Award Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this research program is to explore the feasibility of developing a device to facilitate face-to-face communication between deaf and hearing people. sComm Inc. has had limited, but extremely positive, experience with a prototype device that allows two people to interact directly by typing messages to one another in a format that permits simultaneou ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Electrical microstimulation is an important and commonly used technique for exploring functional relationships within the central nervous system and is an emerging tool for artificially restoring function in brain and spinal cord targets. In Phase I we will determine the feasibility of a manufacturing a multichannel stimulator for basic neurophysiology and neur ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Phase I will demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating medical ultrasonic transducers from a molded composite material of PZT pillars embedded in a polymer. The material has superior properties to the current material made by "dice and fill". The proposed techniques would lead to reductions in costs and production times of array transducers. The methods pro ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective of this project is to develop a Windows-based software system that allows clinicians to apply advanced mathematical modeling capabilities to characterize myocardial mechanics. The prototype software developed during the Phase I project provides the framework for this development. The input required by the system consists of: (1) the digitized r ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective of this project is to develop a Windows-based software system that allows clinicians to apply advanced mathematical modeling capabilities to characterize myocardial mechanics. The prototype software developed during the Phase I project provides the framework for this development. The input required by the system consists of: (1) the digitized r ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Heart valve prostheses have been used successfully since 1960 and generally result in improvement in the longevity and symptomatology of patients with valvular heart disease. However, 10-year mortality rates still range from 30-55%, and improvements in valve design are required to minimize thrombotic potential and structural degradation and to improve morbidit ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The broad, long-term objectives of the application are to develop antisense inhibitors of retinopathy and document their mechanism(s) of action. Retinopathy is a significant cause of eye disease and has a major impact on development, learning, communicating, working, health, and quality of life for affected individuals. This application focuses on the inhibitio ...

Pneumatic Focusing Gas Chromatography (PFGC, patent pending) has achieved a limit of detection of 20 parts per trillion (0.8 pmol/liter) for benzene in ambient air in Portland OR. PFGC has a FID for universal hydrocarbon detection. Major endogenous compounds in human breath are methane, methanol, ethanol, acetone, methyl acetate, and isoprene. Their concentrations range from 80 nmol/L for methane ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Reflexes are not always good predictors of clinical pain. There is a need for methods for measuring pain responses of animals at the conscious level. The Aim of this Project is to develop an apparatus for testing operant nociceptive responses "conscious pain sensitivity" exhibited by rodents. This apparatus can be used to evaluate the effect of a disease state ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this research program is to expand an innovative brightfield digital microscope technology to include automation and high resolution fluorescence imaging using extremely low excitation power on the sample. Unique features include resolution limited by the microscope objective, not the electronics, instantaneous 3x optical zoom with constant focus ...