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24 Feb 2005
The pick of this week's applications including a device that could help dentists spot early-stage tooth decay.
• Title: An illumination system for microlithography
Applicant: Carl Zeiss SMT AG, Germany
International application number: WO 2005/015314
German firm Carl Zeiss is applying to patent its EUV lithography illumination system designed for wavelengths below 193 nm, such as 13.5 nm. The system could be of use to integrated circuit manufacturers that want to make high performance devices with smaller feature sizes. As the Aalen-based team explains, the image quality in EUV lithography is determined by the projection lens and the illumination system. "The system should provide as uniform an illumination of the field plane in which the structure-bearing mask [reticle] is situated, as possible," say the applicants.
• Title: Near-infrared transillumination for the imaging of early dental decay
Applicant: The regents of the University of California, US
International application number: WO 2005/013843
A device that monitors the amount of infrared light passing through a tooth could help dentists spot the first signs of tooth decay. The unit's infrared light source consists of a fibre coupled halogen lamp or superluminescent diode emitting in the range 795 - 1600 nm. Anomalies in the teeth, such as early stage tooth decay, are revealed by using a CCD camera or focal plane array to detect changes in the intensity of transmitted light. "[If detected early] dentists can prescribe a treatment involving antibacterial rinses, fluoride treatments and dietary changes in attempt to naturally re-mineralize the decay before it becomes irreversible," explain the University of California inventors. "Early stage decay is difficult to detect using dental x-rays."
• Title: Projector and projection image correction method
Applicant: Casio Computer Co. Ltd., Japan
International application number: W0 2005/015905
Japanese firm Casio has come up with an image correction scheme for projectors that provides a distortion-free zoom capability. "Conventional projectors have to perform trapezoidal correction twice, because the first trapezoidal correction is cancelled if the zooming magnification is changed," say the applicants. The Casio design uses information from onboard inclination sensors in combination with the current zoom magnification and a pre-set table of transformation coefficients to deliver a distortion-free image.
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