A new percutaneous insertion technique for esophageal feeding tubes in cats is presented. The technique has been successfully applied in 12 feline patients. The placement technique is relatively simple, takes approximately five minutes to perform, and requires a scalpel blade, a curved hemostat, and an applicator for the insertion of the feeding tube. In contrast to other esophageal tube placem...

In this study we report a physical analysis of the membrane mechanics affecting the size of the highly curved region of a lipid nanotube (LNT) that is either connected between a lipid bilayer vesicle and the tip of a glass microinjection pipette (tube-only) or between a lipid bilayer vesicle and a vesicle that is attached to the tip of a glass microinjection pipette (two-vesicle). For the tube-...

This paper presents an analysis of the performance a parabolic trough collector (PTC) according to some key operating parameters. The effects secondary reflector, length and thickness absorber tube (receiver tube) flow rate heat transfer fluid (HTF) are investigated. main objective is determine optimal operation, which improves traditional PTC. target variables temperature at outlet tube, amoun...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether endoscopic cholesteatoma removal can be performed efficiently and safely using a curved fiberoptic-based laser. BACKGROUND Angled instruments are required in endoscopic ear surgery to access recesses of the middle ear without extra drilling. Lasers are effective at ablating visible and microscopic cholesteatoma matrix and removing granulation tissue. STUDY DES...

Modern computed tomography (CT) scanners use cone-beam configurations for increasing volume coverage, improving x-ray-tube utilization, and yielding isotropic spatial resolution. Recently, there have been significant developments in theory and algorithms for exact image reconstruction from cone-beam projections. In particular, algorithms have been proposed for image reconstruction on chords; an...

We are developing a Virtual Reality based training system for micromanipulation in collaboration with the National University Hospital in Singapore. While conventional approaches judge a virtual environment by its resemblance to the real environment, we use simple environments with only selected features of the real task, and develop fast algorithms to investigate the learning of dexterity prim...

The dried raisin, the crushed soda can, and the collapsed bicycle inner tube exemplify the nonlinear mechanical response of naturally curved elastic surfaces with different intrinsic curvatures to a variety of different external loads. To understand the formation and evolution of these features in a minimal setting, we consider a simple assay: the response of curved surfaces to point indentatio...