Design and analysis of an adaptive transcutaneous power telemetry for biomedical implants

Inductively coupled coil pair is the most common way of wirelessly transferring power to medical implants. However, the coil displacements and/or loading changes may induce large fluctuations in transmitted power into the implant if no adaptive control is used. In such cases, it is required to transmit excessive power to accommodate all the working conditions, which substantially reduces the power efficiency and imposes potential safety concerns. We have implemented a power transfer system with adaptive control technique to eliminate the power variations due to the loading or coupling coefficient changes. A maximum of 250mW power is transmitted through an optimized coil pair driven by Class-E power amplifier. Load shift keying is implemented to wirelessly transfer data back from the secondary to primary side over the same coil pair, with data rate of 3.3 kbps and packet error rate less than 10/sup -5/. A pseudo pulsewidth modulation has been designed to facilitate back data transmission along with forward power transmission. Through this back telemetry the system transmits the information on received power, back from implant to primary side. According to the data received, the system adjusts the supply voltage of the Class-E power amplifier through a digitally controlled dc-dc converter, thus varying the power sent to the implant. The key system parameters are optimized to ensure the stability of the closed-loop system. Measurements show that the system can transmit the 'just-needed' power for a wide range of coil separation and/or loading conditions, with power efficiency doubled when compared to the uncompensated link.     

Heat transfer reduction at the separation point on a spinning sphere in mixed convection

The unsteady laminar thermal boundary‐layer flow over an impulsively started translating and spinning isothermal body of revolution in the case of mixed convection is investigated. Velocity components and temperature are obtained as series of functions in powers of time. The general results are applied to a spinning sphere and the development of the surface heat flux evaluated at the separation point as it advances upstream is determined. The surface heat flux evaluated at the separation point as it moves forward decreases due to the increasing magnitude and influence of the centrifugal force and it is augmented by the opposing flow and reduced by the aiding flow. Reduction of the surface heat flux at the separation point is as low as 50 per cent as compared to the heat flux at the front stagnation point. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preparation of polyurethane/hectorite,polyurethane/montmorillonite,and polyurethane/laponite nanocomposites without organic modifiers

Polyurethane (PU) nanocomposites were prepared from hectorite (HEC) and laponite without adding any organic modifier. PU‐montmorillonite nanocomposites were prepared for comparison. The structure of the composites were investigated by transmission electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Thermal gravimetric analysis and dynamic mechanic analysis were used for determination of the thermal and viscoelastic behaviors, respectively. Tensile tests were conducted for characterization of the mechanical properties. The results showed a 113.5% increase in the tensile strength of PU containing 7 wt % HEC compared to that of neat PU. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

The initial boundary-layer flow past a translating and spinning rotational symmetric body

The boundary-layer flow on an impulsively started translating and spinning rotational symmetric body is considered. The stream function and the swirl component of the velocity are expanded in series in powers of time. Leading and first order solutions are obtained analytically and the second order solutions are determined numerically. The results are applied to a translating and spinning sphere and the rotation is found to reduce the friction drag and facilitate flow separation.     

Effects of polyethyleneimine adsorption on rheology of bentonite suspensions

The influence of the cationic polymer, polyethyleneimine polymer (PEI) on the flow behaviour of bentonite suspensions (2%, w/w), was studied. XRD, zeta potential and adsorption studies were done together with rheological measurements. The addition of PEI at concentration ranges of 10^-5-4.5 g/l and their rheological properties and stability of bentonite suspensions were studied. The adsorption rates for the bentonite suspensions are very fast. The XRD results showed that the PEG molecules did not intercalate into the layers of the clay.     

Revisiting reweighted robust standard deviation estimators for univariate Shewhart S‐charts

Phase I outliers, unless screened during process parameter estimation, are known to deteriorate Phase II performance of process control charts. Reweighting estimators, ie, trimming outlier subgroups and individual observations, were suggested in the literature to improve both the robustness and efficiency of the resulting parameter estimates. In the current study, effects of various reweighted estimators at different trimming levels on the Phase II performance of S‐charts are elucidated using computer simulations including isolated and mixtures of contamination models. Outlier magnitudes in the simulations are held at a moderately low level to mimic industrial practice. Subtleties, such as varying Type I error rate among different trimming levels with respect to quantiles of dispersion estimates, prevent a single method to be revealed as the best performing one under all circumstances, and choice of estimators and trimming levels should depend on the number of subgroups in Phase I and the specifics of the process. Nevertheless, S‐chart using scale M‐estimator with logistic ρ and location M‐estimator at 2% trimming generally stands out in terms of Phase II performance, and high trimming levels are particularly recommended for high number of Phase I subgroups.     

A symmetric lattice-based wideband wide phase range digital phase shifter topology

In this paper, a novel digital phase shifter topology that achieves wideband and wide phase range is proposed. Wide frequency band operation is accomplished employing symmetrical all-pass lattice structures. Compact phase shifter size is obtained utilizing the miniaturized microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) design implementation technology. Therefore, resulting phase shifter units are suitable for various communication systems such as radar and cellular communication smart antenna arrays. This paper provides complete design equations together with design algorithm for the selected phase shift and the center frequency. Design algorithm is developed on MatLab environment. The proposed phase shifting circuit is implemented employing the commercially available 0.18-μm silicon CMOS technology. The new phase shifter topology provides 0⁰ to 360⁰ phase shift range over X-band, even beyond.     

Condition monitoring of speed controlled induction motors using wavelet packets and discriminant analysis

This work presents an intelligent method for the condition monitoring of induction motors supplied with adjustable speed drives (ASD). Most of the previous work in this area concentrated on the fault detection and classification of induction motors supplied directly from an a.c. line. However, ASD driven induction motors are widely used in industrial processes and therefore obtaining an intelligent tool for the condition monitoring of these motors is necessary in terms of preventive maintenance and reducing down time due to motor faults. Here 3-phase supply side current of the ASD driving an induction motor is used to extract statistical features of wavelet packet decomposition coefficients within a frequency range of interest. This way, the information regarding the output frequency of the ASD and hence the motor speed is not required. Six identical three-phase induction motors were used for the experimental verification of the proposed method. One healthy machine was used as a reference, while other five with various synthetic faults were used for condition detection and classification. Extracted features obtained from decomposition coefficients of different wavelet filter types for all motors were employed in three different and popular classifiers. The proposed method and the performance of the features used for fault detection and classification are examined at various motor loads and speed levels, and it is shown that a successful condition monitoring system for induction motors supplied with ASDs is developed. The effect of selected filter type in wavelet decomposition to the condition monitoring process is analyzed and presented.     

Influences of nonionic poly(ethylene glycol) polymer PEG on electrokinetic and rheological properties of bentonite suspensions

The determination of the electrokinetic properties of colloidal systems is very important for the chracterization of these systems. Colloidal systems have high adsorption performance due to the carrying of negative charges and the colloid structure. The control of the electrokinetic properties of the bentonite–water system are important not only from a technological point view; they are also important from a scientific point of view. Knowing the electrokinetic and rheological properties of bentonite minerals is important for the estimation of the behavior of clays under various environmental conditions. The purpose of this study was to interpret the effect of the nonionic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) polymer on electrokinetic and rheological properties. Zeta potential and viscosity measurements were done as a function of PEG molecular weights (400, 3000, and 8000) and their concentrations (2.5 × 10^?5 to 1.25 × 10^?2 mol/L). We interpreted the experimental data, taking into account these two parameters. X‐ray diffaction studies were done together with the electrokinetic and rheological measurements. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 341–346, 2002     

Effect of Sn Alloying on the Diffusion Bonding Behavior of Al-Mg-Si Alloys

Effect of Sn as an alloying element on the diffusion-bonding behavior of Al-Mg-Si alloy has been studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mechanical testing of the diffusion-bonded joint. XRD results revealed the formation of Mg₂Sn and (Sn) phases during solidification following induction casting. DSC results showed local liquid (Sn) formation during the bonding process for Sn-containing alloys, where its amount was found to be increasing with the increasing Sn content. Results revealed that Sn addition leads to an increase in the bond shear strength of the diffusion-bonded joints and elimination of the irregularities formed on the bonded interface. Fractured surfaces showed that formation of (Sn) layer at the bonded interface causes the fracture to transform from the ductile to the mixed fracture mode.