Author: claimsbot

1. A magnetic resonance imaging method comprising the steps of
acquisition of sub-sampled magnetic resonance signals with a system of receiver antennae
the system of receiver antennae having a spatial sensitivity profile

reconstruction of a magnetic resonance image on the basis of
the sub-sampled magnetic resonance signals
the spatial sensitivity profile and
a priori image information

optimization of the reconstruction with respect to a pre-selected aspect of distribution of sampled data included in the sub-sampled magnetic resonance signals over the reconstructed magnetic resonance image,
wherein
said a priori information is taken into account as a constraint in said optimization.
2. A magnetic resonance imaging method as claimed in claim 1, wherein
an explorative scan for the acquisition of explorative magnetic resonance signals precedes the acquisition of the sub-sampled magnetic resonance signals and
the a priori information is obtained by the explorative acquisition.
3. A magnetic resonance imaging method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the spatial sensitivity profile of the system of receiver antennae is derived from the explorative scan.
4. A magnetic resonance imaging method as claimed in claim 2, wherein
a main receiver coil and several surface coils are employed for receiving magnetic resonance signals,
in the explorative scan
explorative magnetic resonance signals are acquired with the main receiver coil
explorative magnetic resonance signals are acquired with the surface coils, notably the acquisition from the surface coils being interleaved with the acquisition from the surface coils, and
the spatial sensitivity profile is computed from the explorative magnetic resonance signals acquired with the main receiver coil and magnetic resonance signals acquired with the surface coils.
5. A magnetic resonance imaging method as claimed in claim 4, wherein an explorative magnetic resonance image is reconstructed from the magnetic resonance signals acquired in the explorative scan.
6. A magnetic resonance imaging method as claimed in claim 5, wherein
extended magnetic resonance signals are interpolated from the magnetic resonance signals acquired with the main receiver coil and
the explorative magnetic resonance image is reconstructed from the extended magnetic resonance signals.
7. A magnetic resonance imaging system arranged to
acquire sub-sampled magnetic resonance signals with a system of receiver antennae
the system of receiver antennae having a spatial sensitivity profile

reconstruct a magnetic resonance image on the basis of
the sub-sampled magnetic resonance signals
the spatial sensitivity profile and
a priori image information

optimize the reconstruction with respect to a pre-selected aspect of distribution of sampled data included in the sub-sampled magnetic resonance signals over the reconstructed magnetic resonance image,
wherein
said a priori information is taken into account as a constraint in said optimization.
8. A computer program comprising instructions to
acquire sub-sampled magnetic resonance signals with a system of receiver antennae
the system of receiver antennae having a spatial sensitivity profile

reconstruct a magnetic resonance image on the basis of
the sub-sampled magnetic resonance signals
the spatial sensitivity profile and
a priori image information

optimize the reconstruction with respect to a pre-selected aspect of distribution of sampled data included in the sub-sampled magnetic resonance signals over the reconstructed magnetic resonance image,
wherein
said a priori information is taken into account as a constraint in said optimization.

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 spinal stabilization system comprising:
a screw comprising a post, a threaded shank extending distally from the post, and a socket;
a torsion shaft comprising:
a distal section configured to be received within the socket;
a body comprising at least one cut; and
a proximal section comprising an externally-threaded portion and a tool-receiving recess;

a relief screw comprising a body having an externally-threaded portion, a proximal end having a tool-receiving recess, and a bore extending longitudinally therethrough, wherein the bore comprises an internally-threaded section configured to mate with the externally-threaded section of the torsion shaft; and
a compression nut comprising a proximal end having a tool-receiving recess, a body, and a bore extending longitudinally therethrough, wherein the bore comprises an internally-threaded portion configured to mate with the externally-threaded body of the relief screw.
2. The spinal stabilization system of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the socket has a hexagonal lateral cross-section.
3. The spinal stabilization system of claim 1, wherein the post comprises a cylindrical outer surface.
4. The spinal stabilization system of claim 1, wherein the distal section of the torsion shaft comprises a lateral cross-section that is larger than a lateral cross-section of the body of the torsion shaft.
5. The spinal stabilization system of claim 1, wherein the distal section of the torsion shaft comprises a hexagonal lateral cross-section.
6. The spinal stabilization system of claim 1, wherein the body of the torsion shaft is cylindrical.
7. The spinal stabilization system of claim 1, wherein the body of the torsion shaft comprises a helical cut that extends along a length of the body.
8. The spinal stabilization system of claim 1, wherein the body of the torsion shaft is configured to flex under pressure from one or more vertebrae.
9. The spinal stabilization system of claim 1, wherein the body of the relief screw comprises external threading along its length.
10. The spinal stabilization system of claim 1, wherein the proximal end of the compression nut has an outer diameter that is greater than an outer diameter of the body of the compression nut.
11. The spinal stabilization system of claim 1, wherein the body of the compression nut has a constant outer diameter.
12. The spinal stabilization system of claim 1, wherein each tool-receiving recess has a hexagonal cross-section.
13. A spinal stabilization system comprising:
a fastener member comprising a head, a threaded body extending longitudinally from the head, and a socket;
a torsion member comprising:
a distal section configured to be received within the socket,
a flexible body, and
a proximal section comprising an externally-threaded portion and a tool-receiving recess;

a relief member comprising a bore extending longitudinally therethrough, a body comprising external threading, and a proximal end having a tool-receiving recess, wherein the bore comprises an internally-threaded portion configured to mate with the externally-threaded portion of the torsion member; and
a compression member comprising a proximal end having a tool-receiving recess and a bore extending longitudinally therethrough, wherein the bore comprises an internally-threaded portion configured to mate with the external threading of the relief member.
14. The spinal stabilization system of claim 13, wherein the socket extends through the head of the fastener member and into at least a portion of the threaded body.
15. The spinal stabilization system of claim 14, wherein the socket has a circular transverse cross section in the head and a hexagonal transverse cross section in the threaded body.
16. The spinal stabilization system of claim 13, wherein the flexible body of the torsion member comprises at least one cut.
17. An assembled spinal stabilization system comprising:
a fastener member comprising a head, a threaded body extending longitudinally from the head, and a socket;
a torsion member comprising a distal section, a flexible body, and a proximal section comprising an externally-threaded segment and a tool-receiving recess, wherein at least the distal section is disposed within the socket of the fastener member;
a relief member comprising a body comprising external threading and a bore extending longitudinally therethrough, wherein the bore comprises a proximal end having a tool-receiving recess and an internally-threaded portion engaged with the externally-threaded portion of the torsion member, and
a compression member comprising a bore extending longitudinally therethrough and a proximal end having a tool-receiving recess, wherein the bore comprises a threaded portion engaged with the external threading of the relief member.
18. The spinal stabilization system of claim 17, wherein the distal section of the torsion member comprises a width that is larger than a width of the body of the torsion member.
19. The spinal stabilization system of claim 17, wherein all tool-receiving recesses are accessible by a driver.
20. The spinal stabilization system of claim 17, wherein the system has a variable length.

1. A computer vision method for autonomous driving that uses only a single camera, comprising:
moving object localization in 3D with a real-time framework that harnesses object detection and monocular structure from motion (SFM) through a ground plane estimation;
tracking feature points on moving cars a real-time framework to and use the feature points for 3D orientation estimation;
correcting scale drift with ground plane estimation that combines cues from sparse features and dense stereo visual data; and
applying a Kalman filter framework that adapts the fusion observation covariances at every frame to reflect the relative uncertainty of each cue, the Kalman filter comprising a model of state of evolution as
xk=Axk-1+wk-1,p(w):N(0,Q),
zk=Hxk-1+vk-1,p(v):N(0,U),
where x represents a state variable, z an observation, Q and U represent covariances of process and observation noise and are assumed to be zero mean multivariate normal distributions as indicated by p(w):N(0,Q) and p(v):N(0,U), A represents state transition, w a process noise, H an observation that maps true state space into observed state space, and v an observation noise.
2. The method of claim 1, comprising incorporate cues from multiple methods of ground plane estimation.
3. The method of claim 1, comprising applying a framework that accounts for per-frame relative confidences using models learned from extensive training data.
4. The method of claim 1, comprising training with frames from a dataset, wherein models are learned that relate an observation covariance for each cue to error behaviors of underlying variables.
5. The method of claim 1, comprising performing adaptive estimation of observation covariances for cue combination.
6. The method of claim 1, comprising localization framework that combines information from object bounding boxes and SFM feature tracks, through the ground plane.
7. The method of claim 1, comprising combining SFM and object bounding boxes through the adaptive ground plane for 3D localization of near and distant objects.
8. The method of claim 1, comprising performing epipolar update with a rough vanishing point estimation.
9. A computer vision system for autonomous driving that uses only a single camera, comprising:
a real-time framework for moving object localization in 3D that harnesses object detection and monocular structure from motion (SFM) through the ground plane estimation,
a real-time framework to track feature points on moving cars and use them for 3D orientation estimation,
computer code to correct scale drift using ground plane estimation that combines cues from sparse features and dense stereo visual data, and
a Kalman filter framework that adapts the fusion observation covariances at every frame to reflect the relative uncertainty of each cue, the Kalman filter comprising a model of state of evolution as
xk=Axk-1+wk-1,p(w):N(0,Q),
zk=Hxk-1+vk-1,p(v):N(0,U),
where x represents a state variable, z an observation, Q and U represent covariances of process and observation noise and are assumed to be zero mean multivariate normal distributions as indicated by p(w):N(0,Q) and p(v):N(0,U), A represents state transition, w a process noise, H an observation that maps true state space into observed state space, and v an observation noise;
wherein the system includes a processor for processing the real time framework and the computer code.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the framework incorporates cues from multiple methods of ground plane estimation.
11. The system of claim 9, wherein the framework that accounts for per-frame relative confidences, using models learned from extensive training data.
12. The system of claim 9, wherein models are learned that relate an observation covariance for each cue to error behaviors of underlying variables.
13. The system of claim 9, comprising an adaptive estimator of observation covariances for cue combination.
14. The system of claim 9, comprising localization framework that combines information from object bounding boxes and SFM feature tracks, through the ground plane.
15. The system of claim 9, wherein SFM and object bounding boxes through the adaptive ground plane for 3D localization of near and distant objects.
16. The system of claim 9, comprising an epipolar update with a rough vanishing point estimation.

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 optical exposure method carried out on a substrate that is at least partially covered by a layer of radiation-sensitive material, the method comprising:
providing a plurality of projection beams of radiation;
irradiating a peripheral annulus of the layer of radiation-sensitive material with a first one of said projection beams; and
irradiating at least one inner portion of the radiation-sensitive material situated nearer the center of the substrate than the inner periphery of the outer region with a second one of said projection beams;
wherein said irradiating a peripheral annulus and said irradiating at least one inner portion are carried out with the substrate positioned at the same location.
2. An optical exposure method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one irradiated inner portion of the layer of radiation-sensitive material is adjacent to the irradiated peripheral annulus of the layer of radiation-sensitive material.
3. An optical exposure apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one irradiated inner portion of the layer of radiation sensitive material is a rectangular shape.
4. An optical exposure method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one irradiated inner portion of the layer of radiation-sensitive material contains an alignment mark on the substrate.
5. An optical exposure method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one irradiated inner portion of the layer of radiation-sensitive material contains a wafer identification mark.
6. A device manufacturing method comprising:
providing a substrate that is at least partially covered by a layer of radiation-sensitive material;
providing a primary projection beam of radiation;
using patterning structure to endow the primary projection beam with a pattern in its cross-section;
projecting the patterned beam of radiation onto a target portion of the layer of radiation-sensitive material; and
performing clearout by the method of any one of claims 1 to 5 of a portion of the layer of radiation-sensitive material not exposed in projecting the patterned beam of radiation onto a target portion of the layer of radiation-sensitive material.
7. A lithographic projection apparatus comprising:
a main projection apparatus including,
a first radiation system to provide a first projection beam of radiation,
a support structure to support patterning structure, the patterning structure serves to pattern the first projection beam according to a desired pattern,
a first substrate table to hold a substrate,
a first projection system to project the patterned first projection beam onto at least a target portion of the substrate; and
an optical exposure apparatus including,
a second radiation system to provide a second beam of radiation, the second radiation system embodied to provide a plurality of secondary component beams of radiation,
a second substrate table to hold a substrate, the second substrate table can be rotated parallel to a plane of the substrate,
a second projection system to project said second beam onto a portion of said substrate, the second projection system correspondingly comprises a plurality of secondary component projection systems, each of which serves to project one of said secondary component beams onto the substrate, and
at least one of said secondary component projection systems is flexible in such a manner that an extremity thereof proximal the substrate can be displaced in a direction parallel to the plane of the substrate, while an extremity thereof distal the substrate remains fixed relative to said plane; and
wherein the optical exposure apparatus and the main projection apparatus share metrology data.
8. A lithographic projection apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the said proximal extremity of said secondary component projection system is displaceable radially with respect to the plane of the substrate.
9. A lithographic projection apparatus according to claim 7, wherein each of the said secondary component projection systems is flexible in the said manner.
10. A lithographic projection apparatus according to claim 7, wherein at least one of the secondary component projection systems comprises a flexible light guide.
11. A lithographic projection apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the flexible light guide comprises a liquid-filled light guide.
12. A lithographic projection apparatus according to claim 7, wherein stencil holders are located between said second radiation system and said second substrate table, such that the radiation traversing each secondary component projection system can be provided with a stencil pattern.
13. A lithographic projection apparatus according to claim 12, wherein:
said plurality of secondary component projection systems is two secondary component projection systems;
each stencil pattern comprises an aperture in an opaque field;
the aperture for one of the secondary component projection systems is larger than for the other secondary component projection system.
14. A lithographic projection apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said second radiation system comprises a cloverleaf lens.
15. A lithographic projection apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the optical exposure apparatus is provided with an alignment sensor to measure the position and orientation of the substrate with respect to the rotational axis of the second substrate table.
16. A lithographic projection apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the optical exposure apparatus further comprises a substrate moving device to adjust said position andor orientation of the substrate on the second substrate table.
17. A lithographic projection apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a substrate handling station wherein said optical exposure apparatus is adjacent to said substrate handling station.
18. A lithographic projection apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a substrate handling station wherein said optical exposure apparatus is within said substrate handling station.
19. A lithographic projection apparatus according to claims 7, further comprising a beam splitting device to divert a portion of the first projection beam into the second radiation system of the optical exposure apparatus to create said second radiation beam.
20. A lithographic projection apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a focusing system, the focusing system comprising;
at least one lens; and
at least one spacer; and
wherein the focusing system is self-aligning.