Author: claimsbot

1. Dialysis machine comprising tubes (1, 5, 8) connected with a dialyzer (6), an apparatus (4) for delivering pharmaceuticals into the tubes (1, 5, 8), and a pump (11) for the transport of blood through the tubes (1, 5, 8) and the dialyzer (6), wherein
the apparatus (4) is configured to administer at least one pharmaceutical by a pressure effect of the pump (11) and comprises
a main line (20) on an outlet side of the pump (11) and configured to be coupled to a first connector (25) at an inlet end thereof and a second connector (26) at an outlet end thereof,
a first section of a bypass line (21, 21a, 21b, 21c) branching off the mainline (20) downstream of the inlet end of the main line (20) and configured for connecting the main line (20) with a container (22) containing a pharmaceutical at an outlet end of the first bypass section (21a, 21b, 21c), and
a second section (23a, 23b, 23c) of the bypass line branching off the main line (20) directly downstream of the first bypass section (21, 21a, 21b, 21c) and upstream of the outlet end of the main line (20), and configured for connecting the container (22) containing a pharmaceutical at an inlet end of the second bypass section (23a, 23b, 23c) with the main line (20).
2. Dialysis machine according to claim 1, comprising a small cross section of an inlet path into one of tubes for the at least one pharmaceutical so that at least five minutes, preferably at least ten minutes are necessary to administer the total volume of the at least one pharmaceutical.
3. Dialysis machine according to claim 1, wherein the at least one pharmaceutical is EPO, an iron preparation andor the active form of vitamin D.
4. Dialysis machine according to claim 1, all containers (22, 50) containing pharmaceuticals for carrying out a dialysis are connected with the dialysis machine at the same time.
5. Dialysis machine according to claim 1, a control device for controlling the activation of the delivery of the at least one pharmaceutical.
6. Dialysis machine according to claim 1, comprising at least one membrane valve (30, 31, 32a, 33a) to control the delivery of a pharmaceutical.
7. Dialysis machine according to claim 6, comprising at least two membrane valves and only one membrane (31) stretching across the housing (30) or housings of the at least two membrane valves.
8. Dialysis machine according to claim 1, comprising a membrane valve to control the delivery of a pharmaceutical, wherein the membrane valve comprises a housing (30), a membrane (31), a movable bolt (32a, 32b, 32c) and an electric, pneumatic, hydraulic or magnetic device for the movement of the bolt (32a, 32b, 32c).
9. Dialysis machine according to claim 1, comprising
a collapsible container (70) free of gas connected with a tube (1) on an inlet side (1a) of the pump (11), wherein the container (70) contains a pharmaceutical, or
a non-flexible and non-collapsible container (50) connected with a tube (1) on the inlet side (1a) of the pump, wherein the container (50) contains a pharmaceutical and a gas.
10. Dialysis machine according to claim 9, wherein the non-flexible and non-collapsible container is a syringe or a vial (50) with a pierceable rubber stopper (52).
11. Dialysis machine according to claim 10, comprising a connection between the piston of the syringe and a container (60) containing a gas.
12. Dialysis machine according to claim 1, wherein cross sections which determine the flow rate of the pharmaceutical during the administration are so designed such that the administration lasts for at least five minutes, preferably for at least ten minutes.
13. Dialysis machine according to claim 1, wherein the cross sections which determine the flow rate of the pharmaceutical during the administration are designed such that the administration lasts for up to thirty minutes, preferably for up to twenty minutes.
14. Dialysis machine according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus for administering the at least one pharmaceutical comprises a manifold (4) comprising the mainline (20) and the bypass line (21, 21a, 21b, 21c, 23a, 23b, 23c) for providing the flow from the main line (20) through the pharmaceutical container (22) connectable with the bypass line (21, 21a, 21b, 21c, 23a, 23b, 23c), wherein the main line (20) is detachably connected with the dialyzer (6) at one end and with a tube (1, 5) at the other end.
15. Method for a dialysis comprising the step of administration of a pharmaceutical by a dialysis machine according to claim 1 by a pressure effect of the pump.
16. Method according to claim 15, wherein the administration of the pharmaceutical lasts at least five minutes, preferably at least ten minutes.
17. Method according to claim 15, wherein the pharmaceutical is an iron preparation.
18. Dialysis machine according to claim 1, wherein no other connections or dialysis elements are directly positioned in the main line (20) between branching off of the first (21, 21a, 21b, 21c) and second (23a, 23b, 23c) sections of the bypass line.

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 method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device, comprising:
forming a region heavily doped with p-type impurities on a semiconductor substrate, the heavily doped region being formed employing BF2+ ions;
subjecting a surface of the semiconductor substrate to a first hydrogen plasma containing at least one inert gas while biasing the first hydrogen plasma with a RF bias power to direct the first hydrogen plasma to the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the surface of the semiconductor substrate including at least a portion of the heavily doped region;
evaporating the p-type impurities from the semiconductor substrate by maintaining the first hydrogen plasma at a temperature greater than about 600\xb0 C.; and
depositing a refractory metal layer on the surface of the semiconductor substrate.
2. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a single reaction chamber is employed to perform the step of subjecting the semiconductor substrate to the hydrogen plasma and the step of depositing the refractory metal layer.
3. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the refractory metal layer is deposited employing a chemical vapor deposition process or a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process.
4. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the refractory metal layer is deposited at a temperature of about 580\xb0 C. to about 700\xb0 C.
5. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising subjecting the refractory metal layer to a nitridation atmosphere to form a refractory metal nitride layer on a surface portion of the refractory metal layer.
6. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the refractory metal nitride layer is formed by application of heat or plasma.
7. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a ratio of the at least one inert gas and hydrogen is about 9:1 to about 3:2.
8. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the surface of the semiconductor device is subjected to the hydrogen plasma containing the at least one inert gas for a period of time of about 5 seconds to about 5 minutes.
9. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
depositing an insulating layer over the semiconductor substrate;
forming a contact hole to expose the heavily doped region;
subjecting the semiconductor substrate to the first hydrogen plasma after forming the heavily doped region;
subjecting a surface of the refractory metal layer to a second hydrogen plasma containing at least one inert gas while biasing the second hydrogen plasma with the RF bias power to direct the second hydrogen plasma to the surface of the refractory metal layer to remove impurities; and
subjecting the refractory metal layer to a nitridation atmosphere to form a refractory metal nitride layer on a surface portion of the refractory metal layer.
10. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 9, wherein subjecting the semiconductor substrate to the first hydrogen plasma, depositing the refractory metal layer, subjecting the surface of the refractory metal layer to the second hydrogen plasma and to the nitridation atmosphere are performed in a single reaction chamber.
11. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 9, wherein subjecting the refractory metal layer to the nitridation atmosphere is performed before subjecting the refractory metal layer to the second hydrogen plasma.
12. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the refractory metal layer is a titanium layer.
13. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
depositing the refractory metal layer includes employing a chemical vapor deposition process; and
subjecting the refractory metal layer to a nitridation atmosphere to form a refractory metal nitride layer on a surface portion of the refractory metal layer.
14. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein evaporating the p-type impurities includes partially evaporating impurities existing on the surface of the substrate.
15. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 14, wherein partially evaporating the impurities includes simultaneously removing a native oxide layer formed on the substrate;
the method further comprising:
treating the refractory metal layer with a second hydrogen plasma to remove impurities in the refractory metal layer; and
treating the refractory metal layer in a nitridation atmosphere to form a refractory metal nitride layer on the refractory metal layer.
16. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 1, wherein evaporating the p-type impurities from the semiconductor substrate includes reducing a surface concentration of boron andor fluoride ions thereon.
17. A method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device, comprising:
forming a heavily doped region on a semiconductor substrate, the heavily doped region including p-type impurities;
depositing an insulating layer over the semiconductor substrate;
forming a contact hole through the insulating layer to expose the heavily doped region;
subjecting a surface of the semiconductor substrate to a first hydrogen plasma containing at least one inert gas while biasing the first hydrogen plasma with a RF bias power to direct the first hydrogen plasma to the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the surface of the semiconductor substrate including at least a portion of the heavily doped region;
evaporating the p-type impurities from the semiconductor substrate by maintaining the first hydrogen plasma at a temperature greater than about 600\xb0 C.;
depositing a refractory metal layer on the surface of the semiconductor substrate;
subjecting a surface of the refractory metal layer to a second hydrogen plasma containing at least one inert gas while biasing the second hydrogen plasma with the RF bias power to direct the second hydrogen plasma to the surface of the refractory metal layer to remove impurities;
subjecting the refractory metal layer to a nitridation atmosphere to form a first refractory metal nitride layer on a surface portion of the refractory metal layer; and
forming a second refractory metal nitride layer on the first refractory metal nitride layer employing a chemical vapor deposition process or a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process.
18. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 17, wherein the first refractory metal nitride layer is formed by application of heat or plasma.
19. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 17, further comprising:
depositing a metal layer on the second refractory metal nitride layer while filling the contact hole; and thereafter
patterning the metal layer to form metal contacts over the heavily doped region.
20. A method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device, comprising:
subjecting a surface of a semiconductor substrate to a hydrogen plasma containing at least one inert gas while biasing the hydrogen plasma with a RF bias power to direct the hydrogen plasma to the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the semiconductor substrate including dopant impurities;
evaporating the dopant impurities from the semiconductor substrate by maintaining the first hydrogen plasma at a temperature greater than about 600\xb0 C.;
depositing a refractory metal layer on the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the depositing of the refractory metal layer including employing a chemical vapor deposition process;
subjecting the refractory metal layer to a nitridation atmosphere to form a first refractory metal nitride layer on a surface portion of the refractory metal layer; and
forming a second refractory metal nitride layer on the first refractory metal nitride layer employing a chemical vapor deposition process or a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition process.
21. A method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device, comprising:
forming a heavily doped region on a semiconductor substrate, the heavily doped region including p-type impurities;
reducing a surface concentration of the p-type impurities in the heavily doped region by subjecting a surface of the semiconductor substrate to a first hydrogen plasma containing at least one inert gas while biasing the first hydrogen plasma with an RF bias power to direct the first hydrogen plasma to the surface of the semiconductor substrate, the surface of the semiconductor substrate including at least a portion of the heavily doped region;
evaporating the p-type impurities from the semiconductor substrate by maintaining the first hydrogen plasma at a temperature greater than about 600\xb0 C.; and
depositing a refractory metal layer on the surface of the semiconductor substrate.
22. The method of forming a barrier layer of a semiconductor device as claimed in claim 21, further comprising:
depositing an insulating layer over the semiconductor substrate;
forming a contact hole to expose the heavily doped region;
subjecting the semiconductor substrate to the first hydrogen plasma after forming the heavily doped region;
subjecting a surface of the refractory metal layer to a second hydrogen plasma containing at least one inert gas while biasing the second hydrogen plasma with the RF bias power to direct the second hydrogen plasma to the surface of the refractory metal layer to remove impurities; and
subjecting the refractory metal layer to a nitridation atmosphere to form a refractory metal nitride layer on a surface portion of the refractory metal layer.

1. A process for preparing precipitated silica comprising aluminum, the process comprising conducting a precipitation reaction between a silicate and an acidifying agent, via which a suspension of precipitated silica is obtained, followed by a separation and drying of this suspension, in which:
the precipitation reaction is performed in the following manner:
(i) forming an initial feedstock comprising a silicate and an electrolyte, wherein a concentration of silicate (expressed as SiO2) in said initial feedstock is less than 100 gL and a concentration of electrolyte in said initial feedstock is less than 17 gL,
(ii) adding the acidifying agent to said feedstock until the reaction medium has a pH value of at least 7,
(iii) simultaneously adding acidifying agent and a silicate to the reaction medium,

drying a suspension with a solids content of not more than 24% by weight, said process comprising one of the following three operations (a), (b) or (c):
(a) simultaneously adding at least one compound of aluminum and a basic agent to the reaction medium, after step (iii),
(b) simultaneously adding a silicate and at least one compound of aluminum to the reaction medium, in place of step (iii),
(c) performing step (iii) simultaneously adding to the reaction medium acidifying agent, a silicate and at least one aluminum compound.
2. The process as described by claim 1, wherein:
the precipitation reaction is performed in the following manner:
(i) forming an initial feedstock comprising a silicate and an electrolyte, wherein a concentration of silicate (expressed as SiO2) in said initial feedstock is less than 100 gL and a concentration of electrolyte in said initial feedstock is less than 17 gL,
(ii) adding the acidifying agent to said feedstock until the reaction medium has a pH value of at least 7,
(iii) simultaneously adding acidifying agent and a silicate to the reaction medium,

and then performing the following steps:
(iv) simultaneously adding at least one aluminum compound A and a basic agent to the reaction medium, and then
(v) adding acidifying agent to the reaction medium, and

drying a suspension with a solids content of not more than 24% by weight.
3. The process as described by claim 1, wherein:
the precipitation reaction is performed in the following manner:
(i) forming an initial feedstock comprising a silicate and an electrolyte, wherein a concentration of silicate (expressed as SiO2) in said initial feedstock is less than 100 gL and a concentration of electrolyte in said initial feedstock is less than 17 gL,
(ii) adding the acidifying agent to said feedstock until the reaction medium has a pH value of at least 7,
(iii) simultaneously adding a silicate and at least one aluminum compound A to the reaction medium, and

drying a suspension with a solids content of not more than 24% by weight.
4. The process as described by claim 3, wherein that after step (iii), the process further comprises adding acidifying agent to the reaction medium.
5. The process as described by claim 1, wherein the aluminum compound A is an organic or an inorganic aluminum salt.
6. The process as described by claim 2, wherein the aluminum compound A is an aluminum sulfate.
7. The process as described by claim 2, wherein the separation comprises a filtration and a disintegrating of a cake resulting from the filtration, said disintegrating optionally being performed in the presence of at least one aluminum compound B.
8. The process as described by claim 7, wherein compound B is an alkali metal aluminate.
9. The process as defined by claim 1, wherein:
the precipitation reaction is performed in the following manner:
(i) forming an initial feedstock comprising a silicate and an electrolyte, wherein a concentration of silicate (expressed as SiO2) in said initial feedstock is less than 100 gL and a concentration of electrolyte in said initial feedstock is less than 17 gL,
(ii) adding the acidifying agent to said feedstock until the reaction medium has a pH value of at least 7,
(iii) simultaneously adding an acidifying agent, a silicate and at least one aluminum compound B to the reaction medium, and

drying a suspension with a solids content of not more than 24% by weight.
10. The process as defined by claim 9, wherein that, after step (iii), acidifying agent is added to the reaction medium.
11. The process as defined by claim 10, wherein compound B is an alkali metal aluminate.
12. The process as as defined by claim 9, wherein the separation comprises a filtration and a disintegrating of the cake resulting from the filtration.
13. The process as defined by claim 1, wherein the drying is performed by atomization.
14. The process described by claim 2, wherein the at least one aluminum compound A and the basic agent are added until the reaction medium has a pH value of from 6.5 to 10.
15. The process described in claim 14, wherein the pH value is from 7.2 to 8.6.
16. The process described in claim 2, wherein the acidifying agent is added to the reaction until the reaction medium has a pH value of from 3 to 5.
17. The process described in claim 16, wherein the pH value is from 3.4 to 4.5.
18. The process described in claim 4, wherein the acidifying agent is added until the reaction medium has a pH value of from 3 to 6.5.
19. The process described by claim 5, wherein the organic salt is a carboxylic acid salt or a polycarboxylic acid salt.
20. The process described by claim 5, wherein the inorganic salt is selected from the group consisting of a halide, an oxyhalide, a nitrate, a phosphate, a sulfate and an oxysulfate.
21. The process described by claim 8, wherein the alkali metal aluminate is a sodium aluminate.
22. The process described by claim 10, wherein the acidifying agent is added until the reaction medium has a pH of from 3 to 6.9.
23. The process described by claim 11, wherein the alkali metal aluminate is a sodium aluminate.

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 radio frequency (RF) coil array for use in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the RF coil array comprising:
at least first and second RF coils, each having a main body loop configured to at least one of transmit or receive RF energy at an operating imaging frequency in connection with acquiring MRI image data for an MRI system;
first and second cables configured to electrically couple the first and second RF coils, respectively, to a system interface; and
a common ground connection between the first and second cables having selectively positioned at a grounding point along lengths of the first and second cables to form a ground loop having a select self-resonance frequency (SRF) that differs from the imaging frequency of the MRI system.
2. The RF coil array of claim 1, wherein the RF energy includes a wavelength, the location of the grounding point based on the wavelength.
3. The RF coil array of claim 2, wherein the grounding point is located at a distance approximately one-fourth of the wavelength extending from the main body loop of at least one of the first or the second RF coils.
4. The RF coil array of claim 1, wherein the main body loops of the first and second RF coils each include a central portion extending approximately through a center of each respective main body loop, the first or second cables extending to and through the central portion of the respective main body loop.
5. The RF coil of claim 1, wherein the ground loop includes the first and second RF coils and the first and second cables, the select SRF of the ground loop being tuned by moving the grounding point along the lengths of the first and second cables.
6. The RF coil array of claim 1, wherein the first and second cables include an impedance, the position of the grounding point along the length of the first and second cables being set to define a select impedance along the ground loop in connection with setting the select SRF.
7. The RF coil array of claim 1, wherein the self-resonance frequency is less than the imaging frequency.
8. The RF coil array of claim 1, wherein the imaging frequency is approximately 128 megahertz.
9. The RF coil array of claim 1, wherein the first and second cables are arranged such that the first and second cables are approximately perpendicular to electric field lines generated by the main body loops of the first and second RF coils.
10. The RF coil array of claim 1, wherein the first and second cables include an outer conductor, the outer conductors electrically coupled to one another to from the common ground connection.
11. A method for tuning a radio frequency (RF) coil array for use in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system comprising:
coupling a first cable to a first RF coil and a second cable to a second RF coil, the first and second RF coils having a main body loop configured to at least one of transmit or receive RF energy at an operating imaging frequency in connection with acquiring MRI image data for an MRI system;
coupling the first and second cables to a system interface;
positioning a common ground point along lengths of the first and second cables; and
forming a ground loop having a select self-resonance frequency (SRF) that differs from the imaging frequency of the MRI system.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the RF energy includes a wavelength, the location of the grounding point based on the wavelength.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the grounding point is located at a distance approximately one-fourth of the wavelength extending from the main body loop of at least one of the first or the second RF coils.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the main body loops of the first and second RF coils each include a central portion extending approximately through a center of each respective main body loop, the first or second cables extending to and through the central portion of the respective main body loop.
15. The method of claim 11, wherein the ground loop includes the first and second RF coils and the first and second cables, the select SRF of the ground loop being tuned by moving the grounding point along the lengths of the first and second cables.
16. The method of claim 11, wherein the first and second cables include an impedance, the position of the grounding point along the length of the first and second cables being set to define a select impedance along the ground loop in connection with setting the select SRF.
17. The method of claim 11, wherein the location of the common ground point is selected such that the self-resonance frequency is less than the imaging frequency.
18. The method of claim 11, wherein the imaging frequency is approximately 128 megahertz.
19. The method of claim 11, wherein the first and second cables are arranged such that the first and second cables are approximately perpendicular to electric field lines generated by the main body loops of the first and second RF coils.
20. The method of claim 11, wherein the first and second cables include an outer conductor, the outer conductors electrically coupled to one another to from the common ground connection.