1. A method for generating a list of one or more joint treatment plans andor surgery plans for a joint of a patient, the method comprising:
obtaining, from motion sensors, 3D kinematic data of the joint in movement;
determining, from the 3D kinematic data, scores characterising a joint function of the patient, the scores being relative to one or more and
comparing the scores to data in a database which characterize a plurality of treatment plans andor surgery plans to generate the list of one or more joint treatment plans andor surgery plans which match the scores.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising simulating the one or more joint treatment plans andor surgery plans using the 3D kinematic data to produce a plurality of modified 3D kinematic data.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising comparing the plurality of modified 3D kinematic data to kinematic data for a healthy joint model to determine which one from the list of one or more treatment plans andor surgery plans will produce optimal results for the patient.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the comparing comprises applying a pattern recognition technique on the modified 3D kinematic data, the pattern recognition technique comprising one of: a parametric or non-parametric technique, a neural network, a nearest neighbour classification technique, a projection technique, a decision tree technique, a stochastic method, a genetic algorithms and an unsupervised learning and clustering technique.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the comparing further comprises classifying the modified 3D kinematic data of the joint of the patient, to which were applied the pattern recognition technique, in one of several classes of known knee joint treatment plan andor surgery plan.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining 3D kinematic data from a 3D kinematic sensor comprises obtaining 3D kinematic data from at least one of: a camera, an accelerometer, an electromagnetic sensor, a gyroscope, an optical sensor.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
obtaining, from a 3D static imagery sensor, 3D static imagery data of the joint in a static position;
merging the 3D kinematic data and the 3D static imagery data of the joint, to produce merged 3D joint data for the joint of the patient; and
using the 3D joint data to produce and display a 3D animation of the joint.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising simulating the one or more joint treatment plans andor surgery plans using the 3D joint data to produce a plurality of modified 3D joint data.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising comparing the plurality of modified 3D joint data to joint data for a healthy joint model to determine which one from the list of one or more joint treatment plans andor surgery plans will produce optimal results for the patient.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising recalibrating the 3D joint data for a healthy joint model to adapt to measurements of the patient and thereby produce recalibrated 3D joint data for use as the 3D joint data for comparison to the plurality of modified 3D joint data.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the joint comprises one of a knee, a shoulder, a wrist, an ankle, an elbow and a hip.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the 3D kinematic data in memory.
13. A method for producing a 3D animation of a joint of patient, the 3D animation used in the determination of a list of one or more joint treatment plans andor surgery plans for the joint of the patient, the method comprising:
obtaining, from motion sensors, 3D kinematic data of the joint in movement;
obtaining, from a 3D static imagery sensor, 3D static imagery data of the joint in a static position;
merging the 3D kinematic data and the 3D static imagery data of the joint, to produce merged 3D joint data for the joint of the patient; and
using the 3D joint data to produce and display a 3D animation of the joint.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising simulating the one or more joint treatment plans andor surgery plans using the 3D joint data to produce a plurality of modified 3D joint data.
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising comparing the plurality of modified 3D joint data to joint data for a healthy joint model to determine which one from the list of one or more joint treatment plans andor surgery plans will produce optimal results for the patient.
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising recalibrating the 3D joint data for a healthy joint model to adapt to measurements of the patient and thereby produce recalibrated 3D joint data for use as the 3D joint data for comparison to the plurality of modified 3D joint data.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the recalibrating comprises performing one of a dot by dot technique and a regionalization technique.
18. The method of claim 13, wherein the obtaining 3D static imagery data from a static imagery sensor comprises obtaining 3D static imagery data from a radiological examination device comprising one of an X-ray machine, a Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine and a CT scanning machine.
19. The method of claim 13, further comprising storing the 3D joint data for a healthy joint model in a database.
20. An apparatus for generating a list of one or more joint treatment plan andor surgery plan for a joint of a patient, the apparatus comprising:
an input for receiving 3D kinematic data of the joint in movement;
a processing device in communication with the input;
a memory for storing instructions which cause the processing device to:
determine, from the 3D kinematic data, scores characterising a joint function of the patient, the one or more scores being relative to one or more criteria; and
compare the scores to data in a database which characterize a plurality of treatment plans andor surgery plans to generate the list of one or more joint treatment plans andor surgery plans which match the scores; and
an output for outputting the list of one or more joint treatment plans andor surgery plans which match the scores.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A semiconductor device comprising:
a semiconductor substrate having an opening defined by sidewalls;
a barrier layer disposed along the sidewalls of the opening, the barrier layer including a metal component and an alloying material, wherein the alloying material is less than approximately 15% of the barrier layer; and
a conductive material formed on the barrier layer and filling the opening, the conductive material to form a via.
2. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the via is a through substrate via.
3. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the metal component of the barrier layer is selected from the group consisting of Ta, TaN, Ti, TiN, and combinations thereof.
4. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the alloying material is fluorine and the content of fluorine is less than approximately 5% of the barrier layer.
5. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the alloying material is carbon and and the content of carbon is less than approximately 5% of the barrier layer.
6. A semiconductor device comprising:
a semiconductor substrate having an opening;
a barrier layer on sidewalls of the opening, the barrier layer comprising a fluorine alloying material; and
a conductive material formed on the barrier layer and filling the opening, the conductive material being part a via.
7. The semiconductor device of claim 6, wherein the content of fluorine of the fluorine alloying material is no more than about 15% of the barrier layer.
8. The semiconductor device of claim 6, further comprising:
a liner formed along sidewalls of the opening, the liner comprising a dielectric material.
9. The semiconductor device of claim 8, wherein the liner comprises an oxide layer or a silicon nitride layer.
10. The semiconductor device of claim 8, further comprising an adhesion layer between the barrier layer and the liner.
11. The semiconductor device of claim 6, further comprising an adhesion layer between the barrier layer and the conductive material layer.
12. The semiconductor device of claim 11, wherein the adhesion layer comprises Ta or TaN.
13. The semiconductor device of claim 6, wherein the barrier layer comprises tantalum nitride, tantalum, titanium, titanium nitride or combinations thereof.
14. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising:
providing a substrate with an opening located therein;
forming a dielectric liner along sidewalls of the opening;
forming a barrier layer over the liner and along the sidewalls and a bottom of the opening using a deposition process and introducing an alloying material into the barrier layer during the deposition process, wherein the alloying material comprises fluorine, with a content of not more than about 15% of the alloying material;
forming a conductive material on the barrier layer, filling the opening; and
removing a portion of the substrate to expose the conductive material.
15. The method of claim 13, further comprising: forming an adhesion layer on the barrier layer prior to the forming the conductive material.
16. The method of claim 13, further comprising: forming a seed layer including at least one of manganese and aluminum on the barrier layer and underlying the conductive material.
17. The method of claim 13, further comprising: forming an adhesion layer along the sidewalls and bottom of the opening prior to the forming the barrier layer.
18. The method of claim 13, wherein the barrier layer comprises tantalum nitride, tantalum, titanium, titanium nitride or combinations thereof.
19. The method of claim 13, wherein the content of fluorine in the barrier layer is less than approximately 5 percent.
20. The method of claim 13, wherein the deposition process is an atomic layer deposition (ALD).