Nara Institute of Science and Technology

Japan Science and Technology Agency

Nidek Co., Ltd.

Funai Electric Company Ltd.

The University of Tokyo

National University Corporation Nara Institute of Science and Technology

Jun Ohta

Keiichiro Kagawa

Takashi Tokuda

Yuki Maeda

Kohtaro Idegami

Shigeru Nishimura

Toshihiko Noda

Kiyotaka Sasagawa

Yasuo Masaki

Hiroyuki Noji

Kenzo Shodo

Hideki Tanabe

Hiroyuki Tashiro

Yasunari Miyake

Ryota Iino

Yasuo Terasawa

Toru Yagi

Soo Hyeon Kim

Akihiro Uehara

Keiichrio Kagawa

Norikatsu Yoshida

There are provided a detector and a detection method capable of detecting a biological sample with high sensitivity. A detector is provided with a microchamber array including a plurality of storage sections to be filled with a hydrophilic solvent containing a biological sample; and an image sensor in which picture elements are disposed corresponding to the storage sections, wherein the microchamber array includes a flow channel in communication with openings of the storage sections; a hydrophobic solvent supply unit arranged in continuity with the flow channel; and a through-hole which allows the hydrophilic solvent to enter and exit the flow channel, and the hydrophobic solvent supply unit flows a hydrophobic solvent into the flow channel by an externally-applied force.

Detector and detection method

Providing an electrode structure capable of realizing an electrode array which allows each of the electrodes to be individually controlled while allowing them to be densely arranged and placed in a living body. According to the present invention, an electrode control circuit electrically connected to an electrode body is fixed to a rear portion of the electrode body within a front-viewed contour of the electrode body. This electrode control circuit may be contained in a recess formed in the rear portion of the electrode body, or it may be fixed to the back face of the electrode body. Conversely, an electrically conductive material layer covering the electrode control circuit may be used as the electrode body. A plurality of such bioelectrodes may be arranged in a two-dimensional form on a substrate or connected by a connection line including an electrical wire. Such configurations allow the bioelectrodes to be densely arranged.

High-functionality bioelectrode

An intracerebral information measuring device which can be mounted on the head of a subject by simple surgery and which attains measurement of low invasion, high sensitivity, and high resolution is provided. An internally mounted unit is composed of a probe section to be inserted in the brain through a hole having a small diameter bored in the skull of the subject, and a head section integrated with the probe section and to be disposed between the skull and the scalp. The probe section includes an electrode for sensing an action potential. The head section includes a transmitter for wirelessly transmitting signals captured with the electrode to the outside. On the outside of the head, an external measuring unit for receiving the signal transmitted from the head section and reproducing the original signal is provided.

Intracerebral information measuring device

The uppermost metallic wiring layer in light-blocking layers constituted by multilevel metallic wiring that prevents light from impinging on areas other than the light-receiving area of a photodiode in each picture cell is used as a measurement electrode to be directly contacted with a specimen to measure electrical signals. Furthermore, in each picture cell including a circuit for reading out electrical signals collected through the measurement electrode, another circuit for reading out electrical signals generated by the photodiode is provided in an independent or shared form. This configuration enables the photodiode for optical measurements and the measurement electrode for electrical measurements to be provided in every picture cell. Thus, in a hybrid image sensor having an optical measurement function for obtaining optical information due to specimen and an electrical measurement functions for obtaining electrical information due to the specimen, the spatial resolution of both types of two-dimensional images can be simultaneously improved.

Image sensor with optical and electrical measurement functions

After resetting the potential VPD of the photodiode () to the predetermined potential VRST, light is incident onto the photodiode () for a predetermined period to decrease the VPD corresponding to the amount of the incident light. After that, a declivous ramp voltage VRAMP is applied to the source terminal of the first MOS transistor () which is a common-source amplifier for reading out the VPD. When the voltage difference between the gate and source of the MOS transistor () exceeds a threshold voltage, the MOS transistor is turned on and the output suddenly decreases. If a signal having a pulse width from the starting point of the sweep of the ramp voltage to the sudden lowering point of the output is generated, the pulse width depends on the amount of the incident light. With the signal readout of this PWM method, it is possible to lower the power consumption while a wide dynamic range is maintained, and to downsize the picture cells to achieve a higher number of picture cells.

Solid-state image sensor having a voltage applier and signal readout method thereof

Each pixel cell () of an image sensor () is made of a 4-Tr structure, in which only one Tr for resetting a column (X) is so added to an ordinary 3-Tr APS as to reset only an arbitrary pixel selectively, thereby to confine the pixel size. When a pixel signal is to be read, the period, for which the pixel signals composing an ordinary image of one frame are read, is finely divided so that the pixel signals of the pixels receiving an ID light for the period are read out bit by bit and repeatedly. At this time, for only the column being read, an electric current is fed to a read amplifier in the pixel cell () or a variable gain amplifier in an output unit (), thereby to suppress the power consumption. As a result, a lower power consumption and a higher pixel formation can be attained in an image pickup device for picking up an image and for acquiring the ID information of a light beacon existing in the image pickup range.

Imaging device and method for reading signals from such device

In a system for data communication between an information terminal to be operated by a user and remote communication nodes, the present invention intends to suppress the power consumption of the information terminal. For that purpose, communication nodesandeach emit diffuse light carrying a pilot signal blinking at a low frequency to notify the presence of the communication node and an ID signal belonging to a higher frequency range, the ID signal containing inherent address etc. for identifying each communication node. A mobile phoneas the information terminal captures an image and processes the image data to detect the pilot signal of each communication node. Then, determining the position of each node and setting a limited range for reading the pixels around that position, the mobile phonereads the detection signals of the pixels within the limited range at high speed and obtains identification information. This information is used to identify each node and eliminate influences of any other light source that apparently resembles the pilot signal.

Information-processing system using free-space optical communication and free-space optical communication system

For an information terminal to be operated by users for collecting predetermined pieces of information from remote information devices by free-space optical communication, the present invention provides a technique for suppressing the power consumption of the information terminal by minimizing the amount of calculation performed to collect the aforementioned information. According to the present invention, each information device emits ID light on which a low-frequency pilot signal is superimposed. The information terminal captures a series of frames of images including the ID light and locates the ID light within the images by the following steps: (1) creating multiple levels of binned images having different resolutions for each frame of the image; (2) calculating an evaluation index for each pixel within a target range of the binned images at each level, from the lowest to the highest resolution, where the target range is narrowed every time the process switches over to a lower level. In (2), the evaluation index is calculated by an evaluation function including fast Fourier transformation performed throughout the series of frames of images. The evaluation index thus calculated is compared with a threshold to determine whether the pixel concerned is receiving ID light. The present technique significantly reduces the number of pixel to be analyzed and evaluated, thereby decreasing the total number of arithmetic operations to be performed using the evaluation function. Thus, the power consumption is suppressed.

Information-processing device and information-processing system

A visual restoration aiding device for restoring vision of a patient comprises: a plurality of substrates which are placed on or under a retina of a patient's eye; a plurality of electrodes which are mounted on each substrate to apply an electrical stimulation pulse signal to cells constituting the retina; and a connecting unit which has flexibility and connects the substrates.

Visual restoration aiding device

It is an object of the invention to provide a vision regeneration assisting apparatus capable of assisting in vision regeneration without making a system structure complicated. In the invention, a vision regeneration assisting apparatus for regenerating a vision of a patient going blind by a disease of a retina includes a photosensor embedded in the retina of an eye of the patient and converting an optical signal into an electric signal, photographing means for photographing an object to be recognized by the patient, image processing means for carrying out an image processing to extract a feature with respect to an image of the object obtained by the photographing means, pulse light forming means for forming a luminous flux into a pulse light to induce a vision, and irradiating means provided before the eye of the patient and applying the pulse light toward the photosensor so as to be formed as an image processed by the image processing means.

Vision regeneration assisting apparatus

An object of the invention is to provide an intraocular implant-type vision stimulating unit which is capable of outputting a bipolar pulse signal in a simple constitution, and is highly sensitive, compact, and low power consumptive. In the invention, an intraocular implant-type vision stimulating unit for artificially generating the vision or a portion of the vision includes: a photoelectric conversion circuit for converting incoming light into an electrical signal; a pulse conversion circuit for converting the electrical signal outputted from the photoelectric conversion circuit into an electric pulse signal of a frequency corresponding to a magnitude thereof, and for outputting the same; a waveform shaping circuit for converting the pulse signal outputted from the pulse conversion circuit into a bipolar pulse signal, and for outputting the same; a power supply circuit for supplying electric power to each of the circuits, wherein the bipolar pulse signal is imparted to a retinal region through an electrode.

Growing community of inventors

Nara, Japan

Jun Ohta