A surgical stapling device particularly suited for endoscopic procedures is described The device includes a handle assembly and an elongated body extending distally from the handle assembly The distal end of the elongated body is adapted to engage a disposable loading unit A control rod having a proximal end operatively connected to the handle assembly includes a distal end extending through the elongated body A control rod locking member is provided to prevent movement of the control rod until the disposable loading unit is fully secured to the elongated body of the stapling device

Surgical Stapling Apparatus

Most of the signal processing that we will study in this course involves local operations on a signal, namely transforming the signal by applying linear combinations of values in the neighborhood of each sample point. You are familiar with such operations from Calculus, namely, taking derivatives and you are also familiar with this from optics namely blurring a signal. We will be looking at sampled signals only. Let's start with a few basic examples. Local difference Suppose we have a 1D image and we take the local difference of intensities, DI(x) = 1 2 (I(x + 1) − I(x − 1)) which give a discrete approximation to a partial derivative. (We compute this for each x in the image.) What is the effect of such a transformation? One key idea is that such a derivative would be useful for marking positions where the intensity changes. Such a change is called an edge. It is important to detect edges in images because they often mark locations at which object properties change. These can include changes in illumination along a surface due to a shadow boundary, or a material (pigment) change, or a change in depth as when one object ends and another begins. The computational problem of finding intensity edges in images is called edge detection. We could look for positions at which DI(x) has a large negative or positive value. Large positive values indicate an edge that goes from low to high intensity, and large negative values indicate an edge that goes from high to low intensity. Example Suppose the image consists of a single (slightly sloped) edge:

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/5/31307/01456462.pdf

Linear systems

Wide bandgap semiconductors show superior material properties enabling potential power device operation at higher temperatures, voltages, and switching speeds than current Si technology. As a result, a new generation of power devices is being developed for power converter applications in which traditional Si power devices show limited operation. The use of these new power semiconductor devices will allow both an important improvement in the performance of existing power converters and the development of new power converters, accounting for an increase in the efficiency of the electric energy transformations and a more rational use of the electric energy. At present, SiC and GaN are the more promising semiconductor materials for these new power devices as a consequence of their outstanding properties, commercial availability of starting material, and maturity of their technological processes. This paper presents a review of recent progresses in the development of SiC- and GaN-based power semiconductor devices together with an overall view of the state of the art of this new device generation.

A Survey of Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductor Devices

Light-Emitting Diodes. (Monographs in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.) By A. A. Bergh and P. J. Dean. Pp. viii+591. (Clarendon: Oxford; Oxford University: London, 1976.) £22.

/pdf/light-emitting-diodes-ubzde6g9qc.pdf

Light-emitting diodes

A surgical stapling instrument (1) comprises a body portion (2, 3), a handle (4) and a staple fastening assembly (8). The staple fastening assembly (8) includes a curved cartridge (10), which comprises at least one curved open row of staples, and a curved anvil (22), which is adapted to cooperate with the cartridge (10) for forming the ends of the staples exiting from the cartridge (10). The staple fastening assembly (8) is adapted to allow unobstructed access towards the concave inner faces of the cartridge (10) and the anvil (22). The cartridge (10) can be moved towards the anvil (22) from a spaced position for positioning tissue therebetween to a closed position for clamping the tissue. Preferably, a knife is contained within the cartridge (10) and is positioned such that there is at least one row of staples on at least one side of the knife.

Surgical stapling instrument

A high-frequency transformer is constructed from a flexible circuit comprising a primary conductive film winding and one or more secondary conductive film windings disposed on a single dielectric membrane. The flexible circuit is folded to form a stack of primary winding layers interleaved with secondary winding layers and then inserted into a mangetic cup core. The flexible circuit is preferably patterned photolithographically.

Method of fabricating a high-frequency transformer

A low-profile power inductor fabricated using low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) technology has been demonstrated to improve the light-load efficiency of a 5 V-to-1 V, 12.5 A buck converter operating with a switching frequency of 4 MHz, without the use of additional control circuitry. Variation in inductor geometry is performed experimentally to study the effects on the light-load efficiency of a converter. By decreasing the conductor width of the inductor, the light-load efficiency can be further improved by more than 30 % over that of commercial inductors having similar inductance. An empirical model is developed based on in-circuit large signal measurements to describe the relationship among inductance, average current, and inductor geometry to help in the future design of such planar inductors.

Modeling of an LTCC Inductor Capable of Improving Converter Light-Load Efficiency

A conductive film magnetic component such as an inductor or transformer includes a conductive film winding having a generally serpentine configuration when disposed in a plane. This film is folded to form a stack of layers with each "layer" comprising part of a winding turn and with successive "layers" connected at the folds via the continuous conductive film. The conductive film may be self-supporting and coated with a dielectric layer or may be disposed on a dielectric membrane. The film and membrane are preferably patterned photolithographically.

Method of making conductive film magnetic components

Winding and core geometries are described for a matrix transformer constructed from integrated core and z-folded flex circuits. The magnetizing inductance is derived using the reluctance method and exploiting structural periodicity and symmetry. The internal leakage inductance is computed from the magnetic field distribution, and the interconnect leakage inductance from inductance formulas and current distribution. The results show that the interconnects are responsible for most of the leakage inductance. The modeling predicts inductance values that agree well with experimental measurements. >

Modeling of magnetizing inductance and leakage inductance in a matrix transformer

Resonant current generated in one phase of two interleaved buck converters is injected into the switched node of the other phase to turn on the active switch at zero voltage over wide load range, and to turn off the synchronous switch at near-zero current at rated load. This idea is applied to an interleaved two-phase buck converter with output voltage regulated by extended duty ratio. Parametric analysis is performed to study the impact of resonant components on voltage and current stresses. The expectations were validated by a 2 MHz converter with 12 V input, 3.3 V at 20 A output, and peak efficiency of 93.5%.

Khai D. T. Ngo

Papers

Method of fabricating a high-frequency transformer

Modeling of an LTCC Inductor Capable of Improving Converter Light-Load Efficiency

Method of making conductive film magnetic components

Modeling of magnetizing inductance and leakage inductance in a matrix transformer

Resonant Cross-Commutated DC–DC Converter