Academic literature on the topic 'Miniature collection device'

Optical biopsy describes a range of medical procedures in which light is used to investigate disease in the body, often in hard-to-reach regions via optical fibres. Optical biopsies can reveal a multitude of diagnostic information to aid therapeutic diagnosis and treatment with higher specificity and shorter delay than traditional surgical techniques. One specific type of optical biopsy relies on Raman spectroscopy to differentiate tissue types at the molecular level and has been used successfully to stage cancer. However, complex micro-optical systems are usually needed at the distal end to optimise the signal-to-noise properties of the Raman signal collected. Manufacturing these devices, particularly in a way suitable for large scale adoption, remains a critical challenge. In this paper, we describe a novel fibre-fed micro-optic system designed for efficient signal delivery and collection during a Raman spectroscopy-based optical biopsy. Crucially, we fabricate the device using a direct-laser-writing technique known as ultrafast laser-assisted etching which is scalable and allows components to be aligned passively. The Raman probe has a sub-millimetre diameter and offers confocal signal collection with 71.3% ± 1.5% collection efficiency over a 0.8 numerical aperture. Proof of concept spectral measurements were performed on mouse intestinal tissue and compared with results obtained using a commercial Raman microscope.

Статья посвящена одной из сторон творчества английского миниатюриста-эмальера Уильяма Эссекса, выполнившего серию исторических портретов представителей тюдоровской династии. В контексте общего интереса к английской истории, а также определенной ретроспективной тенденции, свойственной викторианской эпохе, работы Эссекса демонстрируют восприятие портретной миниатюры как воплощение образов прошлого и как характерную «вещицу из прошлого». Традиция создавать небольшие изображения, предназначенные для приватного созерцания, довольно стара, и англичане, преуспевшие в развитии портретного жанра, на протяжении нескольких столетий были долгое время увлечены ею. В данной статье произведения Уильяма Эссекса рассматриваются с точки зрения стилистических и технических аспектов создания миниатюры, что позволяет осветить вопросы, связанные со сменой восприятия этой малой формы портретного искусства. Парадоксальность ситуации воспроизведения в миниатюре портретов английских монархов c миниатюрных же оригиналов, написанных в XVI – начале XVII вв., исследуется в статье с позиций теории и практики коллекционирования как способа взаимодействия с историей. Интерес к прошлому, разнообразно проявившийся в культуре викторианской Англии, здесь усиливается необходимостью представления фамильной истории английской короны. Выбор формы для ее визуализации определен предпочтением личного, приватного искусства миниатюры, которое придает обращению к истории сентиментальный характер. В контексте зарождения и распространения фотографических портретов той эпохи эмалевые миниатюры выступают как носители образов прошлого, как воплощение угасающего рукотворного искусства, вытесняемого новыми техническими средствами. Наконец, работа Эссекса над историческими портретами тюдоровской Англии, с его стремлением к формально-стилистическому подобию, становится частью сложного ретроспективного механизма, подобного двойной цитате, поскольку оригиналы воспроизводимых миниатюр также не являлись исходными изображениями. Анализ художественно-образных средств, характерных для серии портретов-миниатюр, и исторических обстоятельств возникновения интереса заказчика к конкретным образам прошлого позволяет выявить тонкую грань между воспроизведением и стилизацией, следованием традиции и идеализацией. Исследование специфического художественного опыта создания этих миниатюр обнаруживает особый способ обращения к культурной памяти, а также характер семейных и национальных ценностей, воплощенных через формирование коллекции. Практика коллекционирования – одно из проявлений викторианской визуальной культуры – в данном случае оказывает определенное влияние и на моделирование английской истории, и на формирование художественного вкуса эпохи. The article addresses the artworks of William Essex, an English enamel-painter, who created a series of the Tudors’ historical portraits. In the context of general interest in English history, as well as a certain retrospective trend peculiar for the Victorian era, William Essex`s works exemplify the miniature portraits as the embodiment of images from the past and as something characteristic to the past. The tradition of small-size portraits intended for private contemplation is quite old, and the British, who have succeeded in the development of the portrait genre, have been rather keen on it for several centuries. The article considers William Essex’s miniatures from the point of view of the stylistic and technical aspects of the genre, which allows casting some light on the issues related to the change of perception of this minor art form. The paradox of duplication by Essex of original sixteenth- and early-seventeenth-century miniatures is investigated in the article from the standpoint of the theory and practice of collecting as a way of interaction with history. The reason why the miniatures were commissioned by the Queen is both in necessity to create a gallery of family history of the English crown and in the Victorians` taste for reconstruction of the past. The choice of form for its embodiment is determined by the preference for personal, private miniature art, which gives a sentimental character to the appeal to history. In the context of the origin and spread of daguerreotypes at the time, enamel miniatures act as representatives of images of the past and the phenomenon of the fading handmade art, displaced by new technical means. In addition, Essex’s work on the Tudors’ historical portraits, with his aim for formal and stylistic resemblance, is included in a complex retrospective mechanism, like a double quote, since the sources of the reproduced miniatures were also not painted from the life and had their own originals. The analysis of artistic and imagery methods, characteristic for this series of miniatures, as well as the description of the historical circumstances in which the customer took interest in the specific images from the past, allows exposing a fine line between imitation and stylization, between tradition and idealization. In conclusion, it is stated that the specific artistic experience of the creation of these miniatures reveals a peculiar way to refer to the cultural memory, to assert some family and national values evoked in the process of the formation of the collection. Here the practice of collecting (one of the manifestations of the Victorian visual culture) is closely connected with the modeling of English history and the artistic taste of the era.

The recent availability of moderate power near-infrared diode lasers (780nm) and near-infrared sensitive ccd detectors have caused a noticeable resurgence in the application of Raman spectroscopy in analytical chemistry. We have long maintained an interest in Raman spectroscopy and have established a micro-Raman facility within the Chemistry Department of our organization. Recently, we have taken advantage of the aforementioned progress in spectroscopic equipment and have upgraded our micro-Raman facility to include a ccd detector and an imaging spectrograph.Since our micro-Raman spectrometer is designed around an ellipsoidal collection mirror, with Raman signal being directed through the illumination sample stage it has application to microscopic or small transparent samples. The improved performance of the device and the availability of highly transmissive optical fibers led one of us (B.J.M.) to propose an apparatus that could replace the existing illuminator with a miniature device that maintains a high collection efficiency and can be used remotely or in-situ by utilizing optical fibers.

A self-powered portable triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is used to collect biomechanical energy and monitor the human motion, which is the new development trend in portable devices. We have developed a self-powered portable triboelectric nanogenerator, which is used in human motion energy collection and monitoring mobile gait and stability capability. The materials involved are common PTFE and aluminum foil, acting as a frictional layer, which can output electrical signals based on the triboelectric effect. Moreover, 3D printing technology is used to build the optimized structure of the nanogenerator, which has significantly improved its performance. TENG is conveniently integrated with commercial sport shoes, monitoring the gait and stability of multiple human motions, being strategically placed at the immediate point of motion during the respective process. The presented equipment uses a low-frequency stabilized voltage output system to provide power for the wearable miniature electronic device, while stabilizing the voltage output, in order to effectively prevent voltage overload. The interdisciplinary research has provided more application prospects for nanogenerators regarding self-powered module device integration.

A miniature lightweight portable Raman spectrometer and a palm-sized device allow for fast and unambiguous detection of common gemstones mounted in complex jewels. Here, complex religious artefacts and the Ring Monstrance from the Loreto treasury (Prague, Czech Republic; eighteenth century) were investigated. These discriminations are based on the very good correspondence of the wavenumbers of the strongest Raman bands of the minerals. Very short laser illumination times and efficient collection of scattered light were sufficient to obtain strong diagnostic Raman signals. The following minerals were documented: quartz and its varieties, beryl varieties (emerald), corundum varieties (sapphire), garnets (almandine, grossular), diamond as well as aragonite in pearls. Miniature Raman spectrometers can be recommended for common gemmological work as well as for mineralogical investigations of jewels and cultural heritage objects whenever the antiquities cannot be transported to a laboratory. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Raman spectroscopy in art and archaeology’.

Abstract. Recent innovations in microelectronic and semiconductor technology enable the creation of smaller and economical hyperspectral cameras. A filter combined camera with advanced scanning module is a game changer that extends the application of miniature hyperspectral imagers to many security domains. This work presents the assessment of the imager L4 from Glana Sensors to detect concealed targets in woodland areas. Several target detection methods were applied to a collection of scenes acquired under various illumination conditions and containing different materials. The potential and limitations of this new imaging device in the context of difficult target detection in forested area are evaluated and discussed.

Bloodless surgery and a reduction in the use of allogeneic blood products has long been the standard of care in medicine. Many individuals in our communities have demanded this form of surgical treatment for personal and religious reasons. On 6 December 2002, a 72-year-old male patient was admitted to our institution as a critical air flight transfer. The patient’s height was 190.5 cm and weight was 59.3 kg (body surface area 1.83 m2). His preliminary diagnosis was chest pain with myocardial infarction as evidenced by elevated blood cardiac isoenzymes. His principle diagnosis was subendocardial infarction with paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia. Cardiac catheterization was performed and demonstrated severe triple vessel disease with an ejection fraction of 30%. He was evaluated and accepted as a candidate for coronary artery bypass grafting. Multidisciplinary consultation concluded that a safe and effective method of perioperative treatment would involve the use of arrested heart support with cold blood cardioplegia using a low prime miniature perfusion circuit as no blood products would be considered for use. Additionally, the combined modalities of perfusion interventions to minimize hemodilution consisted of intraoperative autologous blood collection totaling 500 mL and rapid autologous priming of the miniature perfusion circuit. The miniature perfusion system was a low prime Cardiovention (Santa Clara, CA) CORx device which includes a hollow-fiber oxygenator and integral centrifugal pump with a surface area of 1.2 m2. This system also incorporates an air sensing solenoid which triggers rapid air evacuation in a bolus range of 1 mL or greater. Kinetic venous drainage is another feature of this device as the centrifugal pump is integrated into the oxygenator. We believed that a miniature extracorporeal circuit would enhance the desired clinical outcome as opposed to the risk of: (1) off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) approach and the concern of emergent transition to an on-pump procedure and (2) use of larger surface area with conventional systems that impose a greater hemodilutional effect. Leukocyte filtration was employed as the patient had a significant past medical history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We herein report our clinical experience with this method of treatment on a patient who refused the use of blood products in his surgical treatment. It is our belief that the multiple modalities utilized in combination during this procedure resulted in positive clinical outcomes as demonstrated by an intubation time of 8 hours 35 min with a discharge on the fifth postoperative day.

Abstract In this work, capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductometric detection (CCD) was used for the analysis of the ionic content of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) to differentiate between healthy individuals and patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The exhaled breath condensate was collected using a miniature sample collection device and the content analyzed using a separation electrolyte composed of 20 mM 2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid, 20 mM L-histidine, 2 mM 18-Crown-6 and 30 M cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. The separation of anions took less than 2.5 minutes, while the cations were separated in less than 1.5 minutes. The most significantly elevated ions in the group of patients suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease were chloride, nitrate, propionate and butyrate. Although the number of subjects was too small to draw definite conclusions with regard to the discriminatory power of these ions, the pilot data are promising for EBC as a useful non-invasive alternative for other methods used in the diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux disease

Capability of a prototype of miniature collection device based on a strip of the molybdenum foil for collecting hydride forming elements (As, Se, Sb and Bi) was studied. The device was combined with a miniature hydrogen diffusion flame for detection by atomic absorption spectrometry. The conditions for trapping and subsequent vaporization of analytes of interest were optimized. A twin-channel hydride generation system was used for study of mutual interference effects of co-generated hydride forming elements. The influence of modification of the molybdenum surface with noble metals - Rh, Pt and Ir on trapping and vaporization processes was also studied and changes of microstructure of the foil surface after modification were investigated using scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive x-ray analyzer and electron backscattered diffraction system. Complementary radiotracer and radiography experiments were performed in order to determine trapping efficiency and to assess the spatial distribution of collected analytes within the device. Practical application of the method was demonstrated on determination of antimony in water samples at trace level. Possibility of multi-element analysis was demonstrated by combining the collection device with atomization and excitation of the analyte in microwave induced plasma and with detection by atomic emission spectrometry method. The results of the experiments proved that tested miniature collection device is capable of trapping analytes that form volatile hydrides. This device can be coupled to various types of atomizers, typically used in spectrometry methods. Thus, very sensitive and specific detection of hydride forming elements can be performed.

Progress in wireless systems has enabled the creation of low-cost, ergonomic, multi-functional, miniature sensing devices. These devices come together in large numbers creating wireless sensor networks (WSNs), which serve for sensing, collecting, analyzing, and sending detected data to a base station. Problems arise, however, due to the limitations of sensor nodes (SNs), incorrect aggregation of data, redundant and similar data problems, data security and reliability, and some others related to WSN topology. This chapter proposes a novel method for solving WSNs problems to improve cyber-physical systems (CPS). As WSN is of increasing interest in CPSs, the authors put forward an approach for reconstructing WSNs. For traditional methods are not able to cope with such problems, this study takes up rendering WSNs more functional through artificial intelligence (AI) techniques which are considered to develop smart SNs through “intelligent computing,” “deep learning,” “self-learning,” and “swarm learning” ability on the network to improve functionality, utility, and survivability of WSNs.

The radio frequency identification (RFID) reading technology enables the transfer, by radio, of information from electronic circuit to a reader, opened up some interesting possibilities in the area of epayment (Domdouzis, Kumar, & Anumba, 2007). Today, the near field communication technology (NFC) opens up even more horizons, because it can be used to set up communications between different electronic devices (Eckert, 2005). Contactless cards, telephones with NFC capacities, RFID tag have been developed in industry and the services (Bendavid, Fosso Wamba, & Lefebvre, 2006). They are similar, but, some major differences explain the specificity of these three applications and the corresponding markets. The label, or marker, is a small size electronic element that transmits, on request, its numerical identification to a reader. The RFID identification makes it possible to store and recover data at short distance by using these miniature markers or labels (see Figure 1) associated to the articles to identify. The cost of the label is only few centimes. An RFID system is made of labels, readers connected to a fixed network, adapted software (collection of information, integration, confidentiality...), adapted services, and management tools that allow the identification of the products through packing. Contactless smartcards (see Figure 2) contain a microprocessor that can communicate under a short distance with a reader similar to those of RFID technology (Khu-smith & Mitchell, 2002). The originality of NFC is the fact that they were conceived for the protected bilateral transmission with other systems. NFC respects the standard ISO-14443 (Bashan, 2003) and thus, can be used as a contactless card. It can be used as a contactless terminal communicating with a contactless card or another NFC phone (ISO-18092). Services available through NFC are very limited today, but many experiments are in progress and electronic ticketing experiences (subways and bus) started in Japanb. There are two types of NFC phones: The mono chip composed of only one chip for GSM services (called the SIM) and NFC services. In that case, an NFC service is dependent of the phone operator. • The dual chip shows a clear separation of the two functions within two different chips. That completely isolates the operator and allows independent NFC services… We define the technology standards, the main platforms and actors in the background section. The main trust develops some contactless payment applications, and analyses the benefits and constraints of the different solutions. The future trends section concerns the research and technology evolution in contactless payment applications.

In microfluidic devices, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a biomedical technique with great potential for on-site evidence collection system of various pathology and food samples. Although microfluidics has exhibited the ability to miniaturize and automate many laboratory procedures, an essential comprehension of the thermofluidic modeling tools is ultimately critical to streamline the design process of microfluidic device. One of the main obstacles for device miniaturization and process simplification of continuous-flow PCR (CF-PCR) device is employing two or more heaters which lead to process complexity. To overcome these complexities, a novel metal alloy assisted hybrid microdevice (polydimethylsiloxane and glass) for CF-PCR employing one heater is considered. In this paper, a two-step conjugate thermal model, solid domain and one pass model, is developed to optimize the thermal efficiency of a hybrid CF-PCR device using one heater. The effects of heat transfer on temperature distribution and thermal gradients in hybrid CF-PCR device are analyzed using ANSYS CFX 15. For optimized design of PCR chip, parameters, such as protrusion length (3 cm, 4 cm, and 5 cm), metal alloy thickness (1 mm, 2 mm, and 3 mm) and boundary conditions are varied to analyze the effect on temperature distribution in a microchannel. The proposed schemes pave the way for system integration and minimizing the accessories, realizing a portable microfluidic device applicable for on-site and direct field uses.