Quality Refurbished CT Scanners

Atlas Medical Technologies is a refurbisher of quality used CT scanners and used MRI equipment. As a comprehensive source for every facet of establishing a new imaging site, Atlas is unmatched in providing customer service, counsel and satisfaction on all refurbished CT and MRI scanner equipment and used imaging machines. With Atlas Medical Technologies, you'll have a seasoned partner who will guide you from site planning through installation. But it doesn't end there. Atlas backs each piece of imaging equipment we sell as well as our refurbished CT and MRI rental units, with an expert service team dedicated to sound equipment maintenance practices. You'll find Atlas is at your side, before, during and especially after the purchase of any imaging system whether it's a used GE CT scanner, mobile CT rental or MRI system. Visit our equipment pages or call your Atlas Medical Technologies consultant to determine the availability of your desired model and manufacturer of our refurbished CT scanners or new Philips CT systems.

Sensor elements

To track down any corrosion damage or cracks in oil and gas pipelines, the workers use UCSD "go-devils" equipped with Baytec P sensor strips. Because Baytec P has such high elasticity, the sensor elements can always stick close to the pipe wall, even when they pass over pipe bends or travel through narrow cross-sections, thus minimizing measuring errors.
Other specifications made on the elastomer are particularly high resistance to wear and tear and outstanding swelling resistance.

Protective strip for snowplough

An elastic strip made of Baytec P on the front of a snow-clearing machine has enormous advantages. It is easy to install and, because it is so hard-wearing, it lasts for several winters.
Apart from this, it remains highly flexible even at sub-zero temperatures, preventing damage to the roads. The outstanding resilience of Baytec P means that the protective strip will spring back from any obstacle it hits and thus prevent damage to the vehicle. With all these advantages, the snowplough can work fast without fear of being damaged

Device for light therapy

A light therapy device that specifically activates the self-healing forces, relieves the organism and triggers regenerative processes has been developed by Bioptron AG in Mönchaltorf, Switzerland. The Bioptron 2 model works by encouraging cell activation, known as biostimulation of the cell. The housing of this device is manufactured by emaform AG, which is based in the Swiss town of Gontenschwil. The company uses the Baydur® 60 polyurethane integral skin foam system, developed by Bayer MaterialScience AG primarily for the production of technical housings.

On the look-out for a lightweight, tough and rigid material which would reproduce the complex design of the light therapy device perfectly, the choice fell on Baydur® 60. Because with its excellent flow properties, this polyurethane system has proved its suitability even for the production of large moldings with complex geometries. Thanks to its mold reproduction accuracy, finely detailed textures can also be rendered.

Another argument for integral skin foam system from BaySystems is that it forms a solid outer layer which, together with a two-pack polyurethane coating, produces a highly-resistant, easy-care surface.

Baydur® 60 also delivers the goods as far as economics are concerned. The parts can be made with inexpensive aluminum molds because the internal pressure generated in the mold is particularly low. Apart from this, the integral skin foam can easily be combined with other materials, which means, for example, that thread inserts can be pre- positioned in the mold and molded in place, considerably simplifying subsequent fabrication.

Helios movie projector

A cabinet can be far more than a handy, light and robust case. This has been proved by the Helios video projector and its sophisticated exterior made of Baydur® polyurethanes from BaySystems®. Available in a variety of colors, it is perfectly at home in its environment, whether at conferences or presentations.

The Helios digital video projector from the Italian company Vidikron Industries S.p.A. has a special visual appeal in more than one sense. The highly sophisticated electronics packed inside the set are protected by a cabinet manufactured by 2a.effe of Lissone, Italy, using polyurethanes Baydur® 60 and Baydur® 110 from BaySystems®. In addition to offering a perfect combination of design and functionality, these two materials also provide a number of structural benefits, including an excellent surface finish that is ideal for high-grade coatings and gives the projector a distinctively elegant appearance

Robots In CIS Applications

Robots have started receiving greater attention in medical/surgical applications. Tasks beyond human manipulation/precision capabilities are being trusted to assitant systems that only perform that small portion of the procedure, under human supervision. Despite intial skeptical response due to safety, and cost concerns the role of robots in surgery is likely to grow.

Surgical robots present an environment unlike most other applications where robots are applied. e.g. industrial plants. Mechanical components of surgical robots tend to be simpler, slower than their industrial counterparts, but the electronics, safety, and guidance systems are usually far more complex. A set of complex planning, guidance, and safety systems (often redundant) are involved in operating a surgical robot.

A team designing a surgical robot is faced with several difficulties. A complex system takes several years to develop, and development is often sequencial. E.g. The guidance system can not be tested until the hardware is available, and software developing and testing is highly dependent on availability of functioning hardware. Surgical robots are developed to deal with specific surgical procedures, and so each application results in the repetition of the design cycle.

A modular system allows software development to be independent of hardware design. It also allows existing modules to be used for new applications. It improves design clarity and testing and finally develops interfaces making interoperability between different systems easier.

There are several ways to develop modular/flexible software to control a robot: use/develop a programming language with all the facilities of object oriented design. But this would create yet another language, with a learning curve and user acceptance issues. An alternative approach is to develop interfaces, and implementations of the same in an acceptable programming language. This provides libraries that can be shared, swapped, and developed independently of each other. Furthermore, it allows the programming language to be changed, while preserving the interfaces (most programming languages provide ways of calling other language libraries, if need be).

The modular robot control(MRC) library is one such library. While the set of robots under consideration is mostly serial manipulators, the interface design can be easily extended to parallel architectures. The interface design is independent of the programming language, and the first implementation uses C++ classes. The library classes have a layered structure, each new Layer inheriting significant functionality from its parents.

This documentation is for the MRC library version 1.1 The class most commonly used by an application as an instantiable robot is the mrcRobot class and this should also be the base for all derived robot classes. Detailed implementation documentation exists separately.
s.

Microsystems for Medical Technology

Social demand is the driving force for new developments in miniaturised medical technology. Well-informed patients have high requirements in terms of improving the quality and safety of their lives. That can be achieved by a marked miniaturisation of medical devices, instruments and sensors that ensure that patients have less traumatic operations or can benefit from mobile monitoring systems. Microsystem technology provides potentials that meet those new social and medical requirements to the point. Major applications of microsystems are, for example, intelligent implants, patient monitoring and minimally invasive technologIntelligent Implants

A very important field in medicine is the development of intelligent implants based on microsystems technology. The pacemaker is a wellknown example. The new generation of devices do no longer stimulate the heart by inflexible, constant impulses only, but collect data like heart rhythm and react self-sufficiently with variable adjustments. In this way, this therapy is becoming more flexible and physiological. Meanwhile these systems can absolutely hold their own on the market. Implanted defibrillators that stimulate the heart directly in case of cardiac arrest have also been developed. A strong electric impulse restores the heart function. These devices are also successfully being introduced into the market. The leading German supplier in that field is the company Biotronik GmbH & Co.

Patient monitoring

A second very interesting application for microsystems is the continuous monitoring of physiological patient data. Therefore sensor systems inside or outside the body are needed. Up to now only stand-alone solutions are available, that means data remain stored in the device. Examples for ambulant devices with limited storing potential are 24-hour-bloodpressure measurement or 72-hoursblood sugar measurement. Using miniaturised sensors future systems in domestic surroundings should measure continuously and precisely blood pressure, intraocular pressure, electrocardiogram (ECG), level of blood sugar or respiratory sounds. The collected data will be wireless transmitted to the physicians. In this application field German companies like Siemens AG Medical Solutions, Dräger Medizintechnik GmbH, Philips Medical Systems, Weinmann GmbH, Fresenius Medical Care AG und B. Braun Melsungen AG play an important role.

Minimally Invasive Technology

Minimal invasive operation techniques would be unthinkable without microsystems technology. In this field microsystems in terms of miniaturised mechanical and optical systems were introduced to the operating rooms already 15 years ago. German companies like KARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG, AESCULAP AG & Co. KG und Richard Wolf GmbH are international leading players in this market with endoscopes and intelligent instruments. In future miniaturised instrument systems will be improved by sensors generating tactile feedback to the operating surgeon. Based on this tactile feedback, navigation systems can support the surgeon in planning and operating.

German medical technology is in a good position internationally

Internationally, German companies rank among the leading suppliers of microsystems in medical technology. They play an important part in the worldwide turnover in this market segment ( 12 billion in 2002) [1]. Microsystem technology is a key technology for the development of innovative medical products. Its great importance helps to strengthen the medical technology industry in Germany. In 2004 the total turnover of this industry sector was 18 billion Euros, employing 100,000 people in 1,200 companies [2]. Because of highly increasing exports, a turnover of 25 billion Euros is expected in 2010 [3]. "Made in Germany" is still a good reputation for medical products. The share of the turnover in foreign countries is almost 55% and it is expected to rise steadily until 2010 [4]. This underlines the international competitiveness of the German medical technology industry. With 38% of all exports, the EU states are the main customers of medical technology from Germany, followed by the US with 20% [4]. Two German companies belong to the worldwide top ten: Siemens Medical Systems ranks fifth and Fresenius Medical Care AG seventh [4].

Beside industry, national research institutes are a guarantee for success. More and more of them are combining R&D in microsystem technology with biomedical engineering. Wellknown representatives are IMTEK, Prof. Stieglitz, University of Freiburg, ITIV, Dr. Stork, University of Karlsruhe, IWE, Prof. Mokwa, RWTH of Aachen, and Fraunhofer IBMT, Prof. Fuhr, St. Ingbert. University hospitals like the Charité in Berlin, Erlangen- Nürnberg and others apply biomicrotechnologies for innovative solutions in diagnostics and therapy.

Future developments will imply new challenges The main challenge to be coped with in the field of microsystem technology is the connection of technological components with the biological surroundings. In future, top innovations can be achieved in the following applications:

* Enhancement of active implants by biocompatible coating
* Intelligent drug targeting according to data determined by microsystems
* Linking of data for complex diagnostics in an environment close to the patient without necessarily consulting a physician or going to hospital
* More complex and individual analysis of biological, chemical, pharmacological, toxicological and medical data .. Continuous advancement of imaging systems for instrument navigation and better acquisition of parameters relevant to therapy

Fingerprinting

What is a fingerprint?

Fingerprints are an early example of biometrics, the science of identifying individuals by their physical characteristics. There is no clear date at which fingerprinting was first used, some examples being from prehistory. However, some significant modern dates are as follows.

* 1880 - Dr Henry Faulds published his first paper on the subject in the scientific journal Nature in 1880. Returning to Britain in 1886, he offered the concept to the Metropolitan Police in London but was dismissed.
* 1901 - Sir Edward Richard Henry devised the Henry Classification System used in England and Wales.
* 1902 - Dr. Henry P. DeForrest used fingerprinting in the New York Civil Service.n

There is some controversy over the uniqueness of fingerprints. Even those who accept their uniqueness sometimes argue that the techniques used to compare fingerprints are fallible.

Fingerprint analysis (or Dactylography, a term mainly used in the US) is the science of using fingerprints to uniquely identify someone. Humans leave behind prints of the ridges of the skin on their fingertips when handling certain materials. The pattern of ridges is thought to be unique for each person and in practice has proved unique enough to identify the person who left the fingerprint.

Fingerprint analysis emerged in the early 20th century, when it was the first method in forensic science for unique identification. As a result of its early success, it acquired a mystique of infallibility. It has only recently been subjected to systematic analysis by investigators from outside the field.

Fingerprint examiners have certainly disagreed with one another: the case of Shirley McKie was a notable case involving fingerprints.

What is the technology involved?

Sometimes the prints are invisible, in which case they are called latent fingerprints, but there are chemical techniques such as cyanoacrylate fuming and ninhydrin spray that can make them visible.

Recently the American Federal Bureau of Investigation adopted a wavelet-based system for efficient storage of fingerprint data, developed by Ingrid Daubechies.

What does the future hold for fingerprinting technology?

In the 2000s, electronic fingerprint readers have been introduced for security applications such as identification of computer users (log-in authentication). However, early devices have been discovered to be vulnerable to quite simple methods of deception, such as fake fingerprints cast in gels.

Future application of this technology range from computer access to office and home security to automobile locks. Example of personal fingerprint scanner:

Much of this article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

MEMRISTOR

Researchers at HP Labs have solved a decades-old mystery by proving the existence of a fourth basic element in integrated circuits that could make it possible to develop computers that turn on and off like an electric light.

The memristor — short for memory resistor - could make it possible to develop far more energy-efficient computing systems with memories that retain information even after the power is off, so there's no wait for the system to boot up after turning the computer on. It may even be possible to create systems with some of the pattern-matching abilities of the human brain.

A mathematical model and a physical example that prove the memristor's existence appear in a paper published in the April 30 issue of the journal Nature.

illiams and co-authors Dmitri B. Strukov, Gregory S. Snider and Duncan R. Stewart were able to formulate a physics-based model of a memristor and build nanoscale devices in their lab that demonstrate all of the necessary operating characteristics to prove that the memristor was real. "This is an amazing development," Chua says. "It took someone like Stan Williams with a multi-disciplinary background and deep insights to conceive of such a tiny memristor only a few atoms in thickness." Williams has a background in physical chemistry. Strukov is a theoretical physicist, Snider is a computer architect and Stewart is an experimental physicist.

Possible replacement for D-RAM

By providing a mathematical model for the physics of a memristor, the team makes possible for engineers to develop integrated circuit designs that take advantage of its ability to retain information. "This opens up a whole new door in thinking about how chips could be designed and operated," Williams says. Engineers could, for example, develop a new kind of computer memory that would supplement and eventually replace today's commonly used dynamic random access memory (D-RAM). Computers using conventional D-RAM lack the ability to retain information once they are turned off. When power is restored to a D-RAM-based computer, a slow, energy-consuming "boot-up" process is necessary to retrieve data stored on a magnetic disk required to run the system. Memristor-based computers wouldn't require that process, using less power and possibly increasing system resiliency and reliability. Chua believes the memristor could have applications for computing, cell phones, video games - anything that requires a lot of memory without a lot of battery-power drain.

Brain-like systems?

As for the human brain-like characteristics, memristor technology could one day lead to computer systems that can remember and associate patterns in a way similar to how people do. This could be used to substantially improve facial recognition technology or to provide more complex biometric recognition systems that could more effectively restrict access to personal information. These same pattern-matching capabilities could enable appliances that learn from experience and computers that can make decisions.

Nanoscale electronics experience

In the memristor work, the researchers built on their extensive experience - Williams founded the precursor lab to IQSL in 1995 - in building and studying nanoscale electronics and architectures. One goal of this work has been to move computing beyond the physical and fiscal limits of conventional silicon chips. For decades, increases in chip performance have come about largely by putting more and more transistors on a circuit. Higher densities, however, increase the problems of heat generation and defects and affect the basic physics of the devices. "Instead of increasing the number of transistors on a circuit, we could create a hybrid circuit with fewer transistors but the addition of memristors - and more functionality," Williams says. Alternately, memristor technologies could enable more energy-efficient high-density circuits. In 2007, the team developed an architecture for such a hybrid chip using conventional CMOS technology and nanoscale switching devices. "What we now know," Williams says, "is that these switches have a name - memristor.

he memristor first appeared in a 1971 paper published by Professor Leon Chua, a distinguished faculty member in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department of the University of California Berkeley.

Chua described and named the memristor, arguing that it should be included along with the resistor, capacitor and inductor as the fourth fundamental circuit element. The memristor has properties that cannot be duplicated by any combination of the other three elements.

Although researchers had observed instances of memristance for more than 50 years, the proof of its existence remained elusive - in part because memristance is much more noticeable in nanoscale devices. The crucial issue for memristance is that the device' atoms need to change location when voltage is applied, and that happens much more easily at the nanoscale

audio spot light

The Audio Spotlight is a revolutionary new audio technology that creates sound in a narrow beam, just like light. Aim the flat, thin speaker disc to your desired listening area, and provide all of the sound — with none of the noise.

Virtual autopsies dissect humans and animals

Anders Persson, director of the Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization at Linköping University, Sweden, received the Lennart Nillson Award for scientific photography this year, for his groundbreaking work on improving CT scans.

His sharp, 3D images provide new perspectives on human and animal bodies, and are even used by police to perform virtual autopsies and look inside a corpse without leaving a trace.

CT scans build up an image from a series of many "slices" taken through a body by an X-ray machine, as it sweeps along its length. Software stitches the slices together again afterwards, to create a 3D representation of the body. The highest resolution scans of a person can be built up from 25,000 separate slices.

Colours are added by instructing the software to make parts with a certain density a certain colour




This scan of a patient with scoliosis, an unnatural curvature of the spine, shows how CT scans can make parts of the body transparent. Instead of colouring in certain structures, the software simply makes them transparent.

It was taken using a dual energy CT scanner, which has two X-ray units rather than the usual one. By creating slices using two different X-ray energies at once it can gather much more information. "You can actually see the ch emistry of the body," says Lennart Nillson, the photographer who the awards commemorate.

Being able to determine the actual elements at a particular point in the body makes it easier to separate tissues with similar density that would confuse a normal scan.



A live chimpanzee from Kålmården zoo near Norrköping, Sweden.

"We have taken scans of many different animals now," Persson told New Scientist. "Until now almost no images like this have ever been made of these species."

Performing a CT scan of a chimp is not easy, he adds, and requires the very latest scanners. This is because chimps have dense bodies, with strong compact bones, a lot of muscle and little fat.



Blood vessels in the head of a dead horse. This image was taken while testing a new contrast agent, intended to be injected into the veins of human bodies before a virtual autopsy.

The veins stand out sharply from their surroundings. The scan also demonstrates a processing step able to remove bones from the final image

very high-resolution scan of a dead boar; each voxel in the image is just 0.15mm across. "Note how you can see the pulp in individual teeth," says Persson. "Only with the latest dual-energy scanner is it possible to see that detail inside the very dense teeth of animals like boar and horses."

Scans of horses' teeth have shown how the soft pulp can extend closer to the surface of their teeth than suspected before, he told New Scientist, leading some vets involved with the centre to conclude that rasps should no long er be used so routinely to file down horses' teeth.






Various images created from a single scan of a living lioness.