Author: claimsbot

1. An apparatus for determining particle characteristics comprising:
a) illuminating means for illuminating one or more particles,
b) detecting means for detecting light scattered from one or more detected particles, wherein scattered light is received by said detecting means from each detected particle,
c) a reflector for directing light from the illuminating means, by means of or through a beam splitting means, to the detecting means,
wherein light from the reflector is combined with light scattered from one or more detected particles to produce an optical interference signal, and wherein said reflector is positioned generally between said beam splitting means and said particles, and wherein said reflector does not contact said particles, and
d) means for containing said particles.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the reflector is a partial reflector which partially reflects light from said illuminating means.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said partial reflector partially reflects light in a converging portion of light from said illuminating means and said partial reflector has generally a spherical shape with a center of curvature which is generally at a focal point projected from light rays, of said converging portion, which are incident upon said reflector.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said reflector is a partial reflector, which is generally flat and positioned generally at the focus of a converging portion of light from said illuminating means.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein light from said illuminating means passes through a long volume of fluid to determine characteristics of one or more particles in said fluid, and wherein a flow direction of said fluid is generally parallel to a direction of light from said illuminating means.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:
a) means for detecting a light source signal which is generally proportional to an optical flux of said illuminating means, wherein the effects of intensity fluctuations of the illuminating means are removed from said optical interference signal by calculating a difference between signals derived from amplitude variations of said light source signal and of said optical interference signal, and
b) means for calculating a difference between said signals.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, including means for correcting a power spectrum of a signal from said detecting means, to remove a portion, of said power spectrum, which is not caused by light scattered from particles of interest, comprising:
a) means for measuring a first scatter detector signal, as a function of time, with particles in a volume of dispersant which volume is viewed by said detecting means,
b) means for calculating a first power spectrum of said first scatter detector signal,
c) means for measuring a second scatter detector signal, as a function of time, with generally no particles in a volume of dispersant which volume is viewed by said detecting means,
d) means for calculating a second power spectrum of said second scatter detector signal,
e) means for measuring a third signal, as a function of time, from a detector which monitors intensity of said illuminating means, the third signal being derived while said first scatter detector signal is measured,
f) means for calculating a third power spectrum from said third signal,
g) means for measuring a fourth signal, as a function of time, from a detector which monitors intensity of said illuminating means, the fourth signal being derived while said second scatter detector signal is measured,
h) means for calculating a fourth power spectrum from said fourth signal,
i) means for correcting said first power spectrum using at least one item selected from the group consisting of said first power spectrum, said second power spectrum, said third power spectrum, said fourth power spectrum, mean value of said first scatter detector signal, mean value of said second scatter detector signal, mean value of said third detector signal, mean value of said fourth detector signal, and total power in at least one frequency band for at least one of the group consisting of said first scatter detector signal, said second scatter detector signal, said third detector signal, and said fourth detector signal, to calculate a power spectrum of a particle scatter signal by correcting said first power spectrum to produce a corrected power spectrum which generally represents only a signal due to light scattered from particles of interest, wherein said correcting means does not consist of means for only subtracting said second power spectrum from said first power spectrum, and
j) means for calculating particle characteristics from said corrected power spectrum.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, including means for correcting a power spectrum of a signal from said detecting means, to improve a dynamic range of analog to digital conversion of an optical interference signal derived from light which is scattered from particles, comprising:
a) means for using said detector means to measure an optical interference signal, from at least one particle, as a function of time,
b) means for electronically filtering said optical interference signal to provide a filtered optical interference signal with a more uniform power spectrum,
c) means for converting said filtered signal from analog to digital form, to produce a digital sequence of signal values,
d) means for calculating a power spectrum of said digital sequence,
e) means for dividing said power spectrum by a power transmission of said electronic filtering, at each frequency, to produce a spectral corrected power spectrum,
f) means for using said spectral corrected power spectrum to calculate characteristics of particles.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said reflector is generally flat and positioned in a generally collimated portion of light from said illuminating means.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said reflector is generally flat and positioned in a plane which is generally optically conjugate to a light source in said illuminating means.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein light from said illuminating means converges through at least one concave or convex surface, to form a focus which is generally coincident with a center of curvature of said surface, and wherein said scattered light passes through said surface.
12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein light, which is incident on said particles, and a scattering angle, are oriented such that an effect of Doppler shift, due to particle settling, is reduced.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein an optical flux of light propagating towards said illumination means is reduced by a quarter wave plate.
14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said beam splitting means consists of a fiber optic coupler.
15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said reflector is generally at a surface of an end of an optical fiber or in a plane which is generally optically conjugate to the end of an optical fiber.
16. An apparatus for determining particle characteristics comprising:
a) illuminating means for illuminating one or more particles,
b) detecting means for detecting light scattered from one or more detected particles, wherein scattered light is received by said detecting means from each detected particle,
c) a reflector for directing light from the illuminating means, by means of or through a beam splitting means, to the detecting means, wherein light from the reflector is combined with light scattered from one or more detected particles to produce an optical interference signal,
d) means for containing said particles, and
e) aperture means comprising means for controlling a size of a detector in said detecting means or an aperture which is positioned between a detector, in said detecting means, and said beam splitting means, wherein said aperture means controls properties of light received by a detector in said detecting means, and wherein said properties are selected from the group consisting of coherence properties and multiple scattering properties, and wherein said coherence property control increases a visibility of an optical interference signal, and wherein said multiple scattering property control reduces an amount of multiple scattered light received by said detector,
wherein the apparatus further comprises
a plurality of detecting means,
a plurality of beamsplitting means,
a plurality of reflectors, and
a plurality of aperture means,
wherein each detecting means measures scattered light, scattered from said particles, over a different range of scattering angles,
wherein scattered light passes through a window with generally spherical surfaces, said surfaces each having a center of curvature generally coincident with a focal point of light from said illuminating means.
17. An apparatus for determining particle characteristics comprising:
a) illuminating means for illuminating one or more particles,
b) detecting means for detecting light scattered from one or more detected particles, wherein scattered light is received by said detecting means from each detected particle,
c) a reflector for directing light from the illuminating means, by means of, or through, a beam splitting means, to the detecting means, wherein light from the reflector is combined with light scattered from one or more detected particles to produce an optical interference signal, and wherein said beam splitting means comprises a fiber optic coupler or beam splitter, and wherein light from said illuminating means is focused through a transparent portion of a wall of a removable andor replaceable container which holds the particles, and wherein a focal point of said light from said illuminating means is generally at said reflector which is a partially reflecting surface of said transparent portion of a wall, and wherein said surface contacts the dispersion of said particles, and
d) means for containing said particles consisting of a removable andor replaceable container.

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. An engine cooling fan shroud structure for a vehicle, comprising:
a skirt defining a frame, the frame having a certain wall thickness and defining an opening therein constructed and arranged to permit air to pass through the skirt, the skirt including motor mount structure supported in the opening and constructed and arranged for mounting a fan motor thereto, the frame defining passageways there-through reducing an amount of material of the skirt, and
a film material, having a wall thickness substantially less than the certain wall thickness, covering the passageways such that air may flow mainly through the opening.
2. The shroud structure of claim 1, wherein the frame is of generally box-like, rectangular shape.
3. The shroud structure of claim 1, wherein the skirt further includes an annular rim defining the opening, the motor mount structure being coupled to the annular rim by a plurality of arms.
4. The shroud structure of claim 3, wherein the passageways generally surround the annular rim.
5. The shroud structure of claim 4, wherein the passageways extend from sides of the skirt to the annular rim.
6. The shroud structure of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of bypass openings in the film material constructed and arranged to permit a certain amount of air to bypass the opening in the skirt.
7. The shroud structure of claim 1, wherein at least two layers of film material are provided, each layer having a plurality of bypass openings therein constructed and arranged to permit a certain amount of air to bypass the opening in the skirt, the bypass openings in one layer being disposed at a position different from a position of the bypass openings in the other layer, such that under low vehicle speed conditions, fan suction draws each layer together creating an airtight seal and under high speeds, ram air creates high pressure inside the shroud structure and forces the layers apart, allowing air to pass through the bypass openings.
8. The shroud structure of claim 1, wherein the skirt comprises injection molded thermoplastic.
9. The shroud structure of claim 1, wherein the film material comprises a plastic material.
10. The shroud structure of claim 1, wherein the film material comprises a paper material.
11. An engine cooling fan shroud structure for a vehicle, comprising:
a skirt defining a frame, the frame having a certain wall thickness and defining an opening therein constructed and arranged to permit air to pass through the skirt, the skirt including motor mount structure supported in the opening and constructed and arranged for mounting a fan motor thereto, the frame defining passageways there-through reducing an amount of material of the skirt, and
means for covering the passageways such that air may flow mainly through the opening,
wherein the skirt comprises injection molded thermoplastic and wherein means for covering is a film material comprised of a plastic material.
12. The shroud structure of claim 11, wherein the film material has a wall thickness substantially less than the certain wall thickness.
13. The shroud structure of claim 11, wherein at least two layers of film material is provided, each layer having a plurality of bypass openings therein constructed and arranged to permit a certain amount of air to bypass the opening in the skirt, the bypass openings in one layer being disposed at a position different from a position of the bypass openings in the other layer, such that under low vehicle speed conditions, fan suction draws each layer together creating an airtight seal and under high speeds, ram air creates high pressure inside the shroud structure and forces the layers apart, allowing air to pass through the bypass openings.
14. The shroud structure of claim 11, wherein the skirt further includes an annular rim defining the opening, the motor mount structure being coupled to the annular rim by a plurality of arms.
15. The shroud structure of claim 14, wherein the passageways generally surround the annular rim.
16. The shroud structure of claim 15, wherein the passageways extend from sides of the skirt to the annular rim.
17. The shroud structure of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of at least one bypass opening in the means for covering that is constructed and arranged to permit a certain amount of air to bypass the opening in the skirt.

1. Apparatus for carrying out patient fluid management comprising:
an implantable filter device comprising one or more elongated hollow tubes and a plurality of elongated microporous fibers having an interior lumen extending along the length thereof, each fiber having a first and second end secured to said one or more elongated hollow tubes, wherein the interior lumen of each of the fibers communicates with the interior of said one or more hollow tubes, and wherein each of the elongated microporous fibers have an asymmetrical fiber wall morphology between the inner wall surface extending along the interior fiber lumen and the outer wall surface, said fiber wall having a higher mass density zone adjacent to the outer wall surface and a lower mass density zone adjacent to the inner wall surface, said higher mass density zone having a smaller average nominal pore size than the average nominal pore size in the lower mass density zone and wherein said fibers are configured to separate plasma from whole blood in-vivo by passing plasma through said fiber wall from the outer wall surface to the inner wall surface and to said interior lumen thereof;
a multiple lumen catheter secured to the proximal end of the filter device having one or more lumens in fluid communication with the interior of said one or more hollow tubes and a plasma return lumen; and
ultrafiltration apparatus having a sieving coefficient cutoff between about 1\xd7104 and about 6\xd7104 daltons and configured to separate plasma water and selected plasma components having molecular weights below the sieving coefficient cutoff point from the separated plasma, and tubing for directing plasma between said catheter and the ultrafiltration apparatus.
2. Apparatus of claim 1 wherein said multiple lumen catheter comprises a first lumen and a second lumen in fluid communication with the interior of said one or more hollow tubes and a third lumen comprising said plasma return lumen.
3. Apparatus of claim 1 including:
a fluid control assembly comprising first tubing in fluid communication with said first lumen of said catheter and a first fluid pump cooperating therewith for directing plasma from said filter device, second tubing in fluid communication with said second lumen of said catheter and a second pump cooperating therewith for directing backflush fluid into said filter device, and third tubing in fluid communication with said third lumen of said catheter for directing plasma from the ultrafiltration apparatus to a patient; and
control apparatus operatively communicating with said first and second pumps for controlling the operation thereof, respectively.
4. Apparatus of claim 3 including a third pump cooperating with said third tubing and in control connection with said control apparatus.
5. Apparatus of claim 3 including a source of backflush fluid cooperating with said second tubing.
6. Apparatus of claim 3 wherein said control apparatus comprises a microprocessor-controller including software programmed for operating said apparatus.
7. A filter device of claim 1 wherein each of said fibers are generally bowed along its length between said first and second ends to form an arch spaced apart from said one or more elongated hollow tubes and forming a passageway therebetween.
8. A filter device of claim 7 wherein said elongated microporous fibers comprise first and second fibers, said first fibers forming a first arch of spaced fibers extending over a first portion of said device, said second fibers forming a second arch extending over a second portion of said device, opposite the first portion, said first and second arches spaced apart from said one or more elongated hollow tubes to form passageways therebetween.
9. A filter device of claim 1 wherein the first and second ends of said elongated microporous fibers are secured to said one or more hollow tubes, respectively, at substantially regular intervals.
10. A filter device of claim 1 wherein the length of each of said elongated microporous fibers is between about 1 cm and about 4 cm.
11. A filter device of claim 1 wherein the first end of each elongated microporous fiber is offset longitudinally from the second end of each said fiber along the length of said one or more elongated hollow tubes whereby a straight line extending through the first and second end of a fiber forms an acute angle with one of said axes.
12. A filter device of claim 1 wherein the space between adjacent fibers is between about 0.1 cm and about 1.0 cm.
13. A filter device of claim 1 wherein the length of said one or more hollow tubes is between about 10 cm and about 25 cm.
14. Apparatus of claim 1 wherein the fiber wall structure comprises a continuous change in mass density from said outer wall surface to said inner wall surface and comprises a continuum of voids bounded by solid frames, said fiber wall having an asymmetrical pore size and asymmetrical mass density between said inner wall surface and the outer wall surface.
15. Apparatus of claim 3 including a container cooperating with said ultrafiltration apparatus for receiving effluent therefrom.
16. Apparatus of claim 15 including fourth tubing in fluid communication with said container and said ultrafiltration apparatus.
17. Apparatus of claim 16 including an effluent pump cooperating with said fourth tubing for pumping effluent from said ultrafiltration apparatus to said container.
18. Apparatus of claim 3 including a source of fresh plasma in fluid communication with said ultrafiltration apparatus andor said third tubing.
19. Apparatus of claim 3 wherein said ultrafiltration apparatus has a sieving coefficient cutoff below the molecular weight of albumin.
20. Apparatus of claim 3 wherein said filter device has a sieving coefficient cutoff above the ultrafiltration sieving coefficient cutoff and below about 5\xd7106 daltons.
21. Apparatus of claim 3 wherein said filter device has a sieving coefficient cutoff between about 6\xd7104 daltons and about 2\xd7105 daltons.
22. Apparatus of claim 21 wherein the fiber wall structure comprises a continuous change in mass density from said outer wall surface to said inner wall surface and comprises a continuum of voids bounded by solid frames, said fiber wall having an asymmetrical pore size and asymmetrical mass density between said inner wall surface and the outer wall surface.
23. Apparatus of claim 14 wherein said filter device has a sieving coefficient cutoff above the ultrafiltration sieving coefficient cutoff and below about 5\xd7106 daltons.
24. Apparatus of claim 20 wherein said ultrafiltration apparatus has a sieving coefficient cutoff below the molecular weight of albumin.
25. Apparatus of claim 22 wherein said ultrafiltration apparatus has a sieving coefficient cutoff below the molecular weight of albumin.
26. A filter device of claim 1 comprising one or more first elongated hollow tubes and one or more second elongated hollow tubes extending substantially parallel along the length thereof, and wherein a first end of each of said elongated microporous fibers is secured to a first hollow tube and a second end of each of said fibers is secured to a second hollow tube whereby the interior fiber lumen of each fiber communicates with the interior of a first and a second hollow tube.
27. A method of patient fluid management andor treating patient fluid overload comprising:
separating plasma from whole blood in-vivo using a filter device comprising one or more elongated hollow tubes and a plurality of elongated microporous fibers having an interior lumen extending along the length thereof, each fiber having a first and second end secured to one or more of said elongated hollow tubes, wherein the interior lumen of each of the fibers communicates with the interior of one or more of the hollow tubes, and wherein the fiber wall morphology of each of the elongated microporous fibers is asymmetrical between the inner wall surface extending along the interior fiber lumen and the outer wall surface, said fiber wall having a higher mass density zone adjacent to the outer wall surface and a lower mass density zone adjacent to the inner wall surface, said higher mass density zone having a smaller average nominal pore size than the average nominal pore size in the lower mass density zone, and passing plasma through said fiber wall from the outer wall surface to the inner wall surface and to said interior lumen thereof,
directing the separated plasma to an ultrafiltration apparatus having a sieving coefficient cutoff between about 1\xd7104 and about 6\xd7104 daltons and separating plasma water and selected plasma components having molecular weights at or below the sieving coefficient cutoff from said separated plasma; and
returning the treated plasma to the patient.
28. A method of claim 27 comprising separating plasma water and plasma components having a molecular weight below the molecular weight of albumin from said separated plasma.
29. A method of claim 27 wherein said filter apparatus comprises a triple lumen catheter having said filter device on the proximal end thereof, and wherein separated plasma is directed from said filter device to said ultrafiltration apparatus through a first lumen of said triple lumen catheter and returned to the patient through a second lumen thereof.
30. A method of claim 29 including periodically backflushing said filter device via a third lumen of said triple lumen catheter.
31. A method of claim 27 including directing fresh plasma to the patient.
32. A method of patient fluid management andor treating patient fluid overload comprising:
securing a plasma filter apparatus comprising a filter device in a blood vessel of a patient, said filter device comprising one or more elongated hollow tubes and a plurality of elongated microporous fibers having an interior lumen extending along the length thereof, each fiber having a first and second end secured to one or more of said elongated hollow tubes, wherein the interior lumen of each of the fibers communicates with the interior of one or more of the hollow tubes, and wherein the fiber wall morphology of each of the elongated microporous fibers is asymmetrical between the inner wall surface extending along the interior fiber lumen and the outer wall surface, said fiber wall having a higher mass density zone adjacent to the outer wall surface and a lower mass density zone adjacent to the inner wall surface, said higher mass density zone having a smaller average nominal pore size than the average nominal pore size in the lower mass density zone;
separating plasma from whole blood in-vivo by passing plasma through said fiber wall from the outer wall surface to the inner wall surface;
directing the separated plasma to an ultrafiltration apparatus having a sieving coefficient cutoff between about 1\xd7104 and about 6\xd7104 daltons and separating plasma water and selected plasma components having molecular weights at or below the sieving coefficient cutoff from said separated plasma; and
returning the treated plasma to the patient.
33. A method of claim 32 wherein said filter apparatus comprises a triple lumen catheter having said filter device on the proximal end thereof, and wherein separated plasma is directed from said filter device to said ultrafiltration apparatus through a first lumen of said triple lumen catheter and returned to the patient through a second lumen thereof.
34. A method of claim 33 including periodically backflushing said filter device via a third lumen of said triple lumen catheter.
35. Apparatus of claim 1 having a lower mass density zone characterized by a nominal average pore diameter of between about 1 \u03bcm and about 60 \u03bcm.
36. Apparatus of claim 1 having a higher mass density zone characterized by a nominal average pore diameter of between about 0.3 \u03bcm and about 1 \u03bcm.
37. Apparatus of claim 35 having a higher mass density zone characterized by a nominal average pore diameter of between about 0.3 \u03bcm and about 1 \u03bcm.
38. Apparatus of claim 37 wherein the nominal average pore diameter in said lower mass density zone is between about 2 \u03bcm and about 6 \u03bcm.
39. Apparatus of claim 38 wherein the nominal average pore diameter in said higher mass density zone is between about 0.4 \u03bcm and about 0.8 \u03bcm.
40. Apparatus of claim 37 having one or more intermediate mass density zones having a nominal average pore diameter of between about 0.8 \u03bcm and about 2 \u03bcm.
41. Apparatus of claim 38 having two intermediate mass density zones, a first intermediate zone having a nominal average pore diameter of between about 0.8 \u03bcm and about 1.2 \u03bcm and a second intermediate zone having a nominal average pore diameter of between about 1.2 \u03bcm and about 2 \u03bcm.
42. Apparatus of claim 1 wherein said fibers comprise a polysulfone fiber.
43. Apparatus of claim 14 wherein said fibers comprise a polysulfone fiber.
44. Apparatus of claim 22 wherein said fibers comprise a polysulfone fiber.

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. An organic semiconductor element having multi production layers, including: an organic thin film transistor; a first protection layer formed on said organic thin film transistor; and a second protection layer formed on said first protection layer through a patterning process, said second protection layer is of sufficient thickness to serve as a photo spacer.
2. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 1, wherein the thickness of said second protection layer is over 4 \u03bcm.
3. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 1, further comprising a substrate, said substrate is kept a distance apart from said organic thin film transistor and said first protection layer by said second protection layer.
4. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 1, wherein said second protection layer is provided with a contact hole, which is used to penetrate said second protection layer and said first protection layer thus to expose said organic thin film transistor.
5. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 4, further comprising an electrode, formed on top of said second protection layer, and is electrically connected to said thin film transistor via said contact hole.
6. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 1, wherein said organic thin film transistor is selected from the group consisted of the bottom contact organic thin film transistor, the top contact organic thin film transistor, the bottom gate organic thin film transistor, and the top gate organic thin film transistor.
7. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 1, wherein the formation method of said first protection layer and said second protection layer is selected from the group consisted of solution treatment method and the vapor deposition method.
8. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 7, wherein said first protection layer and said second protection layer are formed by the same process using different solutions.
9. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 7, wherein the solution treatment process is selected from the group consisting of spin coating, screen printing, inject printing, and spinless coating.
10. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 7, wherein the vapor deposition method is selected from the group consisting of the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, the organic chemical vapor deposition (OCVD) method, and the co-evaporation method.
11. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 1, wherein said second protection layer is made of a developable material.
12. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 11, wherein the patterning process is realized through the photolithography process.
13. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 11, wherein the developable material is the SU-8 2002 photoresist.
14. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 1, wherein the patterning process is realized through the laser processing.
15. The organic semiconductor element having multi production layers of claim 1, wherein said protection layer is made of the Dichromated Poly Vinyl Alcohol (DCPVA).
16-30. (canceled)