A downhole pressure sensor to measure absolute pressure in an annulus and a method of measuring absolute pressure in an annulus are described. The sensor includes an inductor including primary windings and secondary windings, and a capacitor coupled to the secondary windings and disposed in the annulus, at least one of the plates of the capacitor being flexible. The sensor also includes a controller coupled to the primary windings, the controller introducing an input signal to the primary windings and receive a return signal from the primary windings, the return signal resulting from the input signal being transferred through the secondary windings to the capacitor and back through the secondary windings to the primary windings. The controller determines the absolute pressure from the return signal.

A wireless charging method in a wireless power transmitter, the method including sensing an object in a charging region, measuring a quality factor value, receiving information including a reference quality factor value, detecting a foreign object using the measured quality factor value and the reference quality factor value, and transmitting a response signal that includes ACK information or NAK information depending on whether or not the foreign object is detected. Further, the wireless power transmitter transmits information including a first guaranteed power value when the response signal includes the ACK information, and transmits information including a second guaranteed power value when the response signal includes the NAK information, and the first guaranteed power value is greater than the second guaranteed power value.

Specific embodiments of disclosed downhole telemetry systems and methods employ time-reversal pre-equalization. One downhole telemetry system embodiment includes an acoustic transducer and a digital signal processor. The acoustic transducer transmits an acoustic signal to a distant receiver via a string of drillpipes connected by tool joints. The digital signal processor drives the acoustic transducer with an electrical signal that represents modulated digital data convolved with a time-reversed channel response. Due to the use of time-reversal pre-equalization, the received signal exhibits substantially reduced intersymbol interference.

In a method for correlating magnetic resonance images with histological sections, a target tissue of a living animal is embedded in an enclosed matrix of an optical cutting temperature compound to obtain a packaged specimen on a platform oriented in a first guiding plane. The packaged specimen on the platform is subjected to an MRI examination by scanning along imaging planes parallel to the first guiding plane, and then subjected to a frozen sectioning procedure along sectioning planes in parallel with a second guiding plane which is parallel to the first guiding plane.

Methods, systems, and techniques for controlling the rate of penetration of a drill bit use drilling parameter measurements read from drilling parameter sensors to evaluate control loops, with the output of one of the control loops at any given time being used by an automatic driller to control the rate of penetration. For each of the drilling parameters, the automatic driller reads a drilling parameter measurement, determines an error measurement that represents a difference between a drilling parameter setpoint and the drilling parameter measurement, and from the error measurement determines an output signal proportional to the rate of penetration of the drill bit. The output signal of one of the control loops is subsequently selected and used to control the rate of penetration.

A system and method for simultaneous multi-slice nuclear spin tomography is provided which requires no sensitivity profile of a receiving coil along a slice axis. A pulse space region to be sampled can be specified. A first pulse space dimension (k.sub.y) can be assigned to a first phase-encoded axis and a second pulse space dimension (k.sub.z) can be assigned to a second phase-encoded axis and the second phase-encoded axis corresponds to the slice axis. A sampling scheme can also be specified, and a complete sampled can be provided along the second pulse space dimension (k.sub.z). A magnetic resonance scan can then be carried out within the pulse space region to be sampled based on the sampling scheme and respective phase-encodings of the first and second phase-encoded axis.

Wireless power transmission to downhole well installations is provided using acoustic guided Lamb waves and a tubular conduit (production tubing, casing) as the power transmission medium. A phased array of acoustic transmitters is present at the transmitting end (surface) and an array of acoustic receivers at the receiving end (downhole). Both transmitter and receiver arrays are coupled to the tubular conduit. Beamforming techniques are used along with power amplifiers to generate directional, high power and low frequency acoustic guided Lamb waves along the wellbore to transmit power over long distances. A downhole multi-channel acoustic energy collecting system receives the transmitted acoustic signal, and generates electrical power and stores the power in downhole electrical power storage. This power is used to operate downhole well equipment including sensing, control and telemetry devices.

A method and apparatus for a connection interface between a reservoir or syringe, infusion set tubing, and an infusion pump is provided. The reservoir, a base and a cap are connected to form an integrated unit that is capable of being inserted and secured in an infusion pump housing. The cap and the infusion pump are each provided with at least one sensor or at least one detectable feature, arranged to interact with at least one corresponding detectable feature or sensor on the other of the cap and infusion pump device, to detect one or more of the presence, position or other characteristic of the cap when the cap is aligned or coupled with the infusion pump housing. The detectable feature and sensor may be magnetic, RF, mechanical, optical or any combination.

A method and apparatus for a connection interface between a reservoir or syringe, infusion set tubing, and an infusion pump is provided. The reservoir, a base and a cap are connected to form an integrated unit that is capable of being inserted and secured in an infusion pump housing. The cap and the infusion pump are each provided with at least one sensor or at least one detectable feature, arranged to interact with at least one corresponding detectable feature or sensor on the other of the cap and infusion pump device, to detect one or more of the presence, position or other characteristic of the cap when the cap is aligned or coupled with the infusion pump housing. The detectable feature and sensor may be magnetic, RF, mechanical, optical or any combination.

Methods and systems for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectra of complex chemical mixtures are described. The methods and systems allow undesired NMR spectral background to be removed or suppressed and target spectral peaks to be uncovered, for example, when strong background signals overlap weaker peaks. In some embodiments, the methods and systems employ a quantum filter utilizing nuclear spin singlet states.