Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090129981 | MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE - A microfluidic device includes a microfluidic chip and an ultrasonic stator. A holding portion is formed at the ultrasonic stator to hold the microfluidic chip. The microfluidic chip is formed of a substrate with a very small channel, and a valve is provided movably in the channel. The cross section of an upstream portion of the channel is larger than that of a downstream portion. When the valve is moved to the downstream side, the valve closes and decouples the downstream portion of the channel. When the valve is moved to the upstream side, the upstream and downstream portions of the channel are coupled. The valve is moved by a traveling wave generated by the ultrasonic stator, and the traveling wave is transmitted to the substrate via the holding portion. | 05-21-2009 |
20100148397 | IMPRINTING MACHINE AND DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - An imprinting machine that brings a mold having a pattern into contact with an object and transfers the pattern onto the object includes a measurement unit that measures a position of the mold when the mold contacts the object. | 06-17-2010 |
20100163129 | LIQUID CONVEYING APPARATUS AND LIQUID CONVEYING METHOD USING MICRO-FLUID DEVICE - An apparatus system for controlling liquid in a fluid channel in a micro-fluid device has an ultrasonic oscillator for conveying liquid. The ultrasonic oscillator oscillates with amplitude modulation. The apparatus system has a holding section for holding the micro-fluid device on the ultrasonic oscillator to allow a micro-fluid device to be removably fitted to it. A liquid conveying method and a liquid conveying unit showing an improved liquid conveying efficiency are provided. | 07-01-2010 |
20100224274 | LIQUID CONTROL APPARATUS - A liquid control apparatus is used for controlling the movement of liquid in a microfluidic device having a flow channel for holding liquid. The apparatus comprises a vibration wave generating section for generating a vibration wave to be applied to the microfluidic device and a signal supplying section for supplying drive signals to the vibration wave generating section so as to oscillate in an oscillation mode selected from a transfer mode for moving liquid in a predetermined direction, a stop mode for stopping the movement of liquid, a mixing and/or agitation mode for mixing and/or agitating liquid and a localization mode for localizing a predetermined substance in liquid. | 09-09-2010 |
20100289190 | PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD - A processing method for transferring a relief pattern of a mold to a resist includes the steps of compressing the mold having the relief pattern against the resist on a substrate, irradiating an exposure light onto the resist through the mold, vibrating the mold and the substrate relative to each other during the irradiating step, and releasing the mold from the resist. | 11-18-2010 |
20110014086 | METHOD OF PRODUCING MICROFLUIDIC DEVICE - There is provided a method of producing a microfluidic device including a substrate having a depressed portion and a cover member, whereby to reduce the dispersion of a geometric individual difference and the possibility that a non-joint area can occur in a joint portion between the substrate and the cover member. At the time of producing the microfluidic device, the depressed portion serving as a channel, a chamber and a reservoir is formed in advance in the substrate and a liquid-state energy ray curable resin is applied to the surface of the substrate in which the depressed portion is formed. The energy ray curable resin is cured by an energy ray irradiation unit and caused to serve as the cover on the depressed portion of the substrate, thereby to form the channel, chamber and reservoir. | 01-20-2011 |
20110044133 | ULTRASOUND APPARATUS - A storage unit ( | 02-24-2011 |
20110230762 | COMPRESSION DEVICE USED IN ULTRASONIC MEASUREMENT, COMPRESSION CONTROL METHOD THEREOF, AND PHOTOACOUSTIC MEASUREMENT APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - A compression device for compressing a subject that is used in ultrasonic measurement that receives ultrasonic waves from the subject to acquire biological information of the subject, comprising: two compression plates that are used when compressing the subject, and that face each other in a vertical direction with respect to a horizontal plane; a flexible sheet for setting a subject on, which is stretched between upper ends of the two compression plates; a compression mechanism that relatively changes a distance between the two compression plates to sandwich and compress the subject that is set on the flexible sheet through the flexible sheet; and a supply unit for supplying a matching liquid onto the flexible sheet. The apparatus can match an acoustic impedance with a subject and can suppress leaking or overflowing of a matching liquid. | 09-22-2011 |
20110245667 | COMPRESSION DEVICE USED IN ULTRASONIC MEASUREMENT, PRESSING CONTROL METHOD THEREOF, AND PHOTOACOUSTIC MEASUREMENT APPARATUS - A compression device for compressing a subject used in ultrasonic measurement that receives ultrasonic waves from a subject to acquire biological information of the subject, comprises: two compression plates used when compressing the subject, and face each other in a vertical direction with respect to a horizontal plane; a flexible member arranged so as to cover and seal an area between both side surfaces of and a bottom surface between the two compression plates, and so as not cover an area between top surfaces of the two compression plates such that an upper portion is open; a compression mechanism that relatively changes a distance between the two compression plates to sandwich and compress the subject; and a piping unit that supplies a matching liquid to a space portion surrounded by the two compression plates and the flexible member, and discharges the matching liquid that has been supplied. | 10-06-2011 |
20110251475 | BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS AND BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION ACQUISITION METHOD - When a subject is pressed by a plate and an acoustic wave is received by a probe via the plate, the acoustic wave is refracted because of the difference between a sound velocity in the subject and a sound velocity in the plate. When the refraction is not considered, a reduction in resolution occurs. Weights for signals or virtual wavefronts corresponding to the signals to be added to one another are determined using a thickness of the plate, the sound velocity in the plate, the sound velocity in the subject, positions of image elements (pixels or voxels) for image information, and arrival times of the acoustic wave from an object that is a sound source. The signals or the virtual wavefronts corresponding to the signals are added to one another, thereby acquiring the image information. | 10-13-2011 |
20110257530 | BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS - When a subject is pressed by a plate and an acoustic wave is received by a probe via the plate, the acoustic wave is refracted because of the difference between a sound velocity in the subject and a sound velocity in the plate. When the refraction is not considered, a reduction in resolution occurs. A correction table or a correction formula for correcting image distortion associated with refraction is provided. After image information is acquired, new image information is acquired in accordance with the correction table or the correction formula, and is displayed. | 10-20-2011 |
20120150012 | ACOUSTIC WAVE MEASURING APPARATUS - An acoustic wave measuring apparatus includes a plate pressed against a subject, a probe that has an acoustic wave conversion unit for receiving an acoustic wave emitted from the subject through the plate to convert into an electric signal, a seal member provided on the probe so as to enclose a periphery of the acoustic wave conversion unit for forming a space to hold lubricant between the plate and the acoustic wave conversion unit, a providing unit that provides the lubricant into the space formed by the seal member and a lubricant monitoring unit that detects whether the space is filled with the lubricant. | 06-14-2012 |
20120238858 | SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS AND SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION METHOD - A subject information acquisition apparatus of the present invention acquires a sound speed in the subject by using a signal outputted from a first probe when a first probe receives an elastic wave, a member-to-member distance information between a first holding member and the second holding member, an amount of deformation of a first holding member measured by a first holding member deformation amount measuring unit, an amount of deformation of a second holding member measured by a second holding member deformation amount measuring unit, position information of the first holding member deformation amount measuring unit, and position information of the second holding member deformation amount measuring unit. | 09-20-2012 |
20120239318 | SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS AND SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION METHOD - A subject information acquisition apparatus includes a first holding member that holds a subject, a probe that receives an elastic wave from the subject through the first holding member, a first holding member deformation amount measuring unit that measures an amount of deformation of the first holding member, and a processing unit that creates an area for generating subject information by using the amount of deformation of the first holding member and position information of the first holding member deformation amount measuring unit and generates an information value of subject information corresponding to the area for generating subject information by using a signal outputted by the probe. | 09-20-2012 |
20130167648 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS - An object information acquiring apparatus has: a holding unit which holds an object; a probe which receives an acoustic wave generated in the object via the holding unit and converts the acoustic wave to an electrical signal; a force measuring unit which measures a force applied to the object when the object is held by the holding unit; a sound speed acquiring unit which determines a sound speed in the object by using the force measured by the measuring unit and a contact area between the object and the holding unit; and a generating unit which generates object information data from the information about the sound speed determined by the sound speed acquiring unit and the electrical signal. | 07-04-2013 |
20140151936 | PATTERN TRANSFERRING APPARATUS AND PATTERN TRANSFERRING METHOD - A pattern transferring apparatus is disclosed which can prevent damage to a transferred pattern and realize fast mold release regardless of the type of resist. The pattern transferring apparatus transfers a pattern formed on a mold to an object by bringing the mold into contact with the apparatus has a deformer which causes deformation in the mold for releasing the mold from the object. The apparatus transfers a pattern formed on a mold to a photo-curing resin by bringing the mold into contact with the photo-curing resin and applying light thereto to cure the photo-curing resin. The apparatus has an optical system which applies light at an irradiation light intensity to a non-transfer area other than a transfer area where the pattern is to be transferred in the photo-curing resin, the intensity being different from an irradiation light intensity of light applied to the transfer area. | 06-05-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120238859 | MEASURING APPARATUS - The present invention employs a measuring apparatus having: a holding plate for holding a subject; an acoustic matching member provided between the subject and the holding plate; and a probe for receiving an acoustic wave propagating through the subject via the acoustic matching member and the holding plate, wherein the acoustic matching member includes a first portion that contacts the subject and a second portion that contacts the holding plate, and the second portion has greater rigidity than the first portion. | 09-20-2012 |
20120302865 | SUBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS - A subject information acquiring apparatus including a cover which intercepts light, two plates which hold a subject, a laser light source, and a probe which receives an acoustic wave generated from the subject to which the light is emitted from the laser light source, wherein the plates, the laser light source, and the probe are covered by the cover, wherein the cover has a first aperture for inserting the subject as part of a subject person into the cover, and a second aperture which can be opened and closed so that an operator can perform a procedure by inserting a hand of the operator into the cover in the position in which the plane extending each of the plates crosses the cover, is used. | 11-29-2012 |
20130061678 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS AND OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING METHOD - This invention employs an object information acquiring apparatus including a probe for receiving, as a received signal, an acoustic wave which is generated within an object irradiated with light and propagates on an object surface, and a processor for generating object information, which is information based on an internal optical characteristic value of the object, by using intensity of the received signal. The processor corrects the intensity of the received signal by using the reflectance upon the acoustic wave entering the probe which is calculated based on the angle of the acoustic wave entering the probe, and on the acoustic impedance and acoustic velocity of the object and the probe. | 03-14-2013 |
20130331681 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS AND PHOTOACOUSTIC PROBE - In an object information acquisition apparatus, an optical system and an acoustic wave detector are closely arranged, and when the acoustic wave detector and an object acoustically contact each other through an acoustic matching member, a light exit surface of the optical system is arranged so that the light exit surface does not directly contact the acoustic matching member. | 12-12-2013 |
20140046166 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD THEREOF, AND METHOD FOR DETERMINATION OF CONTACT - The present invention employs an object information acquiring apparatus having: a photoacoustic probe unit including a light irradiating unit which irradiates light, and a probe which receives a photoacoustic wave generated from an object irradiated with light while transmitting an ultrasound wave to the object and receiving a reflected wave thereof; a processor configured to create image information of the object based on the photoacoustic wave; and a controller configured to control irradiation with light, wherein when a first contact condition is defined as a condition in which the object is irradiated with light while the probe is acoustically matched with the object, the controller determines whether or not the photoacoustic probe unit is in the first contact condition by using the reflected wave and enables irradiation with light when the photoacoustic probe unit is in the first contact condition. | 02-13-2014 |
20140051971 | LIGHT IRRADIATING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR, AND OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS - A light irradiating apparatus is used, which is characterized by having: a probe including an irradiating unit which guides light to an object, a housing containing the irradiating unit, and a touch sensor acquiring a contact condition amount between the object and the housing; and a controller controlling irradiation with light from the irradiating unit based on a level of the contact condition amount and a change in the contact condition amount, wherein in a case where the contact condition amount is equal to or more than a first reference value while the change in the contact condition amount which occurs when the housing is pressed against the object is a positive value, the controller performs a control which enables irradiation with light from the irradiating unit when the change in the contact condition amount is equal to or more than a second reference value. | 02-20-2014 |
20140114170 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS AND COVER FOR PHOTOACOUSTIC PROBE - There is used an object information acquiring apparatus that has a light source; a photoacoustic probe including an emission end that emits light from the light source to an object and a reception section that receives an acoustic wave generated from the object to which the light is emitted; a cover covering at least the emission end of the photoacoustic probe; a light-shielding member provided inside the cover and filling a gap formed between the photoacoustic probe and the cover when the photoacoustic probe is inserted into the cover; and a processor acquiring information on the inside of the object based on the acoustic wave. | 04-24-2014 |
20140114171 | OBJECT INFORMATION ACQUIRING APPARATUS AND PHOTOACOUSTIC PROBE - There is provided an object information acquiring apparatus that includes: an optical system forming light from a light source; an emission end emitting the light; a diffuser panel diffusing the emitted light; a spacer defining a distance between the diffuser panel and an object; a receiver receiving an acoustic wave generated from the object to which the light is emitted; and a processor acquiring information on inside of the object on the basis of the acoustic wave. | 04-24-2014 |
20140145648 | ANALYTE-INFORMATION ACQUISITION APPARATUS - To improve the safety of a photoacoustic apparatus by preventing illumination light from being freely emitted. A photoacoustic apparatus includes a position sensor that measures the orientation and/or position of an illumination-light emission end and a control unit that controls light emission from a light source depending on the output of the position sensor. | 05-29-2014 |
20140155741 | SUBJECT INFORMATION OBTAINING APPARATUS AND SUBJECT INFORMATION OBTAINING METHOD - A subject information obtaining apparatus includes a probe including a receiver that receives an acoustic wave to be converted to an electric signal and first and second irradiation units that irradiate mutually different areas on a subject surface with pulsed light, a control unit that controls illumination positions of the pulsed light to avoid continuous irradiation of the subject with the pulsed light from the first and second irradiation units, and a signal processing unit that performs averaging or integrating of electric signals derived from the pulsed light illuminated from the first and second irradiation units and obtains a characteristic distribution in the subject by using the averaged or integrated signal or performs combining of distributions obtained by using electric signals derived from the pulsed light illuminated from the first and second irradiation units and obtains a combined distribution as the characteristic distribution in the subject. | 06-05-2014 |
20140350358 | SUBJECT INFORMATION ACCUMULATING APPARATUS - The present invention provides a subject information accumulating apparatus that conducts diagnosis with high reliability. | 11-27-2014 |