The Engineer developed electronic hardware/software and interfaces to provide ultrasound based (HIFU) therapy and progressive treatment imaging for the emerging medical GI market.

DLL development in C/C++ for over-the-air networking and interface to 28 separate radio data collection modules.  Program controlled up to 16 simultaneous r.f. data uploads on independent channels.  The Engineer entered project in emergency full-time (+) mode for completion on very tight deadline.  Project delivery was successfully made on promised date, within budget, and accepted by customer. 

RFID tag Sensor Development (light, temp/humidity, hall-effect magnetic) used for shipping container security during transit.          Sensor electronics package located on bottom of enclosure, in conjunction with existing r.f. module, allows circuit operation for > 4 years on self-contained lithium battery.  The Engineer designed and delivered original prototype and production circuit boards for integration into enclosure and system.  The Engineer was also involved in field studies for collecting shock and vibration data from huge shipping containers that were dropped by shipyard cranes.  Additional work included final system integration, troubleshooting, testing, and qualification of this Homeland Security related device.

Medical ultrasound image reconstruction software and hardware prototype design using TMS320C6203 DSP.    Work by the Engineer included DSP programming in C and linear assembly language to conduct data acquisition, I-Q dataset formatting, and ultrasound array beamforming and manipulation.  Early prototype efforts by the Engineer resulted in a direct ultrasound image reconstruction -- including scan conversion -- of the displayed image.    Computational complexity and speed requirements for this application were enormously demanding, and took full advantage of the parallel processing architecture of the TI TMS320C6203 operating at nearly its full 2400 MIPS rating to accomplish the required Phased Array Beamforming.   The Engineer later lead DSP group coding efforts to implement advanced beamforming, software scan conversion, and Color Flow imaging functions.  (US Patent# 6,251,073 and 6,569,102).

Ultrasound Doppler device to detect applicator movement over skin surface during therapeutic treatment.  Prototype Doppler In-phase and Quadrature output provided novel display mode, plotted in polar coordinates, to detect very small movements to a fraction of a wavelength.   System and circuits designed by the Engineer made use of FPGA for burst and timing generation, switched linear PA amplifier, sensitive Doppler front-end with TGC ramp, quadrature demodulation including sample and hold circuits, and output display stages.  This prototype system was used as a reference against which other movement technologies were assessed.

Blood Assay Measurement Device using CCD imaging element to measure minute contrast ratio in wide dynamic range optical system.  Novel technique was used to display and analyze optical reflective density with respect to reference area approaching 72dB.            The Engineer designed CCD hardware and provided interface, visual display,  and analysis software.    The underlying principle of this instrument was to measure the amount of anti-body present in analyte specimen using gold nanospheres bonded to reactive  anti-anti-bodies.  The trace amount of gold nanospheres remaining after washing was then measured using optics to produce a quantified result.  Figure 4 graph above clearly shows reflectivity decrease in curve, indicating concentration of gold nanospheres bonded to original analyte.  Final system allowed user to adjust crosshairs over region of interest to obtain reflective quantification index. 

Ultrasound Imaging Guide Wire display processing and control software for crossing coronary occlusions.  System operated at 40 MHz. Initial display wide angle test pattern and final display test pattern are depicted herein.  Right panel of final display contained real-time image with saved image on left panel.   System was PC based and had full complement of user adjusted controls including front-end Gain, image Slope, and Contrast.  Several catheter wire profiles were accepted and adjusted defaults accordingly.  All programming was done by the Engineer in C  and assembly language to operate on a PC-based platform.  Objective of the system was to allow guide wire tip to present an ultrasound "view" of the occlusion,  allowing wire's navigation through the blockage by physician to open the coronary artery and allow larger catheter entry for therapy.  Unit underwent animal trials at a controlled facility, after which all technology was purchased by a prominent medical catheter company. 

Ultrasound cardiac catheter A-Mode ranging software and hardware designs for laser fiber-optic TMR application.    Program written by the Engineer provided measurement of laser fiber penetration depth in millimeters into myocardial wall of heart. Several parameters were tracked in real-time: a) surface of myocardial wall and catheter contact point;  b) actual depth of laser fiber tip (using reflective collar) into myocardium;  and c) outer myocardial wall depth (needed to prevent perforation).  Range  indication was derived using ultrasound A-Mode data acquisition and processing.    Filtering and peak detection algorithms were employed to compute depth of fiber tip's ultrasound reflective collar, and outer wall of heart. System tracked distance between laser fiber tip and outer wall in real-time, alerting user and shutting off laser when distance became less than desired adjustable threshold.   The Engineer designed all software in C language, as well as accompanying digital interface hardware.  All software was done under FDA software development protocol requirements, and documented accordingly.  The Engineer also built, debugged, and tested  five prototype units, then helped transfer them to customer for clinical trials to be held in Italy.  

68HC11E microprocessor-based medical device firmware for accurately positioning cardiac catheter during r.f. ablation procedure.    Software-controlled a.c. stimulus signal was applied to 64 channels terminated by basket  catheter electrodes positioned within cardiac chamber.  Diagnostic catheter (not shown in diagram) provided variable impedance path between two adjacent electrodes, thereby marking its location.  LED on one of 8 splines would then illuminate when impedance threshold was crossed.  All software work was done in C and Assembly language for 68HC11 platform.  The Engineer worked to modify, correct, and add several new algorithms to software operating system. A much needed watch dog timer was added to the software, which already contained several safety mechanisms to monitor the weak a.c. stimulus signal used to detect ablation catheter position.  The Engineer also added to and finalized required FDA software documents for product prior to delivery to customer.

Pentium-based medical device M-Mode ultrasound imaging software for real-time uterine resection application. The Engineer wrote acquisition software in C and assembly language for operation on a PC platform.  Work involved use of very high speed Gage data acquisition board to provide M-Mode buffers for the digitized ultrasound.  Special high speed image display software, written by another consultant, was then integrated into system to provide real-time M-Mode style display -- the purpose of which was to measure depth of cut in uterine resection procedure.   The Engineer also provided digital designs for interface to ultrasound control electronics.  Prototype system was delivered,  under very tight schedule,  on-time to customer .

User Interface control and processing software for ultrasonic-aided gene therapy drug delivery system.  The engineer designed and wrote software to control several National Instruments hardware boards.  Use of this technology allowed for highly flexible selection of frequency, amplitude, burst width, and on/off times of ultrasonic power delivery.    The software was designed and  coded  in Visual Basic 5.0 and C, with interface to newly released National Instruments NIDAC drivers.   Display graphed power and duration of applied insonification.  System reliably provided a control and data acquisition platform for several animal studies in this new frontier technology.

Architect Phased Array Ultrasound Imaging System for Chinese medical company.

Co-inventor of wireless networking method patent involving TDMA modality (US Patent # 6,097,707).

2.4 GHz radio reference design using Philips r.f. chip set and Visual Basic control software. 

High power r.f. circuit design for medical liposuction device.  Design generated 148 watts to drive liposuction cannula.

HW and embedded PIC16C73 software designs for hearing aid volume control board.  Delivered 5 working prototypes.

CCD-based Spectrometer software in C and assembly for embedded H8/8037 processor.  Spectral range 800 - 330 nanometers.

Five new releases of 68000-based real-time operating system software for cardiac catheter medical ultrasound imaging system.

Design and prototype manufacturing of Magnetic Imaging system used for real-time magneto-optic visualization of aircraft wing defects.

80186-based hardware and software design modification of precision switching power supply.

Embedded PC-based Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound Spectrum Analyzer for viewing blood flow in the brain.

Ultrasound Doppler Spectrum Analyzer digital hardware and firmware product design and project engineering .

Digital Scan Converter hardware design for medical ultrasound cardiac imaging system.

Microprocessor-based Acoustical Holographic Imaging System data acquisition design, used for geophysical applications.