[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 129 (Friday, July 5, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44859-44860]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-16795]


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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 licensing.

ADDRESSES: Licensing information and copies of the U.S. patent 
applications listed below may be obtained by writing to the indicated 
licensing contact at the Office of Technology Transfer, National 
Institutes of Health, 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852-3804; telephone: 301/496-7057; fax: 301/402-0220. A 
signed Confidential Disclosure Agreement will be required to receive 
copies of the patent applications.

Radio Frequency Cauterization Biopsy

Bradford J. Wood and Christan Pavlovich (CC)

DHHS Reference Nos. E-207-01/0 filed Oct 17, 2001 and E-207-01/1 filed 
Apr 08, 2002
    Licensing Contact: Dale Berkley; 301/496-7735 ext. 223; e-mail: 
[email protected].
    The invention is a method and apparatus for using radio frequency 
(RF) energy to cauterize the needle track after percutaneous image-
guided needle biopsy using an RF ablation probe. The invention is 
designed to limit the risks of bleeding and needle track seeding that 
are inherent risks of any needle biopsy. The device uses a coaxial 
biopsy arrangement with the outer needle coated with a non-conducting 
polymer that insulates the needle shaft and the tissue immediately in 
contact with the shaft. As the needle is pulled back from the organ or 
tumor target, RF energy is applied to an exposed end portion of the 
probe, causing cauterization and coagulation of the tissue immediately 
adjacent to the needle track. A variation on the device could be used 
to limit bleeding after catheter placement into organs, such as for 
nephrostomy, biliary drainage, or transhepatic islet cell 
transplantation.

Method and Apparatus for Countercurrent Chromatography

Yoichiro Ito (NHLBI)

DHHS Reference No. E-148-01/0 filed Apr 05, 2002
    Licensing Contact: Dale Berkley; 301/496-7735 ext. 223; e-mail: 
[email protected].
    This invention is an improved column design for High Speed Counter 
Current Chromatography (HSCCC) that increases partition efficiency by 
using novel tubing geometries. A standard HSCCC centrifuge uses a 
multilayer coil as a separation column to produce a high efficiency 
separation with good retention of the stationary phase in many solvent 
systems. However, the standard HSCCC, when used for highly viscous, low 
interfacial solvent systems, is unsuccessful at retaining a suitable 
amount of the stationary phase. This invention greatly improves 
efficiency by modifying the column from a coil to spiral geometry. 
Thereby, this invention creates a centrifugal force gradient, which 
allows for distribution of the heaver phase in the peripheral and the 
lighter phase in the proximal part of the column. The effect of the 
gradient becomes more pronounced as the pitch of the spiral is 
increased.

Method for Segmenting Medical Images and Detecting Surface Anomalies in 
Anatomical Structures

Ronald M. Summers et al. (CC)

U.S. Patent 6,246,784 issued Jun 12, 2001; U.S. Patent 6,345,112 issued 
Feb 05 2002; Serial No. 10/072,667 filed Feb 05, 2002
    Licensing Contact: Dale Berkley; 301/496-7735 ext. 223; e-mail: 
[email protected].

[[Page 44860]]

    The invention is a method for automatically detecting surface 
anomalies in anatomical structures in virtual colonoscopy and other 
imaging studies. A region growing method segments three-dimensional 
image data of an anatomical structure using a tortuous path length 
limit to constrain voxel growth. The path length limit constrains the 
number of successive generations of voxel growth from a seed point to 
prevent leakage of voxels outside the boundary of the anatomical 
structures. Once segmented, a process for detecting surface anomalies 
performs a curvature analysis on a computer model of the surface of the 
structure. This process detects surface anomalies automatically by 
traversing the vertices in the surface model, computing partial 
derivatives of the surface at the vertices, and computing curvature 
characteristics from the partial derivatives. To identify possible 
anomalies, the process compares the curvature characteristics with 
predetermined curvature characteristics of anomalies and classifies the 
vertices. The process further refines potential anomalies by segmenting 
neighboring vertices that are classified as being part of an anomaly 
using curvature characteristics. Finally, the process colorizes the 
anomalies, and computes a camera position and direction for each one to 
assist the user in viewing 2D rendering of the computer model.
    The method may be useful for automated detection of inflammatory, 
pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions of internal body cavities, such as 
the colon, airways, blood vessels and bladder. An example of a 
potential commercial application is as a component of software for 
clinical interpretation of virtual colonoscopy (CT colonography) 
examinations.
    This research is also described in Summers et al., ``Automated 
Polyp Detection at CT Colonography: Feasibility Assessment in a Human 
Population,'' Radiology 219:51-59 (2001) and in Summers et al., 
``Complementary Role of Computer-Aided Detection of Colonic Polyps with 
CT Colonography,'' Radiology, in press.

    Dated: June 24, 2002.
Jack Spiegel,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 02-16795 Filed 7-3-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P