The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 20, 2018
Filed:
Jul. 12, 2011
Randall Connor, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Daniel Bridges, Goleta, CA (US);
Paul Hansma, Goleta, CA (US);
Randall Connor, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Daniel Bridges, Goleta, CA (US);
Paul Hansma, Goleta, CA (US);
The Regents of the University of California, Oakland, CA (US);
Abstract
The device performs reference point indentation without a reference probe. The indentation distance is measured relative to the instrument which remains substantially stationary during the impact process, which occurs on the order of one millisecond. In one embodiment, an impact motion with a peak force of order 28N creates an indentation in bone with a depth of approximately 150 μm during which the instrument case moves less than 1 μm. Thus the error in measuring indentation depth due to the motion of the case is less than 1%, making a reference probe unnecessary. Further, this 'error' is consistent and can be corrected. In one embodiment, the device measures the fracture resistance of hard tissues by actually creating microscopic fractures in the hard tissues in a measured way. It creates these microscopic fractures by impacting the sample with a sharpened probe. The indentation distance in the sample is correlated with fracture resistance.