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The Innovation Center is a resource exclusively provided by ATechs to give clients direct access to innovative products, inventors, developers, & key industry personnel. The Innovation Center can be a useful tool during due diligence and each phase of development beginning at innovation conception and ending with market-commercialization of a product.

ATechs has become the first Innovation Expert Network (IEN) through our targeted recruitment of innovation experts, industry partnership affiliations, and cutting edge technology listings. If you are interested in joining our Innovation Expert Network as an Expert, Client, or Affiliate, please contact us for additional information regarding our memberships.

Revolving Robotic Needle Driver
John Hopkins University - Healthcare

Inventors at John Hopkins University have developed a Revolving Needle Driver (RND) that revolutionizes the way medical practitioners will be performing procedures in the near future. The RND is equipped with an image-guiding system to robotically maneuver a needle, using a database of medical images. The RND allows physicians to perform interventions not only under direct vision but with the additional help of the transcutaneous data. This supplemental knowledge allows doctors to have the potential to precisely target th edisease or the intervention site in a percutaneous, minimally invasive, less traumatic, and least disruptive fashion.   

The main function of the RND is the precise insertion and retraction of the injection needle. Other features allow the RND to orient in two orthogonal directions while maintaining the fixed location of a point. In operation the nozzle is placed at the desired skin entry point, so that before inserting the needle, the orientation of the needle can be adjusted by pivoting about the skin entry point. The RND presents two independent motion axes, one for insertion and the other for rotation. The RND is equipped with two force sensors that measure the interaction between the nozzle of the needle and the skin in three component directions, and the other measures the axial force of the needle insertion with a built in custom torque sensor measuring the drive of the needle insertion mechanism. These additional features give the RND customization abilities that allow the doctor to meet each patient's unique individual needs. The RND technology has applications in most medical fields, including biopsy, therapeutic injection, thermal ablation, brachytherapy and percutaneous surgery.   (Contact our team for additional information about this technology...) 

Multi-View Stereoscopy 
Duke University - Healthcare
 
Researchers at Duke University have discovered an x-ray imaging technique called Multi-View Stereoscopy (MVS), which augments the art of stereoscopy to provide a three dimensional view of anatomical structures from multiple angles. Given the consistently increasing cost of healthcare worldwide, there is a strong need for an imaging devices that enables radiologists to accurately show cancerous tissue currently hidden by the superimposition of anatomical structure. This new technology resolves previous detection problems of 2-D based x-ray technologies, such as the loss of information when 2-D systems collapse 3-D distribution of objects onto a 2-D image. MVS also allows for a wider scope of detection and reduced chances of false positives, improving detection rate by 40%, and reduces the number of false positives by 60%. When compared to the only other competitive 3-D technology, Computed Tomography (CT), Multi0View Stereoscopy provides comparable performance with higher throughput, lower radiation doses, and substantially reduced cost. MVS will drastically improve the area of cancer detection, and will have immediate effects in breast and lung cancer screening where the improved detection rate will potentially result in earlier cancer diagnosis and prognosis. (Contact our team for additional information about this technology...) 

Real-Time Neuroevolution of Augmenting Topologies  
University of Texas – Technology 

Engineers at the University of Texas in Austin have developed a software technology called real-time NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (rtNEAT). It is a genetic algorithm that trains and evolves neural networks of increasing complexity from a minimal starting point. This means networks that succeed continue while others are discarded, avoiding the problem of preparatory (non-real-time) training. Agents governed by rtNEAT neural networks can learn processes and even invent new solutions based on feedback without the guidance of a human programmer or controller, freeing the programmer from having to script extensive behaviors.  

The neural-evolving algorithm technology has many benefits which will allow networks to be able to solve complex tasks in real-time. New and novel solutions will be learned without any previous training. Many benefits also come from the advanced algorithm that continually evolves increasingly optimal and complex controllers. The continually optimizing algorithm allows the technology to be universally implemented into many systems for a broad range of real-time applications. 

Applications for rtNEAT include difficult real-world learning tasks such as controlling robots, playing games, or pursuing/evading an enemy. In all these examples, the rtNEAT solves scenarios where there are no direct targets that can specify the correct action for every situation. Other similar neural networks require a long process of training before being effective, whereas the rtNEAT evolves to solve problems in real-time. While the algorithm evolves in real-time, users don’t have to wait for behavioral responses to occur at certain intervals, as with other neural network technologies. 

Specific uses for the rtNEAT technology include general algorithms for evolving controllers, and any application involving the automated control of some process, object, vehicle or sensory system. Currently, this technology currently is targeted towards the video game industry for the possibility of evolving characters in games and massive multiplayer online games. Other uses for this algorithm include military simulations, educational games, robotics, vehicle control systems, factories, and research tools used for modeling. Additionally, the algorithm could also be implemented in pattern recognition and prediction applications. 

With so many uses for the rtNEAT, it is easy to see how this neural-evolving technology will change the world of software as we know it. One day, complex systems will be put into place to analyze real-time information and provide solutions to constantly changing problems. As the rtNEAT algorithm finds solutions to the complex real world applications of today, it provides us with a view of problem-solving technologies from the future. (Contact our team for additional information about this technology...) 

Vertical Stalk Mechanism for Wind Harvesting Using Vibration 
Cornell University - Energy, Power, & Fuels 

Engineers at Cornell University have created a novel energy harvesting technology called ‘Vertical Stalk Mechanism for Wind Harvesting Using Vibration’. Inspired by nature, the inventors based their creation on the fluttering of leaves on a tree. An intricate system of synthetic leaves connected to piezoelectric stems convert wind energy into electric power. Compared to traditional wind turbines and other wind energy generators, this “piezo-tree” generator is light, low-cost, and easily installed and scaled. Additionally, design optimization studies found that a particular vertical-stalk, horizontal-leaf arrangement could increase power output by an order of magnitude. This is a massive, ten-fold improvement over current leaf-stalk arrangements.  As a simple, robust, and easily scaled device, the "piezo-tree" serves as an effective and unique power generator in a variety of environments. This new technology redefines what is possible in the world of renewable energy. (Contact our team for additional information about this technology...) 

Recycle Gas Cooled Solid Oxide Fuel Cell 
University of California Irvine - Energy, Power, & Fuels 

Researchers at University of California in Irvine have developed a Recycle Gas Cooled Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (RGC-SOFC) system that optimizes efficiency by recycling the energy within the exhaust. The RGC-SOFC has the potential to influence a large portion of the market with suggested applications in both small-scale and large-scale central power generation.    The advantages provided by this new technology are the higher overall thermal efficiency, cost effective operation, and less expensive material costs.   

Simply put, fuel cells are electrochemical devices similar to a battery that convert chemically bound energy directly into energy. There are many types of fuel cells, but it is the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) that has high operating and exhaust temperatures. The SOFC consists of a solid, nonporous metal oxide that allows for operating temperatures near 1000°C, with recent developments bringing temperatures closer to 700°C. These high temperatures provide advantages for maximized power efficiency and quality when using the RGC-SOFC technology.  In fuel cells, there are irreversible losses that limit the conversion of fuel-bound energy to electricity due to heat exchange, entropy change, and cell polarizations. 

The key design component of the RGC-SOFC minimizes these irreversible losses by using the cathode exhaust gas to perform heat removal while at the same time reducing the operating temperature of the recycle blower. By incorporating this improved process scheme, the conversion of heat energy to mechanical energy is increased, thereby increasing the overall power plant thermal efficiency.  The RGC-SOFC technology advances the industry knowledge of the efficiency of fuel cell systems and   makes alternative energy a more feasible possibility for solving our energy needs. (Contact our team for additional information about this technology...)   

Linear Gridless Ion Thruster 
University of Michigan - Industrial 

Scientists at the University of Michigan have developed a Linear Gridless Ion Thruster (LGIT) that uses ion sourcing for spacecraft propulsion or plasma processing. This new thruster technology combines an ionization stage from a gridded ion thruster, and an acceleration stage from a closed-drift Hall thruster. The combination of the two allows the LGIT to benefit from the advantages of both thruster technologies without suffering from the weakness of either. Specifically, LGIT is composed of two stages: (1) an ionization stage composed of a hollow cathode, anode, and cusp magnetic field circuit to ionize the propellant gas; and (2) an acceleration stage composed of a downstream cathode, upstream anode, and a radial magnetic field circuit to accelerate ions created in the ionization stage. 

The LGIT replaces grids used in conventional ion thrusters (Kaufman guns) to accelerate ions with Hall-current electrons as is the case with conventional Hall thrusters. The LGIT technology has many applications for satellite or deep-space missions by enhancing thruster capability for spacecraft propulsion or plasma processing. This new technology makes conventional chemical propulsion technologies obsolete by increasing exhaust velocities and thruster efficiency, decreasing fuel weight, and increasing payload. An increase of available payload mass will cause scientists to reconsider certain space missions, which were previously not feasible, and turn them into a reality. (Contact our team for additional information about this technology...)

Modular, Wireless Structural Monitoring System 
Stanford University - Industrial 

Engineers at Stanford University have created a Modular, Wireless Structural Monitoring System (MWSMS) to be used for real-time structural analysis. This new sensing technology evaluates the response of a structure before, during, and after a potentially hazardous event (e.g. earthquake or hurricane). It also allows periodic monitoring of a structure over time to measure long-term deterioration in order to preempt failures and extend the life of the structure. The invention is comprised of a software and hardware platform that includes a microprocessor, modem, sensors, and four software modules. The software design focuses on sensor unit functionality and includes powerful data processing and visualization tools for enhanced structural analysis. 

Applications for the MWSMS technology include rapid assessment of civil structures, real-time analysis of building integrity and periodic monitoring of long-term structural deterioration. There are many advantages that the MWSMS technology provides over other similar structural analysis tools, including wireless capabilities, modular & flexible analysis, and embedded software within the each sensor. The wireless capabilities have many benefits, including: lower installation and maintenance costs; no risk of severed cables during a hazardous event; no signal degradation over long distances; and it allows the sensors to be untethered from the data analysis and storage devices. Additionally, the technology has embedded software within all sensors, which allows for localized processing. Directly processing data at the sensor location provides for a more direct and independent assessment of the data, while relieving the data acquisition and computational burden of using a central computer. With so many benefits, the MWSMS provides engineers with the ability to monitor structural health in the most unobtrusive and cost-effective way. This new technology will revolutionize the world of civil engineering and construction by allowing for real-time assessment of building integrity. In the future, major catastrophes will be avoided by having advanced knowledge of structural health, and building collapses may become a thing of the past.  (Contact our team for additional information about this technology...)

Femtosecond Laser Oscillator
Harvard University - Telecommunications & Media

Inventors at Harvard University have developed a new technology called Femtosecond Laser Oscillator (FLO), which allows for lasers to directly write three dimensional patterns onto bulk materials, such as glass. The laser directs unamplified, intense, ultra-short pulses of light at very high rates to a single point on a material. Due to the accuracy of the laser, the final pattern created is significantly more precise than the results of other lasers currently in operation. With such precision, this new laser capability can be used in many applications, including telecommunication systems, optoelectronic device manufacturing, laser surgery, cell mitgration studies, and data storage. Telecommunication systems become more efficient as the technology significantly improves waveguides that transmit light through the system. Optoelectronic device manufacturing processes improve as the FLO was developed for micromachining the inside of bulk materials. Laser surgery becomes less disruptive because the FLO can target single cells to excise without affecting neighboring cells. Cell migration studies grow polymers and metals on glass substrates at the nano-level with the precise control that the FLO technology offers. High density data storage technology is revolutionized as the precision of the laser technology allows for increased data storage volumes. 

The FLO technology creates patterns that are more precise, more consistent, and it is easier to use, faster, and less expensive to operate than standard lasers. The precise 3-D patterning is achieved by using an unamplified, femtosecond, laser oscillator that creates a single point source of heat inside a transparent material. When the laser pulse is tightly focused on the material, heat absorption occurs only in the very small area of focus. This localization is capable of producing a pattern as small as 200-nanometers in diameter. As more light pulses are applied to a single point, the volume of material with an elevated temperature increases. Therefore the laser operator can determine the size of each pattern by controlling the number of light pulses, instead of by the focal point of the laser. As a result, the pattern can be drawn more easily, more precisely, and faster than with amplified lasers.  Additionally, using unamplified light allows for the laser equipment to be significantly lower in cost than standard lasers.  It is easy to see how the FLO technology will influence many various industries as it allows for higher precision, control, consistency and speeds, at a lower cost than other laser technologies. (Contact our team for additional information about this technology...)

A Distributed Bandwidth Allocation and Transmission Coordination Method for Quality of Service Provision in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks 
University of Maryland - Telecommunications & Media 

 Researchers at the University of Maryland have invented a Distributed Bandwidth Allocation and Transmission Coordination Method for Quality of Service Provision in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks. This new telecommunications technology is a scheduled access protocol that operates using only local information systems. Unlike current market solutions, it avoids transmission conflicts and provides Quality of Service (QoS) to the participants of the ad hoc network. Current approaches use either the random access-based 802.11 standard (unable to provide QoS) or proprietary, non-scalable ‘Time Division Multiple Access’ (TDMA) schemes that rely on global topology information. The invention integrates the best of both worlds: it is TDMA-based yet fully decentralized, providing QoS by dynamically accessing the wireless medium in a conflict-free manner. Applications for the technology include wireless routers and mobile devices, as it is a high-bandwidth and low-cost solution for ad hoc networks. The added ability to form autonomous ad hoc networks has many benefits, such as self-configuring and multi-hop wireless communication infrastructures. 

Two key components operate in parallel to provide a system that sets teh technology apart. The first is a complex bandwidth allocation algorithm that steers the network to any desired QoS objective. The second is a coordination mechanism that keeps the network free of transmission conflicts. The technology will revolutionize the market by providing QoS at a local system level, without the risk of unpredictable transmission conflicts, loss of allocation guarantees, and it doesn't require global network knowledge that other telecommunication methods require. (Contact our team for additional information about this technology...)