An adjustable anchor comprising a vertical cylinder including a helical spring supported on a puck depending from a vertical rod terminating in an eye projecting above the cylinder. Three anchors 120.degree. apart are pivotally supported by the puck so that upward pull on the eye by a rope will effect progressive retraction of the three anchors into corresponding openings in the cylinder against the resistance of the helical spring. An internally threaded cap of the cylinder screws onto external...

A test apparatus provides pulsatile flows that replicate the human cardiovascular system for qualifying implantable cardiovascular devices before implantation in a patient. A pump provides flow pulses to a mock left ventricle, a mock aortic valve, and a mock aorta. A loop from the ventricle to the aorta bypasses the mock aortic valve and affords connection of the test device. The mock aorta comprises elastic tube sections serially connected in progressively diminishing diameters, and interconnec...

A dynamic vascular compliance tester (change in radius with change in pressure) comprises an oscillatorily driven bellows to simulate pulsing a fluid pressure within a test specimen and a method of use thereof. The tester includes a high frequency pressure transducer and a pair of linear voltage-to-displacement transducers ("LVDT") providing outputs that are utilized cooperatively to determine the compliance of a test specimen. A first LVDT measures the volume of fluid in each pulse provided by ...

An ultrasound calibrator apparatus and method for calibrating ultrasound equipment. The apparatus includes a pair of opposed bellows oscillatorily transferring a fluent medium back and forth through a channel with a well-defined cross-sectional area such that the flow velocity therethrough is known. A probe in communication with ultrasound equipment to be tested is submerged in a reservoir which is situated in close proximity to the channel such that the flow velocity can be measured therewith. ...

A probe apparatus that permits high speed measurement of electrical parameters of a printed circuit board. The probe makes a soft landing upon the circuit board surface, and is laterally constrained to prevent damaging side movements. The probe is both accurate and non-injurious to the surface of a circuit board under test. A recoil mechanism and the damping action of a dashpot control the impact of the probe upon the printed circuit board.

A lost candy method for producing polymeric mock human tissue that has to meet an exacting specification comprise producing a batch of cores of a candy material from a sugar composition, and then coating such cores repetitively in pre-polymer material to build up sufficient thickness estimated to be short of or otherwise meeting the specification. After allowing completion of the polymerization process, then testing one polymerized member of the batch for if it meets the specification. If it doe...

Mechanisms for efficient transmission management are provided for multiparty, multimedia communications by constructing a logical ring structure from logical point-to-point connections between multiple nodes participating in a communication. Data and control information are unbundled in the communication by providing several different higher level protocols or applications, called "user entities," at each node and enabling uninhibited data transfer between corresponding user entities of the diff...

A fluid pump with an improved manifold including a pump housing; an inlet manifold flow connected to the pump housing, the inlet manifold including an inlet manifold body, having a first end, a second end and an inlet manifold flow opening between the ends; and a discharge manifold flow connected to the pump housing at a location away from the inlet manifold, the discharge manifold including a discharge manifold body having a first end and a second end and a discharge manifold flow opening locat...

A method and apparatus are disclosed for sensing the changes in the electrical potential across a double layer. By using a conductive plug comprised of the same material that are in suspension in a fluid, the present method can be used to determine the timing and amount of agents to be added to the liquid to promote the removal of the particle. In one embodiment, the sensor is comprised of two closed chambers, a sensor chamber closed by a porous plug made from the subject material, and a referen...

A metal connection for an integrated circuit device is effectively "cast" in place at any level of an integrated circuit. The "mold" for the connection is formed by depositing and patterning a sacrificial material, such as aluminum oxide or other metal oxides, and covering the sacrificial material with a protective material such as silicon dioxide or other insulators. After forming bore holes to the deposit of sacrificial material through the protective layer, the sacrificial material is removed...