Development of a visual information to auditory information transformation system for ambulation assistance.

BACKGROUND: Assistant equipment for the visually impaired has a white cane. If the information in the three-dimensional space is transmitted by sound, the blind can draw a three-dimensional space. OBJECTIVE: This study developed "Visual System," an ambulation aid/guide for the blind that transforms visual-spatial information into auditory information, and verified its utility. Unlike conventional systems, which are in essence simple collision-warning systems, Visual System helps the visually impaired to recreate their surroundings and to be cognizant of the location and proximity of obstacles. METHODS: Ten subjects with normal vision (mean age: 32.4 years; male-to-female ratio: 6 to 4) were selected for blind tests. The subjects were instructed to detect and avoid obstacles presented in various three-dimensional settings. Prior to the tests, experiments were conducted to determine the distance to each subject. Upon completion of Visual System-based detection training, obstacles were presented and tests conducted. For evaluation, the subjects' vertical position detection, horizontal position detection, distance detection, and overall performance success were each evaluated. RESULTS: The total performance scores ranged between 88 (lowest) and 100 (highest), with a mean score of 91.5. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that Visual System as a product can assist the visually impaired in their daily functioning.

GaN-Based Ultraviolet Passive Pixel Sensor on Silicon (111) Substrate.

The fabrication of a single pixel sensor, which is a fundamental element device for the fabrication of an array-type pixel sensor, requires an integration technique of a photodetector and transistor on a wafer. In conventional GaN-based ultraviolet (UV) imaging devices, a hybrid-type integration process is typically utilized, which involves a backside substrate etching and a wafer-to-wafer bonding process. In this work, we developed a GaN-based UV passive pixel sensor (PPS) by integrating a GaN metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) UV photodetector and a Schottky-barrier (SB) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) on an epitaxially grown GaN layer on silicon substrate. An MSM-type UV sensor had a low dark current density of 3.3 × 10-7 A/cm² and a high UV/visible rejection ratio of 10³. The GaN SB-MOSFET showed a normally-off operation and exhibited a maximum drain current of 0.5 mA/mm and a maximum transconductance of 30 µS/mm with a threshold voltage of 4.5 V. The UV PPS showed good UV response and a high dark-to-photo contrast ratio of 10³ under irradiation of 365-nm UV. This integration technique will provide one possible way for a monolithic integration of the GaN-based optoelectronic devices.

High Sensitive pH Sensor Based on AlInN/GaN Heterostructure Transistor.

The AlInN/GaN high-electron-mobility-transistor (HEMT) indicates better performances compared with the traditional AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. The present work investigated the pH sensor functionality of an analogous HEMT AlInN/GaN device with an open gate. It was shown that the Al0.83In0.17N/GaN device demonstrates excellent pH sense functionality in aqueous solutions, exhibiting higher sensitivity (−30.83 μA/pH for AlInN/GaN and −4.6 μA/pH for AlGaN/GaN) and a faster response time, lower degradation and good stability with respect to the AlGaN/GaN device, which is attributed to higher two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) density and a thinner barrier layer in Al0.83In0.17N/GaN owning to lattice matching. On the other hand, the open gate geometry was found to affect the pH sensitivity obviously. Properly increasing the width and shortening the length of the open gate area could enhance the sensitivity. However, when the open gate width is too larger or too small, the pH sensitivity would be suppressed conversely. Designing an optimal ratio of the width to the length is important for achieving high sensitivity. This work suggests that the AlInN/GaN-based 2DEG carrier modulated devices would be good candidates for high-performance pH sensors and other related applications.

Selectively Enhanced UV-A Photoresponsivity of a GaN MSM UV Photodetector with a Step-Graded AlxGa1-xN Buffer Layer.

The UV-to-visible rejection ratio is one of the important figure of merits of GaN-based UV photodetectors. For cost-effectiveness and large-scale fabrication of GaN devices, we tried to grow a GaN epitaxial layer on silicon substrate with complicated buffer layers for a stress-release. It is known that the structure of the buffer layers affects the performance of devices fabricated on the GaN epitaxial layers. In this study, we show that the design of a buffer layer structure can make effect on the UV-to-visible rejection ratio of GaN UV photodetectors. The GaN photodetector fabricated on GaN-on-silicon substrate with a step-graded AlxGa-xN buffer layer has a highly-selective photoresponse at 365-nm wavelength. The UV-to-visible rejection ratio of the GaN UV photodetector with the step-graded AlxGa1-xN buffer layer was an order-of-magnitude higher than that of a photodetector with a conventional GaN/AlN multi buffer layer. The maximum photoresponsivity was as high as 5 × 10-² A/W. This result implies that the design of buffer layer is important for photoresponse characteristics of GaN UV photodetectors as well as the crystal quality of the GaN epitaxial layers.

Voxel-based Histographic Analysis of the Basilar Artery in Patients with Isolated Pontine Infarction.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The signal information per voxels of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for vessel wall could reflect the pathologic features of atherosclerotic vessels. The aim of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of magnetic resonance voxel-based histogram (VBH) of atherosclerotic basilar artery in patients with isolated pontine infarctions (PIs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Wall and lumen of basilar artery were segmented from high resolution MR of 42 patients with isolated PI and 10 normal volunteers. VBHs were obtained after normalization by dividing the intensity of segmented wall with the intensity of non-infarcted area of pons. The variables of VBH included area (A), mean signal intensity (SI), standard deviation (SD), kurtosis (K), and skewness (SK) and area stenosis [AS; Awall/(Awall + Alumen)] were compared according to the MRI-modified American Heart Association (AHA) atherosclerotic plaque schema, and between the subgroups of PI (lacunar: LPI and paramedian: PPI). RESULTS: According to the MRI-modified AHA atherosclerotic plaque schema, Awall/T1 (mean area of wall on T1-weighted MRI), SIwall/T1, SDwall/T1, SKwall/T1, Kwall/T1, Alumen/T1, and AST1 showed statistical differences. AHA IV-VII showed higher Awall/T1, SIwall/T1, and AST1 than normal control. PPI showed statistical differences in Awall/T1, SIwall/T1, SK wall/T1, and Awall/T2 than those of normal control after post hoc test, whereas LPI in Awall/T1 and Awall/T2 (P < 0.05, Kruskal-Wallis test, Dunnett T3 procedure). CONCLUSIONS: VBH analysis can provide the quantitative information with regard to volume as well as composition of the atherosclerotic plaque in the basilar artery. The difference in patterns of VBH might be further useful in characterizing PIs with presumably different pathogenesis.

AlGaN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistor-Based Biosensor for the Detection of C-Reactive Protein.

In this paper, we propose an AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT)-based biosensor for the detection of C-reactive protein (CRP) using a null-balancing circuit. A null-balancing circuit was used to measure the output voltage of the sensor directly. The output voltage of the proposed biosensor was varied by antigen-antibody interactions on the gate surface due to CRP charges. The AlGaN/GaN HFET-based biosensor with null-balancing circuit applied shows that CRP can be detected in a wide range of concentrations, varying from 10 ng/mL to 1000 ng/mL. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was carried out to verify the immobilization of self-assembled monolayer with Au on the gated region.

Improved field localization in transcranial magnetic stimulation of the brain with the utilization of a conductive shield plate in the stimulator.

In this paper, a carefully designed conductive shield plate is presented, which helps to improve localization of the electric field distribution induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation for neuron stimulation. The shield plate is introduced between a figure-of-eight coil and the head. In order to accurately predict the field distribution inside the brain and to examine the effects of the shield plate, a realistic head model is constructed from magnetic resonance image data with the help of image processing tools and the finite-element method in three dimensions is employed. Finally, to show the improvements obtained, the results are compared with two conventional coil designs. It is found that an incorporation of the shield plate into the coil, effectively improves the induced field localization by more than 50%, and prevents other parts of the brain from exposure to high pulsed magnetic fields.

Differences in regional wash-in and wash-out time constants for xenon-CT ventilation studies.

UNLABELLED: Xenon-enhanced computed tomography (Xe-CT) has been used to measure regional ventilation by determining the wash-in (WI) and wash-out (WO) rates of stable Xe. We tested the common assumption that WI and WO rates are equal by measuring WO-WI in different anatomic lung regions of six anesthetized, supine sheep scanned using multi-detector-row computed tomography (MDCT). We further investigated the effect of tidal volume, image gating (end-expiratory EE versus end-inspiratory EI), local perfusion, and inspired Xe concentration on this phenomenon. RESULTS: WO time constant was greater than WI in all lung regions, with the greatest differences observed in dependent base regions. WO-WI time constant difference was greater during EE imaging, smaller tidal volumes, and with higher Xe concentrations. Regional perfusion did not correlate with WI-WO. We conclude that Xe-WI rate can be significantly different from the WO rate, and the data suggest that this effect may be due to a combination of anatomic and fluid mechanical factors such as Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities set up at interfaces between two gases of different densities.

CT-based assessment of regional pulmonary microvascular blood flow parameters.

To determine regional pulmonary microvascular mean transit times (MTTs), we used electrocardiogram-gated X-ray computed tomographic imaging to follow bolus radiopaque contrast material through the lungs in anesthetized animals (7 dogs and 1 pig, prone and supine). By deconvolution/reconvolution of regional time-attenuation curves obtained from parenchyma and large lobar arteries, we estimated the microvascular residue function and reconstituted the regional microvascular time-attenuation curves and, thus, regional microvascular MTTs. The mean microvascular MTTs in the supine and prone postures were 3.94 +/- 1.0 and 3.40 +/- 0.84 (mean +/- SD), respectively. The dependent-nondependent vertical gradient of MTT was greater in the supine [slope = 0.25 +/- 0.10 (SD), P < 0.001 by t-test] than in the prone (-0.03 +/- 0.06 in 6 of 8 animals; 2 outliers had positive slopes) posture. In both postures, there was a trend toward faster transit times in the dorsal-basal lung region in six of the eight animals, suggesting gravity-independent higher vascular conductance dorsocaudally. We conclude that deconvolution methods, in association with electrocardiogram-gated high-speed X-ray computed tomography, can provide insights into regional heterogeneity of pulmonary microvascular MTT in vivo.

Subsecond multisection CT of regional pulmonary ventilation.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the adequacy of multibreath and single-breath stable xenon gas techniques to measure regional ventilation during cardiac-gated, high-speed, multisection imaging, the authors carried out a series of studies using electron-beam computed tomography (CT) and a recently introduced subsecond multisection spiral CT scanner. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In four anesthetized pigs, the authors implemented single-breath and/or dynamic multibreath wash-in and washout protocols with respiratory-- and cardiac-gated image acquisition. The effects of varying tidal volume and inspiratory flow rate were evaluated independently. Scanning was done at end expiration to avoid artifacts from partial volumed conducting airways, which are filled with inspired gas concentration during inspiration. RESULTS: A single breath of 100% xenon provides adequate enhancement in the lung parenchyma (mean, 32 HU +/- 1.85 [standard error]) and should not cause unwanted side effects (mean xenon concentration in lung periphery, 21%). The single-breath method is suitable for studies requiring only short periods of apnea. Using the multibreath method, in dependent portions of the lung, there was close agreement between measured changes and predictions based on the xenon calibration data. More than 10 breaths were needed to clear tracer from poorly ventilated areas, and some nondependent regions demonstrated apparently "linear" rather than exponential clearance curves, possibly reflecting longer washout times. Analysis of wash-in and washout curves revealed vertical ventilation gradients and, at higher inspiratory flow rates, redistribution of ventilation to areas of the lung with greater pathway conductance. CONCLUSION: With careful attention to lung volume and use of cardiac gating, it is now possible to correlate lung structure with function to a degree heretofore not possible.