DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
National Institutes of Health
Government-Owned Inventions; Availability for Licensing
AGENCY: National Institutes of Health
ACTION: Notice
The inventions listed below are owned by agencies of the U.S. Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally funded research and development. Foreign patent applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage for U.S. companies and may also be available for licensing.
ADDRESS: Licensing information and copies of the U.S. patent applications and issued patents listed below may be obtained by contacting John Fahner-Vihtelic at the Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, Maryland 20852-3804; telephone: 301/496-7735 ext 285; fax: 301/402-0220. A signed Confidential Disclosure Agreement will be required to receive copies of the patent applications.
Broadband Transmit-Receive Switch
TJ Pohida (NCRR)
Filed 06 Nov 95
Serial No. 08/554,003
Transmit-receive (TR) switches are commonly used in complex electronic systems such as magnetic resonance imaging systems, radar systems, and a variety of communication systems. These switches are typically designed using quarter wavelength transmission lines in conjunction with solid state componentry. Although this type of TR switch performs well, the desirable properties of a quarter wavelength transmission line are only exhibited over about a 10% variation in frequency. This type of TR switch is considered a narrowband switch. A significant need exists for a TR switch that uses the advantages of quarter wavelength impedance transformers and provides a broad bandwidth. The design of the present invention satisfies those needs by providing a TR switch which features a broadband frequency response. This invention can be implemented on any one of several transmission line media. Also, it can be manufactured according to any known manufacturing methods for similar devices. This technology has been implemented on a prototype imaging system. (portfolio: Devices/Instrumentation - Diagnostics, imaging apparatus)
System And Method For Performing In Vivo Imaging And Oxymetry By Pulsed Radiofrequency Electron Paramagnetic Resonance
R Murugesan, MK Cherukuri, JB Mitchell, S Subramanian, R Tschudin (NCI)
Filed 20 Jul 95
Serial No. 08/504,616
This invention provides a non-invasive system for in vivo imaging by fast-response pulsed radiofrequency (RF) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The imaging system can be used for measurement and 3-dimensional imaging of oxygen and free radicals in living systems, in conjunction with appropriate free radical probes. The system can be used to perform rapid 3-dimensional mapping of tissues and vasculature, for example cardiac and cerebral angiography, and also to distinguish normal and diseased tissues. The short relaxation time of the probes and the fast response associated with pulsed EPR techniques permit virtual real-time imaging. The system uses a magnetic field of only 10 mT-orders or magnitude smaller than the field used in conventional MRI techniques. The sensitivity, image resolution, and imaging speed of the pulsed RF EPR system are far superior to continuous wave RF EPR systems. (portfolio: Devices/Instrumentation - Diagnostics, imaging apparatus, electron paramagnetic resonance; Devices/Instrumentation - Diagnostics, imaging apparatus, spectroscopy)
System And Method For Simulating A Two-Dimensional Radiation Intensity Distribution Of Photon Or Electron Beams
J van de Geijn, H Xie (NCI)
Serial No. 08/368,589 filed 06 Jan 95
U.S. Patent No. 5,526,395 issued 11 Jun 96
The present invention provides a method for computer-assisted, interactive 3-dimensional radiation treatment planning and optimization. The computerized system is capable of processing and analyzing data obtained from x-ray, CT, MRI, PET, SPECT, and gammacamera devices. Hence, the system can be used as a training device, alleviating the need for training centers to purchase each of these devices. The computerized system comprises a fast, versatile, and user-friendly software package and computer components which are commercially available and which can be used without significant modification. Because the hardware costs of this system are much lower than the cost of systems of comparable ability, this invention ought to be particularly attractive to smaller radiation oncology facilities which seek a powerful treatment planning system. The low cost of the system is also particularly advantageous for medical training facilities, including medical schools. The invention also has potential use as a monitor for clinical quality assurance. (portfolio: Devices/Instrumentation - Therapeutics, methods of using devices)
Variable Axial Aperture Positron Emission Tomography Scanner
MV Green, J Seidel, WR Gandler (CC)
Filed 15 Dec 94
Serial No. 08/357,574
Development of a unique system that can operate as both a scintillation camera and a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner offers to significantly improve the visualization of physiological processes in the human body and other biological systems. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging -- which utilizes one or more scintillation cameras rotated around a subject -- is used in nuclear medicine worldwide. More recently, an alternative to SPECT imaging has involved the development and use of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, in which the subject is surrounded by rings of detectors that detect the emission of a pair of annihilation photons from positron emitting racers in the body. SPECT and PET imaging, however, require different instrumentation: scintillation cameras used for SPECT imaging are generally regarded as too insensitive for effective PET imaging, while PET scanners cannot effectively image single photon emitting tracers used for SPECT. This newly developed system attempts to bridge this gap by using two uncollimated, tiltable scintillation cameras in time coincidence, rotated about the target to acquire PET image data. Tilting the cameras in the prescribed manner allows a tradeoff between axial field-of-view and photon path length through the scintillator that maximizes 2D coincidence sensitivity compared to cameras in full opposition. The resulting system exhibits the high spatial resolution expected of a scintillation camera at 511 keV but with substantially higher coincidence sensitivity. (portfolio: Devices/Instrumentation - Diagnostics, imaging apparatus, positron emission tomography)
Enzymatic Degrading Subtraction Hybridization
J Zeng (NCI)
Serial No. 08/322,075 filed 12 Oct 94
U.S. Patent No. 5,525,471 issued 11 Jun 96
The present invention provides an alternative method for selection and identification of differentially expressed genes involved in embryonic development and in the onset or maintenance of various pathological conditions due to genetic alterations in somatic cells. This method involves the prior modification of tester cDNA which contains the sequences of interest by incorporation of nuclease resistant nucleotide analogs. Driver cDNA not containing the sequences of interest is then used to remove sequences common to driver and tester cDNA populations through hybridization and subsequent exonuclease digestion, substantially enriching for the desired sequences. This method can also be used in conjunction with the phenol-emulsion reassociation technique (PERT), which significantly accelerates the hybridization rate allowing, the cDNA molecules to be efficiently subtracted using a very small amount of DNA. This method is less expensive, more efficient, and less time-consuming than previous subtraction hybridization methods. (portfolio: Cancer - Research Reagents; Cancer - Diagnostics)
Chromatographic Method And Device For Preparing Blood Serum For Compatibility Testing
R Butz (CC)
Filed 18 Oct 95
DHHS Reference No. E-141-94/0
The present invention provides a new method for antiglobulin testing of serum from a potential blood transfusion recipient. This process and device removes warm antibodies from serum to allow for the identification of alloantibodies present in the sample. The multiple absorptions required by current methods to remove the warm antibodies from serum of a potential blood transfusion recipient is superseded by this invention. The disclosed invention will remove the majority of warm antibodies in a single one-hour absorption. This invention also eliminates the need for pretreatment of cells with expensive reagents. Use of this column and method does not remove any clinically significant alloantibodies. Therefore, transfusion history accuracy and subsequent risk to the patient is greatly reduced. (portfolio: Internal Medicine - Diagnostics, cardiology; Internal Medicine - Miscellaneous)