[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 37 (Thursday, February 24, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10374-10375]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-4171]


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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, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The inventions listed below are owned by an agency 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.

LightCensor: A Detecting and Control Program That Guarantees That a 
Mobile Device Be Used Only in Appropriate Lighting Conditions When 
Displaying Medical Images

    Description of Invention: The invention provides algorithm that 
when used in a mobile device (e.g. smartphone) can enhance the 
capabilities of mobile devices to be used by medical professionals for 
medical imaging.
    Thanks to its swiftly improved display quality, the smartphone has 
been advocated by the medical imaging vendors for viewing medical 
images in specific conditions that require urgency of the read or when 
full-size workstation displays are not readily available. However, as a 
hand-held device, the viewing conditions of a smartphone (e.g. ambient 
light and hand shaking) are not predictable and may adversely affect 
the perceived image quality. The present invention proposes the use of 
the built-in sensors in iPhone-like mobile devices to detect and adapt 
to the viewing conditions and hand shaking. The built-in camera can be 
used to capture the ambient light for determining the adaptation level, 
which affects the brightness, contrast and color perception. The built-
in accelerometers can be used to detect orientation and moving velocity 
of the display, which affect the perceived spatial resolution. The 
execution of critical tasks can be then censored based on the detected 
scenario. If the viewing conditions are not suitable for reading 
medical images, for example, then the program could halt until the 
viewing conditions improve.
    This invention can be used by consumer-grade mobile devices which 
were not originally designed for medical purposes to show medical 
images with improved perceived image quality.

Applications

     Biomedical imaging.
     Radiology.
    Advantages: Improved image quality of mobile devices that minimizes 
issues related to inadequate light conditions or hand movement.

Development Status

     Algorithm developed.
     Prototype is being built.
    Inventors: Wei-Chung Cheng and Aldo G. Badano (FDA).
    Patent Status: HHS Reference No. E-284-2010/0--Research Tool/
Software. Patent protection is not being pursued for this technology.
    Licensing Status: Available for licensing.

Licensing Contacts

     Uri Reichman, PhD, MBA; 301-435-4616; [email protected].
     Michael Shmilovich, Esq.; 301-435-5019; 
[email protected].

A Novel MRI Phantom for Breast Imaging

    Description of Invention: The invention offered for licensing is in 
the field of breast cancer imaging. More specifically it relates to 
novel breast phantoms that can be used as reference in breast imaging. 
The anthropomorphic breast phantoms described in the invention comprise 
a combination of adipose tissue mimicking components and fibroglandular 
tissue mimicking components. Typically, x-ray attenuation coefficients 
or magnetic resonance relaxation times T1 and T2 are selected that are 
sufficiently similar to actual patient tissues. The mimicking 
components are distributed within the phantom such that images of the 
phantom contain features similar to those of patient tissues. A breast 
phantom can be based on a lard/egg white combination that is shaped to 
approximate a human breast, or a compressed human breast as prepared 
for mammography. The phantoms can include lesion chambers that permit 
the introduction of contrast agents to simulate benign or malignant 
lesions, and contrast agent concentration can be time varied to produce 
washout curves.
    Applications: Imaging of breast cancer as well as calibration and 
optimization of related instrumentation.
    Advantages: The breast phantoms of the invention precisely mimics 
human breast in several of their characteristics as mentioned above. 
Furthermore, they can be utilized in conjunction with x-ray mammography 
and/or with MRI. The phantoms may therefore be used to enhance the 
accuracy and quality of diagnostic breast imaging, and thus avoid 
unnecessary procedures. In addition, wide-spread use of the breast 
phantoms will lead to improved standardization in the field of breast 
imaging.
    Development Status: The methods of making the phantoms have been 
established. Clinical usefulness has to be established.
    Inventors: Melanie Freed and Aldo Badano (FDA).

Patent Status

     U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/385,929 filed 23 Sep 
2010 (HHS Reference No. E-126-2010/0-US-01), entitled ``Evaluation of 
Breast Dynamic Contrast-enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging''.
     U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/424,495 filed 17 Dec 
2010 (HHS Reference No. E-126-2010/1-US-01), entitled 
``Anthropomorphic, X-ray and Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic 
Resonance Imaging Phantom for Quantitative Evaluation of Breast Imaging 
Techniques''.
    Licensing Status: Available for licensing.

[[Page 10375]]

Licensing Contacts

     Uri Reichman, PhD, MBA; 301-435-4616; [email protected].
     John Stansberry, PhD; 301-435-5236; [email protected].

Meningococcal and Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine and Method of Using 
Same

    Description of Invention: Pneumococcal diseases are a major public 
health problem all over the world. The etiological agent, Streptococcus 
pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is surrounded by a polysaccharide 
capsule. Differences in the composition of this capsule permit 
serological differentiation between about 90 capsular types, some of 
which are frequently associated with pneumococcal disease, others 
rarely. Invasive pneumococcal infections include pneumonia, meningitis 
and febrile bacteremia; among the common non-invasive manifestations 
are otitis media, sinusitis and bronchitis. At least 1 million children 
die of pneumococcal disease every year, most of these being young 
children in developing countries. Vaccination is the only available 
tool to prevent pneumococcal disease. The recent development of 
widespread microbial resistance to essential antibiotics underlines the 
urgent need for more efficient pneumococcal vaccines.
    Meningococcal disease is a contagious bacterial disease caused by 
the meningococcus (Neisseria meningitidis). It is spread by person-to-
person contact through respiratory droplets of infected people. There 
are 3 main clinical forms of the disease: the meningeal syndrome, the 
septic form and pneumonia. The onset of symptoms is sudden and death 
can follow within hours. In as many as 10-15% of survivors, there are 
persistent neurological defects, including hearing loss, speech 
disorders, loss of limbs, mental retardation and paralysis. Up to 5-10% 
of a population may be asymptomatic carriers. These carriers are 
crucial to the spread of the disease as most cases are acquired through 
exposure to asymptomatic carriers. Waning immunity among the population 
against a particular strain favors epidemics, as do overcrowding and 
climatic conditions such as dry seasons or prolonged drought and dust 
storms. The disease mainly affects young children, but is also common 
in older children and young adults. The disease occurs sporadically 
throughout the world with seasonal variations and accounts for a 
proportion of endemic bacterial meningitis. However, the highest burden 
of the disease is due to the cyclic epidemics occurring in the African 
meningitis belt.
    With the burden of S. pneumoniae and N. meningitidis infection on 
the public health system at a global scale, it is desirable to have a 
single vaccine that is effective to prevent disease resulting from the 
infection of both pathogens. This application claims immunogenic 
compositions for inducing an immune response to two different 
microorganisms, S. pneumoniae and N. meningitidis. The application also 
claims conjugate vaccines comprising at least one N. meningitidis 
capsular polysaccharide conjugated to a recombinant pneumococcal 
protein.
    Applications: Conjugate vaccine for the prevention and/or therapy 
of meningococcal and pneumococcal infections.

Advantages

     Rapid production time.
     Higher-yielding manufacturing method.
     Low manufacturing cost.
    Development Status: Preclinical studies have been conducted by the 
inventors.

Inventors

     Stanley S. Tai (Howard University).
     Che-Hung Robert Lee (FDA).
    Patent Status: HHS Reference No. E-030-2010/0--
     U.S. Patent Application No. 12/425,232 filed 16 Apr 2009.
     PCT/US2010/031083 filed 14 Apr 2010.
    Licensing Status: Available for licensing.
    Licensing Contact: Daniel G. McCabe; Associate General Counsel for 
Business Transactions; Howard University, Office of the General 
Counsel; 2400 6th Street, NW., Suite 321; Washington, DC 20059; Office: 
(202) 806-2650; Fax: (202) 806-6357; E-mail: [email protected].

    Dated: February 16, 2011.
Richard U. Rodriguez,
Director, Division of Technology Development and Transfer, Office of 
Technology Transfer, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2011-4171 Filed 2-23-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P