No / A loop feed meander-line Antenna (LFMLA) RFID tag on a relatively low dielectric constant substrate operates on the European UHF band 865-868 MHz is presented. The tag modeling is analyzed using two different electromagnetic simulator HFSS and CST. A prototype tag antenna is constructed and measured for validation. The input impedance of the proposed antenna is verified against the simulated data results, the measured and simulated results are found to be in good agreement. The compact size tag antenna shows excellent impedance matching to the typical input impedance of a RFID integrated circuit chip and a significant improvement in reading range up to 5 meters.

No description available.

Time-varying fields are widely used to extend the accessible range of trapping potentials for ultracold atoms. This work explores two very different examples of such fields, in the radiofrequency and optical regimes, whose interactions with trapped atoms can both be described in terms of the dressed atom picture. Forming the basis of this work are radiofrequency dressed adiabatic potentials based on macroscopic trapping coils. Atoms are confined at the south pole of the resultant oblate spheroidal trapping surfaces. This work describes the extension of these potentials by two different methods: the application of multiple dressing radiofrequencies, and addition of a rapidly-scanned optical dipole trap. This is the first experimental demonstration of a multiple-radiofrequency dressed adiabatic potential, explored using ultracold ⁸⁷Rb atoms confined in a highly configurable double well. Due to the independent generation of each constituent dressing frequency, the depth of each trapping well and the height of the barrier are easily manipulated, enabling precise and reliable transfer of atoms between the available trapping geometries. Experimental work includes an exploration of the potential-shaping capabilities of the three-radiofrequency system, and characterisation of the potential landscape using radiofrequency spectroscopy with good agreement to the eigenvalues numerically calculated using Floquet theory. This initial exploration of multiple-radiofrequency techniques lays the groundwork for applications in studying double well physics in a two-dimensional system, and independent state or species selective manipulation of trapped atoms. The potential shaping capabilities of this method can also be extended by applying additional trapping frequencies. In a supplementary line of experimental work, an optical dipole trapping system has been constructed, and the trapping beam aligned to the lower surface of the radiofrequency dressed trapping shell in order to sculpt the radial confinement. Beam shaping is achieved using an acousto-optic deflector, which can be used to produce either a composite array of static deflected beams, a rapidly-scanned painted potential, or some combination of the two approaches. The development and extension of the experimental apparatus required to implement these enhanced dressed state potentials is explored, and the challenges of their experimental implementation considered.

Electron Bernstein waves are a mode of oscillation in a plasma, thought a candidate for providing radiofrequency heating and non-inductive current drive in spherical tokamaks. Previous studies of these modes have relied on neglecting or simplifying the contribution made by relativistic effects. This work presents fully relativistic numerical results that show the mode's dispersion relation for a wide range of parameters. Relativistic effects are shown to shift the location of the resonance as in previous studies, but the effects beyond this are shown to matter only in high temperature (10-20keV) plasmas. At these higher temperatures however, the fully relativistic model differs markedly. The assumption that the mode is electrostatic is looked at, and found to be inadequate for describing fully the electron Bernstein modes dispersion relation. Simple estimates that neglect toroidal effects show current drive efficiency is expected to be an order of magnitude higher than that for conventional electron cyclotron current drive using the O or X modes. It is shown for a number of model tokamaks that heating the center of the plasma and driving current using EBWs is impossible launching from the outside due to strong damping of the wave at higher cyclotron harmonics. Results from a code based on a more complicated semi-analytic model of current drive, that includes toroidal effects and calculates the average current drive over the magnetic surface, confirm the higher expected current drive efficiency, and the code is shown to give good agreement with a Fokker-Planck code. The higher values of perpendicular refractive index associated with the EBWs are shown to mitigate the deleterious effects of trapping on current drive efficiency to a small extent. The details of the magnetic field are found to be unimportant to the calculation beyond determing where the wave is absorbed. The codes written to produce these results are outlined before each set of results. The last of these is considerably faster than conventional Fokker-Planck codes and a useful tool in studying electron cyclotron current drive in the future.

The primary purpose of this work was to evaluate the capability of nanoparticles to transform electromagnetic energy at microwave frequencies into therapeutic heating. Targeted nanoparticles, in conjunction with microwave irradiation, can increase the temperatures of the targeted area over the peripheral region. Therefore, to become clinically viable, microwave absorbing nanoparticles must first be identified, and a system to monitor the treatment must be developed. In this study, ultrasound temperature imaging was used to monitor the temperature of deep lying structures. First, a material-dependent quantity to correlate the temperature induced changes in ultrasound images (i.e. apparent time shifts) to differential temperatures was gathered for a tissue-mimicking phantom, porcine longissimus dorsi muscle, and porcine fat. Then microwave nanoabsorbers were identified using an infrared radiometer. The determined nanoabsorbers were then injected into ex-vivo porcine longissimus dorsi muscle tissue. Ultrasound imaging frames were gathered during microwave treatment of the inoculated tissue. Finally, the ultrasound frames were analyzed using the correlation between temperature and apparent shifts in ultrasound for porcine muscle tissue. The outcome was depth-resolved temperature profiles of the ex-vivo porcine muscle during treatment. The results of this study show that magnetite is a microwave nanoabsorber that increases the targeted temperature of microwave hyperthermia treatments. Overall, there is clinical potential to use microwave nanoabsorbers to increase the efficiency of microwave hyperthermia treatments. / text

The dissertation focuses on the temperature dependent rate coefficient measurement of reactions in the interstellar medium using a coaxial molecular beam ring electrode ion trap apparatus. The first chapter introduces the previous studies of ion-molecule reactions in the ISM, the types of instruments mainly used in the reaction rate coefficient study, the former research on the ring electrode ion trap and the gas phase reaction mechanisms. Compare to other instruments, our molecular beam - ring electrode ion trap is extremely good at ion cooling and temperature control for both ions and neutral molecules. Chapter two describes each part of the instrument used in detail. Ions produced by electron impact in the ion source chamber, are mass filtered and then reach the ring electrode ion trap. In the trap, ions collide with molecules in the molecular beam where reaction takes place. When the reaction is done, all the ions remained in the trap (the reactant and product ions) come out and move to the detector. The molecular beam terminates at residual gas analyzer which is used for the number density calibration. The third chapter shows how the temperature of ions and molecules are controlled separately in order to find the reaction mechanism. Ions are cooled by the pulsed He buffer in the ring electrode trap and a chopped beam is used to make sure the ions are cooled to the desired low temperature when the reaction takes place. Chapters four to six describe the three reactions being studied using this instrument: N₂⁺ + H₂O charge transfer reaction, H₃O⁺ + C₂H₄ proton transfer reaction and H3O⁺ + (C₂H₂)₂/C₂H₂ dimer reaction. The temperature dependent rate coefficient data of these reactions are explained by the average dipole orientation theory, statistical theory and Colussi's acetylene dimer model, respectively. Two temperatures are defined and applied in the experimental rate coefficients analysis: ion-molecule center of mass collision temperature and the reaction statistical temperature which is based on the numbers of degrees of freedom of both reactants.

Aims: To study practices and procedures with respect to electrotherapy in physiotherapy departments and to study physiotherapists’ perception of health risk, health consequences and protection of health from different risks including electromagnetic field emissions from electrotherapy devices. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in three phases from June 2002 to December 2003. The first phase was an audit of the practices and procedures regarding electrotherapy in National Health Service physiotherapy departments (N = 46 including 7 departments in pilot study) located in 12 counties in the southeast and southwest of England including Greater London. The second phase comprised one observational visit to each of the same physiotherapy departments to characterise their occupational environment. The third phase was a questionnaire survey of 584 physiotherapists working in these departments. Variables concerned perception of health risk, health consequences and protection of health associated with different risk factors. Results: In the first two phases, the recruitment rate of the departments was 80.7% (46 out of 57) and response rate of those recruited was 100% (n=46). The response rate for the last phase of the study was 66.8% (390 out of 584). Results of the practices and procedures audit show that ultrasound was the most common form of electrotherapy while microwave diathermy was neither available nor used in these departments. Pulsed shortwave diathermy was used 4-5 days per week while continuous shortwave diathermy was used rarely. Electrotherapy was provided to up to 50% of patients per week in the departments. The observational visits to the departments revealed that there were metallic objects within close proximity of diathermy equipment and wooden treatment couches for treatment with PSWD and CSWD were rare. The risk perception survey showed that physiotherapists generally perceived a moderate health risk and health consequences (harm) from exposure to EMF emissions from electrotherapy devices. Protection from EMFs in physiotherapy departments was generally perceived as ‘usually’ possible. Conclusions: Physiotherapy departments report safe electrotherapy practices. Use of diathermy devices that use RF EMFs is declining. The key predictors of physiotherapists’ perception of health risk were perception of health consequences and vice versa. Gender was a significant predictor of the perception of health risks and health consequences. The main predictor of perception of protection against risk was the knowledge of environmental and health issues. Latent dimensions of perceptions of health risk, health consequences and protection from risk were identified and confirmed and their predictors were determined.

Foram examinados 192 pacientes consecutivamente com o objetivo de alcançar 50 pacientes com diagnóstico de DASI (26% incidência). Dos 50 pacientes submetidos ao bloqueio intra-articular sacroilíaco com dexametasona e lidocaína; 41 pacientes (82%) relataram melhora da dor e da qualidade de vida; e um menor consumo de analgésicos de resgate nos 6 meses subsequentes. O bloqueio trouxe uma melhora da dor imediata de forma segmentar nas regiões dos dermátomos, havendo uma queda do nível médio de dor de 8 para 3 (p<0.001). O consumo de analgésicos de resgate também foi significativamente reduzido (p<0.01). Entretanto, 9 pacientes (18%) não relataram melhora duradoura no terceiro mês de avaliação e foram submetidos a ablação por radiofrequência de resfriamento dos ramos sacrais e do ramo mediano de L4-L5. Ao avaliar os 9 pacientes submetidos a radiofrequência um não obteve sucesso e foi diagnosticado com cisto sacral. Outro não ficou satisfeito com nenhum dos procedimentos. Este paciente tinha um histórico de síndrome póslaminectomia, e na ocasião estava em uso de 40mg de metadona e 1200mg de gabapentina diariamente. Os outros 7 pacientes obtiveram sucesso (78%). / 192 patients were consecutively examined in order to reach 50 patients with SIJD diagnosis (26% incidence). From the 50 patients submitted to intra-articular dexamethasone plus lidocaine SIJ block; 41 patients (82%) refereed pain and quality of life improvement; and lesser rescue analgesics consumption during 6 consecutive months. The block induced a prompt onset of pain relief in a strictly segmental manner nearby the dermatomes, and there was a drop in mean pain score from 8 to 3 cm (p <0.001). Rescue analgesics consumption was also significantly reduced (p<0.01). However, 9 patients (18%) did not refer long lasting improvement in the third month of evaluation and underwent cooled radiofrequency ablation of sacral and radiofrequency ablation of L4-L5 median branch. When one evaluate the 9 patients who underwent radiofrequency, one was not successful and had diagnosis of cystic sacral formation. Other was not happy at all with any of the procedures. This patient had past history of post-laminectomy syndrome, and was at the time using 40 mg methadone and 1200 mg gabapentin daily. The other 7 patients were successful (78%).

La réalisation des néphrolithotomies percutanées est essentiellement conditionnée par la qualité dela ponction calicièle préalable. En effet, en cas d’échec de celle-ci, l’intervention ne peut avoir lieu.Réalisée le plus souvent sous échographie, sa qualité est fortement conditionnée par celle du retouréchographique, considéré comme essentiel par la deuxième consultation internationale sur la lithiase pour limiter les saignements consécutifs à l’intervention.L’imagerie échographique est largement plébiscitée en raison de son faible coût, de l’innocuité del’examen, liée à son caractère non invasif, de sa portabilité ainsi que de son excellente résolutiontemporelle ; elle possède toutefois une très faible résolution spatiale et souffre de nombreux artefacts tels que la mauvaise résolution des images, un fort bruit apparent et une forte dépendance àl’opérateur.L’objectif de cette thèse est de concevoir une méthode de filtrage des données échographiques ainsiqu’une méthode de segmentation et de suivi du rein sur des séquences ultrasonores, dans le butd’améliorer les conditions d’exécution d’interventions chirurgicales telles que les néphrolithotomiespercutanées.Le filtrage des données, soumis et publié dans SPIE 2010, est réalisé en exploitant le mode deformation des images : le signal radiofréquence est filtré directement, avant même la formation del’image 2D finale. Pour ce faire, nous utilisons une méthode basée sur les ondelettes, en seuillantdirectement les coefficients d’ondelettes aux différentes échelles à partir d’un algorithme de typesplit and merge appliqué avant reconstruction de l’image 2D.La méthode de suivi développée (une étude préliminaire a été publiée dans SPIE 2009), exploiteun premier contour fourni par le praticien pour déterminer, en utilisant des informations purementlocales, la position du contour sur l’image suivante de la séquence. L’image est transformée pourne plus être qu’un ensemble de vignettes caractérisées par leurs critères de texture et une premièresegmentation basée région est effectuée sur cette image des vignettes. Cette première étape effectuée, le contour de l’image précédente de la séquence est utilisé comme initialisation afin de recalculer le contour de l’image courante sur l’image des vignettes segmentée. L’utilisation d’informations locales nous a permis de développer une méthode facilement parallélisable, ce qui permettra de travailler dans une optique temps réel.La validation de la méthode de filtrage a été réalisée sur des signaux radiofréquence simulés. Laméthode a été comparée à différents algorithmes de l’état de l’art en terme de ratio signal sur bruitet de calcul de USDSAI. Les résultats ont montré la qualité de la méthode proposée comparativement aux autres. La méthode de segmentation, quant-à elle, a été validée sans filtrage préalable, sur des séquences 2D réelles pour un temps d’exécution sans optimisation, inférieur à la minute pour des images 512*512. / The achievement of percutaneous nephrolithotomies is mainly conditioned by the quality of the initial puncture. Indeed, if it is not well performed , the intervention cannot be fulfilled.In order to make it more accurate this puncture is often realized under ultrasound control. Thus the quality of the ultrasound feedback is very critical and when clear enough it greatly helps limiting bleeding.Thanks to its low cost, its non invasive nature and its excellent temporal resolution, ultrasound imaging is considered very appropriate for this purpose. However, this solution is not perfect it is characterized by a low spatial resolution and the results present artifacts due to a poor image resolution (compared to images provided by some other medical devices) and speckle noise.Finally this technic is greatly operator dependent.Aims of the work presented here are, first to design a filtering method for ultrasound data and then to develop a segmentation and tracking algorithm on kidney ultrasound sequences in order to improve the executing conditions of surgical interventions such as percutaneous nephrolithotomies.The results about data filtering was submitted and published in SPIE 2010. The method uses the way ultrasound images are formed to filter them: the radiofrequency signal is directly filtered, before the bi-dimensional reconstruction. In order to do so, a wavelet based method, thresholding directly wavelet coefficients at different scales has been developed. The method is based on a “split and merge” like algorithm.The proposed algorithm was validated on simulated signals and its results compared to the ones obtained with different state of the art algorithms. Experiments show that this new proposed approach is better.The segmentation and tracking method (of which a prospective study was published in SPIE 2009) uses a first contour given by a human expert and then determines, using only local informations, the position of the next contour on the following image of the sequence. The tracking technique was validated on real data with no previous filtering and successfully compared with state of the art methods.

Introdução: Avaliar a relação do custo e da efetividade da radiofrequência (RF) em relação ao bloqueio seqüencial na Síndrome Dolorosa Complexa Regional-tipo I (SDCR-I). Métodos: 15 pacientes com dor somática e autonômica cervical foram submetidos a bloqueio torácico simpático, combinado com bloqueio facetário cervical bilateral por 4 semanas. Esta seqüência foi repetida quando a dor atingiu VAS 4 cm, e este período foi definido como tempo de analgesia. Posteriormente, os mesmos pacientes foram submetidos a um bloqueio teste seguido de modulação de RF do gânglio simpático torácico e ablação de ramos facetários medianos cervicais. Os pacientes atuaram como seu próprio controle relacionado à analgesia, atividades rotineiras e padrão de sono. Resultados: 13 pacientes completaram o estudo. O tempo de analgesia após a sequência de 4 bloqueios foi de 4 ± 1 mês e o custo anual R$ 15.000,00. O tempo de analgesia após RF foi de 13 ± 2 meses (p <0,001) e os custos foram reduzidos em 26% no primeiro ano e 34% -38% nos anos seguintes, com extrapolação. A qualidade de vida melhorou para ambos os tratamentos (p> 0,05). Não houve efeitos adversos. Discussão: A RF resultou em analgesia de 13 meses comparada a 4 meses após os bloqueios clássicos e melhora na capacidade física e no padrão de sono. Além disso, a RF foi rentável e reduziu as taxas em 23% durante a avaliação do primeiro ano, seguida de uma redução de custos de 32% a 36% nos anos seguintes, com extrapolação. / Objectives: To evaluate cost-effectiveness of radiofrequency (RF) compared to sequential block in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome-I (CRPS). Methods: 15 patients with cervical somathic and autonomic pain were submitted to a 4- weekly sympathetic thoracic block, combined to bilateral cervical facetary block. This sequence was repeated when pain reached VAS 4-cm, and this period was defined as time of analgesia. Thereafter, same patients were submitted to a test block followed by RF modulation of thoracic sympathetic ganglion and ablation of facetary cervical median branches. Patients acted as their own control related to analgesia, routine activities, sleep pattern and costs. Results: 13 patients completed the study. The analgesia time after the 4-block sequence was 4±1 months and the annual costs USA$5000. Analgesia time after RF was 13±2 months (p<0.001) and costs were reduced by 26% in the first year and 34%-38% in the following years extrapolation. Quality of life improved for both treatments (p> 0.05). There were no adverse effects. Discussion: RF resulted in 13-month compared to 4-month analgesia after the classical 4- weekly blocks, and improved physical capacity and sleep pattern. Besides that, RF was costeffective, and reduced rates by 23% during the first-year evaluation, followed by 32%-36% cost reduction in following years, by extrapolation.