Brain tumours are one of the most difficult medical conditions to diagnose and treat. Brain surgery, for obvious reasons, is complicated and very risky. Luckily, modern-day developments in medicine can make performing brain tumour diagnosis and, more importantly, brain surgery easier and less risky. With a combination of advanced electronic tools and a doctor’s skills and technical knowledge, there can be better prognosis for brain cancer patients.
Embedded medical and biological application refers to using technology and computers for observing certain events or generating a response when certain events occur. Embedded points to the fact that such devices are either small or very passive or both, such that the subjects of the observations are not continuously aware of it.
Green electronics is an ideal that refers to environmentally friendly digital devices. Before the idea was brought forward, a considerable percentage of components involved in the manufacturing process of most electronic and digital devices were very toxic. Chemicals such as lead and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were commonly used to manufacture items like LCD screens and laptop computers. The green electronics initiative is often seen as an extension of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) plan because of its environmental core ideas. The concept is currently being pushed by many environmentalist organizations, most notable of which is Greenpeace International. In August 2006, Greenpeace released a list of the top ten ranked corporations that were actively reducing toxic components from within their products and improving the recycling process for their merchandise. Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia and computer giant Dell share the top spot on the said list. Step One: Reduction of Chemicals The first step in the green electronics initiative is to cut down on manufacturing products’ toxic components. Not only do such chemicals pose a direct threat against the consumers; they also pose a threat to others should the device be disposed of improperly. For example, the toxic substances could leach into…
Radiofrequency identification (RFID) is an identification system that uses radio waves to send data and RFID tags or transponders. The first patented RFID device was a passive radio transponder with an integrated memory by Mario Cardullo. At present, the technology has many applications, particularly in the retail industry because of its small size, low power demands, and high levels of efficiency offered. The application of RFID is seen as the next generation of barcode technology currently in use.
Embedded electronics technology has been actively and rapidly being developed to transform traditional devices into adaptive and useful ones. Whether the equipment is an automatic water heater or a GRPS-powered diesel wheelchair, embedded electronics technologies are entering all possible aspects of human life and are being used to improve them. Digitized Healthcare Healthcare is also benefiting from the development of embedded electronics technology. Advanced medical equipment is being developed to improve response to emergency medical situations. The integration of several types of medical equipment is also being done to create digitized operating rooms and diagnostics areas that can respond to medical needs more efficiently and accurately.
Once I’ve got several HQM1286404 graphical LCDs around, I decided to build a prototyping board where I could easily plug LCD to it, read data via ADC and display graphs, and plug keypad if needed for some menu functions. Earlier, I tested graphical LCD on prototype breadboard but dealing with multiple wires (GLCD needs 20) resulted in many failures. It is OK to do simple tasks, but more complex applications require a more stable platform. So here it is: This type of GLCD is a standard 128×64 pixel matrix controlled by the KS0108 LCD controller. I have a smaller non-common pin-header where pins have 2mm step, so I had to draw it for Eagle library, which you will find in project files. I decided to make a simple circuit so it could fit in 100x50mm single-sided PCB. As base MCU, I used Atmega16, which can be replaced with Atmega32, which is pin-compatible with Atmega16 have more data memory.
Embedded electronic technology is all around. One may live in a digitized house, ride a car or subway train with embedded sensors and detectors and work using an integrated company network. One can eat lunch in restaurants or play in amusement centres with integrated computers, screens and controllers. Embedded electronics technology is not limited to data transfer, sharing and storage. Many health-care related products also utilize embedded electronics to improve the quality of life. More advanced prosthetic limbs with microprocessors are being developed to bring comfort, stability and balance to be disabled but active members of society.
The autonomous flying ambulance, nicknamed the Mule, created Rafi Yoeli, who used to work for Boeing and Israeli Aerospace Industries. He later founded his own company, Urban Aeronautics, in Yavne, Israel. The Mule is the smaller version of another Urban Aeronautics product, the X-Hawk. The former vehicle has been designed to carry injured military personnel (hence the name “flying ambulance”) out of combat areas. At the same time, the latter is aimed at urban and personal use. Several of Yoeli’s patented inventions are integrated into the Mule, including his VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) vehicle technology and the hybrid drive-powered lift platform. Both the Mule and the X-Hawk, for instance, are classified as VTOL vehicles.
CTX imaging is an image capture process that integrates the traditional techniques of computed tomography (CT) scanners and X-rays. The system is still in the prototype stage and is far from small (at present, it’s still as big as one whole room), but Dr. Elizabeth Brainerd of Brown University, who heads the project, hopes that it will become commercial by the first decade of the 21st century. Problems with Previous Technology The two origin technologies of CTX imaging, CT scanner, and X-ray, each had their own problems regarding capturing images. CT scans produce high-quality images that can be viewed in three dimensions, at the cost of speed; subjects being observed have to stay still for up to an hour. X-rays use a fluoroscopy method, which takes images in quick succession, but at the cost of quality; images produced by x-rays can be pieced together to create a video, but they’re of much lower quality and are limited to two-dimensional views. New Features of CTX Imaging CTX imaging is revolutionary because it combines the features of CT scanners and X-rays without compromising either capture speed or image quality. Image capture starts with a traditional X-ray of the subject being observed. The…
During my spare time, I have been playing with graphical LCD. This time I decided to display simple signals that are stored in microcontroller memory. The idea was to read signal values from a lookup table and display waveform on Graphical LCD. To make things more interesting, I divided the LCD screen into four smaller screens to activate them separately and draw signals in them. Graphical LCD is the same old HQM1286404 with KS0108 controller. I have used Proteus simulator 128×64 graphical LCD(LGM12641BS1R), which is based on KS0108. How to implement and connect LCD there was a blog post (Simulate KS0108 graphical LCD with Proteus simulator )about it. I am just going to show main program routine. As I mentioned I have split 128×64 in to four smaller screens like this: So I get four smaller 32×63 screens where I can put different information. To do this, you can think of many ways of implementation. I have chosen a simple solution. I have created a simple structure that holds a currently active window position and size: