[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 27 (Wednesday, February 10, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6669-6670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-3239]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Government-Owned Inventions; Availability for Licensing

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, DHHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The inventions listed below are owned by agencies of the U.S. 
Government and are available for licensing in the U.S. in accordance 
with 35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results 
of federally-funded research and development. Foreign patent 
applications are filed on selected inventions to extend market coverage 
for companies and may also be available for licesning.

ADDRESSES: Licensing information and copies of the U.S. patent 
applications listed below may be obtained by contracting John Fahner-
Vihtelic at the Office of Technology Transfer, National Institutes of 
Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, Maryland 20852-
3804; telephone: 301/496-7057 ext. 270; fax: 301/402-0220; e-mail: 
[email protected]. A signed Confidential Disclosure Agreement will be 
required to receive copies of the patent applications.

A General Strategy And Specific Software For Maintaining 
Knowledgebases Consisting Of Diverse Categories

S Shaw (NCI)
DHHS Reference No. E-260-98/0 filed 30 Nov 98

    The present disclosure describes a data management system and 
process for efficiently storing and retrieving data on a computer. This 
invention is designed to combine maximum data management flexibility 
and stability into a unified knowledgebase applications; as a result it 
has diverse functionality which can replace users' fragmented world of 
specialized applications such as contact manager, administrative 
database, bookmark keeper, fact finder. Some unique features of this 
software-based invention

[[Page 6670]]

are: (1) ability to handle any number of conceptually distinct 
categories of items (such as people, events, institutions, tasks, 
concepts, processes, document types); (2) tools for creating 
relationships between any two or more objects, with the ability to 
categorize types of relationships and decide which categories they 
apply to; (3) use of parent-child relationship as a singularly 
important relationship to organize, view and navigate information; (4) 
flexibility in adding diverse categories of objects and relationships, 
while maintaining a simple underlying data structure and programing 
environment; and (5) ability to view complex relationships in flexible 
and informative ways; (6) tools for managing names which are 
indispensable for finding the relevant objects; (7) efficient ways to 
search information and filter retrievals to limit to relevant 
information.

Fabrication And Characterization Of Novel Amperometric Biometric 
Sensors

ET Chen (FDA)
DHHS Reference No. E-177-98/0 filed 30 Nov 98

    The present invention relates to the construction of an 
amperometric sensor using a catalytically active cyclodextrin as an 
enzyme biometric. The particular catalytically active cyclodextrin 
molecule that is disclosed is made by chemically modifying a 
cyclodextrin by the addition of one or more imidazole moieties. The 
cyclodextrin is deposited on the surface of an electrode and the 
resultant surface modified electrode is used as a biosensor to detect 
the presence of nitrophenyl acetate.

Method for Non-Invasive Identification of Individuals at Risk for 
Diabetes

AJ Durkin, MN Ediger, MV Chenault (FDA)
Serial No. 60/109,257 filed 19 Nov 98

    The present disclosure describes a device and methods for screening 
individuals at risk for developing diabetes. It relies on a combination 
of optical spectroscopy and a multi-variate statistical analysis. In 
practice, the device compares and models spectra taken from a subject 
to control spectra taken from the same subject. This invention was 
designed to be a minimally/non-invasive, inexpensive, and highly 
sensitive system. In its simplest form, the invention will be developed 
as an adjunctive technique to current diabetes screening methods. As 
relevant clinical data becomes available from initial applications, a 
stand-alone device is likely to evolve from the present invention.

Fiber Optic Probe for Quantitative Optical Spectroscopy

AJ Durkin, S Matchette, M Ediger (FDA)
Serial No. 60/105,945 filed 28 Oct 98

    The present disclosure describes a fiber optic probe assembly and 
methods of using said probe assembly for both medical diagnostic and 
industrial applications. This novel device consists of a single light 
delivery source in combination with an array of light detector fibers. 
In use, the assembly has the ability to simultaneously acquire data 
from a variety of source/detector separations. The entire data set is 
then in a convenient format, for use with an appropriate mathematical 
model of light transport, to deduce optical properties of the sample 
under test. The properties may be associated with the technique known 
as ``optical biopsy'' for diagnostic purposes. Industrial applications 
where a turbid mixture requires analysis can also employ the disclosed 
device and methods. Examples of some industrial uses would be 
manufacturing processes associated with pharmacology, food processing, 
and emulsion technology.

Determining the Hurst Exponent for Time Series Data

PB DePetrillo (NIAAA)
Serial No. 09/132,462 filed 11 Aug 98

    The present application describes a method, an apparatus, and a 
computer-readable medium for calculating the Hurst coefficient of time-
series data. Many biological constituents, such as the cardiovascular 
system, generate signals like the heart rate which exhibit chaotic 
behavior. The Hurst coefficient is a type of chaotic signature which 
correlates to signal complexity. Measures of cardiac signal complexity 
are known to be correlated with healthy physiological function. 
Therefore, this technology may be useful in a variety of diagnostic 
applications such as: (1) real-time analysis of EKGs in acute care 
units to help identify patients at risk of heart attack, (2) 
identifying previously unknown cardiovascular drug toxicities, and (3) 
screening analysis of EKGs in ambulatory patients.

    Dated: February 2, 1999.
Jack Spiegel,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer.
[FR Doc. 99-3239 Filed 2-9-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M