Over the last decade, mouse models have become a popular instrument for studying cardiac arrhythmias. This review assesses in which respects a mouse heart is a miniature human heart, a suitable model for studying mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias in humans and in which respects human and murine hearts differ. Section I considers the issue of scaling of mammalian cardiac (electro) physiology to ...

The motorized microdrive was designed primarily by Michale Fee. My contributions to the design of the instrument include work on the split connector that allows the motor assembly to be removed from the microdrive barrel, the lateral positioner that provides limited xy positioning of the electrodes, and some of the electrical modifications to the Sutter MP-285 that is used to remotely position ...

The structure of the miniature three–dimensional (3-D) inductor is presented in this paper. The proposed miniature 3-D inductors have been fabricated in a standard digital 0.35m one-poly-four-metal (1P4M) CMOS process. According to the measurement results, the self-resonance frequency SR of the proposed miniature 3-D inductor is 34% higher than the conventional stacked inductor. Moreover, the p...

Fluorescence measurements on protein microarrays demand photodetectors with ultra-high sensitivity, low noise and parallel readout capability. A novel compact instrument capable of ultra-sensitive analysis of multiple proteins in a customized microarray has been designed and implemented. This system is based on a monolithic 6×8 array of single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). The SPAD detector ...

In some applications, especially for the attitude control of navigation system, the friction moment of instrument ball bearings is one of the much more important factors. Its magnitude and fluctuation affect not only the energy transfer but also the accuracy of signal transfer even though the bearings work at very low speed. Experimental analysis showed that the cage rotated with a minor fluctu...

Actuators are used to perform a variety of functions in almost every type of electromechanical system, “smart” device, and instrument. Increasingly, in many applications, actuators need to achieve reduced size, mass, power consumption, and cost. Examples of industries that demand novel, miniature, and powerful actuators are medicine, biotechnology, information technology, space, manufacturing, ...

A miniature flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope (FFB) (Olympus BF-N20) (2.2 mm diameter) was applied to 53 children (20 female subjects) ranging in age from 3 months to 15 years (mean, 4.19 years). Most common indications for bronchoscopy included stridor or weak cry and persistent wheezing or cough unresponsive to inhaled bronchodilators, chest physiotherapy, steroids, and antimicrobial agents. T...

We performed endoscopic phonosurgery in a patient with a laryngeal lesion using a prototype of the therapeutic rhino-larynx electronic endoscope connected to a video processor (Asahi Optical Co., Ltd.). This therapeutic electronic endoscope differs from the fiberoptic endoscope, because it contains an instrument channel and a miniature television camera attached to the tip of the endoscope, con...

A series of miniature photometers has been developed for use as on-stream detectors in systems for liquid chromatography. All of the detectors feature dual-beam, dual-wavelength operation without mechanical or electrical switching of either wavelength or signal. The two types of detectors originally developed-ultraviolet (254 and 280 nm) and colorimetric (any two choices of visible wavelengths)...

We are developing a miniature neutron-alpha activation spectrometer for in-situ analysis of chem-bio samples, including rocks, fines, ices, and drill cores, suitable for a lander or Rover platform for Mars or outer-planet missions. In the neutron-activation mode, penetrating analysis will be performed of the whole sample using a y spectrometer and in the ex-activation mode, the sample surface w...