Medical Applications

• Thin-Film Capacitors Power Up Lifesaving Devices

Maxwell Technologies, Inc. (San Diego, CA), formerly Maxwell Laboratories, developed thin-film capacitors that could supply intense bursts of power very quickly to orbiting BMDO electromagnetic weapons. Now, the company is applying its capacitor technology to portable defibrillators—lifesaving devices that shock a heart back into its normal rhythm after a cardiac seizure. These devices need capacitors that can charge up and deliver power in a snap because the sooner the heart begins beating again normally, the greater the patient’s chance of survival. Available to paramedics for several years, portable defibrillators are now finding their way into public places, including airports, health clubs, and shopping malls. And many contain Maxwell capacitors. Maxwell has supplied hundreds of thousands of capacitors for use in portable defibrillators developed by leading device makers, including Hewlett-Packard and Zoll Medical.

• Laser Radar Allows More Accurate Eye Tracking During Surgery

Autonomous Technologies Corporation (ATC; Orlando, FL) originally developed a laser radar (LADAR) system for BMDO missile tracking and space docking. Today, the company has extended that technology to photorefractive keratectomy, a procedure that can improve mild to moderate nearsightedness by modifying the shape of the cornea. It has created an eye tracking system called LADARVision™, which is a key element in a new medical laser product known as T-PRK ® . By tracking the continual, involuntary movements of the eye, LADARVision can maintain accurate placement of the T-PRK laser beam. Until now, doctors kept the eye steady by asking patients to stare at a blinking red dot. ATC recently merged with Summit Technology, a leading manufacturer of ophthalmic laser systems. Together, the two companies are marketing this technology to physicians on a per-procedure service fee basis. ATC’s LADARVision system is now in use at more than 20 offices and eye care centers throughout the United States.

• Rotary Drive Positions Needle Biopsy Device With High Precision

BMDO funded research at Sagebrush Technology, Inc. (Albuquerque, NM), on a rotary drive that could significantly improve the positioning accuracy of laser communications equipment. Since then, the Roto-Lok ® drive has found its way into dozens of commercial applications requiring high precision and reliability. For example, Roto-Lok is now part of Fisher Imaging’s needle breast biopsy system called MAMMOTEST ® , which offers a minimally invasive alternative to surgery after a suspicious lesion is found through a mammogram. Roto-Lok enables the physician to aim and deliver the needle with great accuracy and smooth motion, which are of utmost importance in any biopsy. By 2001, Sagebrush Technology will have sold over 390 Roto-Loks to Fisher Imaging for this medical application.