by statistically and medically based rules, and condensing it into a data set which enables medical providers to practice medicine in a more efficient manner. The medical information may be gathered from insurance billing records and patient responses to statistically-validated medical status questionnaires. The patient population may be a defined one, being composed of all patients in a group which is being treated by an individual medical provider or a group of providers at any particular time. The financial transactions to be monitored may be formatted electronically into one or more standard formats as well as medical diagnosis and medical procedure information which has been transmitted in standard codes. These data sets are gathered in electronic format by being copied from the feeder computer system into another computer which does the required rules-based data reduction.

A method for treating tumors, such as uterine leiomyomata, includes inserting an ablation apparatus into a pelvic region and positioning the ablation apparatus into a pelvic tumor. The method further includes using a laparoscope and an imaging device, such as an ultrasound machine, to confirm the location of the pelvic tumor and placement of the ablation apparatus. The method further includes delivering electromagnetic energy or other energy through the ablation apparatus to the pelvic tumor to directly ablate the tumor. A surgical system for ablating pelvic tumors is also provided.

An improved process for chlorination of sugars produces chlorodeoxy derivatives, in particular the chlorination of sucrose-6-esters to produce sucralose (4,1′,6′-trichloro-4,1′,6′-trideoxy galactosucrose), with thionyl chloride and N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF) at the ration of about 1 molar equivalent of thionyl chloride for every molar equivalent of free hydroxyl group.

An auction management system that consolidates auction posting, monitoring, and closing for multiple auction users on multiple auction sites. An auction consolidator provides an Internet interface between auction sellers, auction buyers, and auction sites. The auction management system provides a unified platform where sellers post auction submissions, enter auction tracking data, and enter auction feedback for multiple auctions on multiple auction sites. Similarly, auction buyers monitor auction status, receive winner notification, enter auction tracking data, and enter auction feedback for multiple auctions on multiple auction sites. To support these functions, the auction management system compiles and posts auction submissions, automatically accesses the auction sites to extract auction status and closed auction data, and provides auction feedback to multiple auction sites on behalf of multiple auction users. The auction management system includes several Internet web servers that function as user interface platforms. An application server and a relational database support the integrated operations of the system. The application server includes an “auction monitor” module that maintains a consolidated auction monitoring report for each account maintained on the system. The auction monitor module includes tracking entries that allows auction buyers and sellers to keep track of the status of their closed auctions. The auction monitor module also automates certain post-closing tacking functions, such as notifying the winning bidder, and supports automatic auction feedback to the host auction site.

An intraoral apparatus for illuminating a patient's mouth includes a bite spacer having a pair of teeth engaging structures vertically spaced apart by a spacer structure that includes a side wall. At least one self-contained light emitting device is operably mounted in the side wall of the bite spacer. The bite spacer is positionable between the teeth on either side of the patient's mouth such that the light emitting devices illuminate the other side of the patient's mouth. In one embodiment, a rechargeable battery is positioned within the bite spacer to power the light emitting devices. An induction charging circuit recharges the rechargeable battery without connections external to the bite spacer. In another embodiment, the bite spacers are adapted to interface with a recharging and sterilizing base station.

A system and method for identifying, reporting, and evaluating a presence of a solid, liquid, gas, or other substance of interest, particularly a dangerous, hazardous, or otherwise threatening chemical, biological, or radioactive substance. The system comprises one or more substantially automated, location self-aware remote sensing units; a control unit; and one or more data processing and storage servers. Data is collected by the remote sensing units and transmitted to the control unit; the control unit generates and uploads a report incorporating the data to the servers; and thereafter the report is available for review by a hierarchy of responsive and evaluative authorities via a wide area network. The evaluative authorities include a group of relevant experts who may be widely or even globally distributed.

The invention relates to access management in a radio communication system. A subscriber unit (101) transmits an access message to a base station (103). A Radio Access Controller (RNC) (109) receives information of the access request. The RNC (109) comprises an interference characteristic processor (111) which determines an interference characteristic associated with the subscriber unit (101). The interference characteristic may include an inter-cell interference factor and an intra-cell orthogonality factor determined as a function of the distance between the base station and the subscriber unit and/or based on subscriber unit measurements of pilot signals from the selected base station (103) and neighbouring base stations (105, 107). The interference characteristic processor (111) is coupled to a resource requirement processor (113) which determines a resource requirement for achieving a desired signal to interference ratio for the requested service in response to the interference characteristic. The RNC (109) further comprises an access controller (115) which accepts or rejects the request in response to the determined resource requirement.

A system and method for executing fully strict thread-level parallel programs and performing load balancing between concurrently executing threads may allow threads to efficiently distribute work among themselves. A parent function of a thread may spawn children on one or more processors, pushing a stack frame onto a deque, then may sync by determining whether its children remain in the deque. If not, and/or if not all stolen children have returned, the thread may abandon its stack as an orphan, acquire an empty stack, and begin stealing work from other threads. Stealing work may include identifying an element in a deque of another thread, removing the element from the deque, and executing the associated child function. If this is the last child of a parent on the other thread's orphan stack, the thread may release its stack, adopt the orphan stack of the other thread, and continue its execution.

Compositions and methods are provided for forming tissue-adherent hydrogels using substantially dry precursors. The dehydrated precursors are premixed prior to in situ therapy and utilize naturally-occurring body fluids as an aqueous environment that initiates transformation, which causes dissolution and nearly simultaneous crosslinking of the precursors, thus forming an insoluble hydrogel implant. The dehydrated precursor-based hydrogels may be used as sealants for fluid leaks from tissue, as adherent drug delivery depots, as means for augmenting and/or supporting tissue, and as means for serving a variety of other useful medical and surgical purposes.

A small-scale portable recyclable fluid flushing method used for flushing irritants or inflammatory agents from the skin or eyes, or for flushing infectious debris from wounds. The invention is either made reusable or disposable, and typically comprises: a. a single or plurally chambered container with at least one flushing fluid chamber filled with an uncontaminated flushing fluid appropriate for the intended flushing procedure; b. a first outflow fluid conduit, e.g., a channel or tube, which transports uncontaminated fluid from the container flushing fluid chamber to a pump or impeller housing; c. a manual or electrically operated pump or impeller for transporting uncontaminated fluid through to a second outflow fluid conduit to a dispersal outlet or nozzle; d. a fluid runoff collector surrounding the dispersal outlet, or a catch basin situated below the dispersal outlet, either of which acts as a sump to capture the contaminated runoff fluid from the flushing procedure; e. a first drain fluid conduit; f. an optional one-way elastomeric drain valve, e.g., a synthetic polymer duckbill valve, such as silicone rubber, or other form of check valve preceding the first drain fluid conduit to avoid reverse flow spillage; g. an appropriate sealed filter media unit suitably housed in line with the first drain fluid conduit for decontamination of the contaminated fluid run-off from the drain; h. a second drain fluid conduit to re-introduce the reclaimed decontaminated fluid from the sealed filter media back into the flushing fluid chamber for re-introduction to the fluid transport system; i. an optional second outflow fluid filter for final removal of any residual contaminants prior to re-introduction to the first outflow fluid conduit. The portable recyclable fluid flushing method of the invention provides a reliable emergency supply of flushing fluid for continuous flushing dispersal onto an affected body part. Typically, the filtering media used will have visual indicators to warn when the useful life of the media is ending.

A golf putting training device is provided which allows a golfer to practice distance control in a confined area by displaying an estimate of how far a golf ball would have traveled on a green having a selected stimp value after being struck with a putter and subsequently colliding with a target strike plate of the training device. The golf putting training device includes a housing and rear stabilization plate, a target strike plate, a doppler microwave speed sensor, an impact sensor, a green speed selector, a distance display, an audible beeper, and a microcontroller which calculates the putting distance based on the measurement of the speed of the rolling golf ball prior to impact and the stimp setting selected. An audible beeper provides an indication of the rolling progress of the simulated roll of the golf ball past the target strike plate.

A mechanical roping steer apparatus with enhanced stride simulation includes a forward support assembly for resting on a ground surface. The support assembly has a front and a rear. A rearward steer assembly is located rearwardly of the support assembly and is mounted on the rear of the support assembly. The steer assembly comprises a leg assembly including a pair of leg members being pivotable with respect to the ground surface and an actuation mechanism for pivoting the leg members when the support assembly is moved across the ground surface.