Patently Speaking highlights the technological achievements of Fort Wayne area residents.

Meter system designed to run singulated test sensors

•U.S. Patent No. 7,918,121

•Invented by: Robert D. Schell, Goshen

•Assigned to Bayer Healthcare LLC, Tarrytown, N.Y.

Advances in blood glucose monitoring for diabetes has taken great strides over the past several years.

It can now be done at home drawing little blood and offering accurate results. However, problems exist when calibrating certain testing systems.

According to the patent, glucose values were calculated based on a measured output and known reactivity of a sensor. Early versions had to be manually calibrated before accurate readings could be made. Later, auto-calibration was developed and, though reliable, was complex and relatively costly.

This patent describes a new calibration system for glucose monitors that includes a container that stores test strips. A calibration label inside the container has several electronic contacts that can encode calibration information right onto the label. An auto-calibration feature with several calibration elements communicates with these electrical contacts on the calibration label. The testing device is then able to retrieve the calibration information from the label to ensure accurate calibration.

Method for attaching a porous metal layer to a metal substrate

•U.S. Patent No. 7,918,382

•Invented by Steven J. Charlebois, Goshen; Leslie N. Gilbertson, Warsaw; Michael E. Hawkins, Columbia City; Dana J. Medline and H. Ravindranath Shetty, Warsaw; and Steven A. Zawadzki, Leesburg

•Assigned to Zimmer Technology Inc., Warsaw

Metal makes a good material for use in orthopedic implants – almost.

Titanium or cobalt-based alloys are strong but do not necessarily result in a roughened surface when formed into an implant such as a knee or hip implant.

Roughened implant surfaces are important because they engage bone that needs to grow and bond with the implant. If there is not enough roughened surface, the bond may become weak.

According to this patent, several methods of bonding a roughened surface onto a solid metal implant are known.

The new method described by this patent includes bonding a porous (i.e., rough) layer of metal directly onto titanium or cobalt alloy surfaces using sintering or diffusion bonding processes. A binding mixture is then applied to the implant’s metal surface. The implant is heated, and the components joined.

The preceding are lay descriptions of patents obtained from the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s public records and are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing contained herein is a legal description of any claimed invention, identification of novelty, or offer of legal advice.

Because issued patents are based on applications often filed years earlier, the subject matter of some patents may have been available on the market for some time prior to the issuance of the patent. Additional information on these patents is available at www.uspto.gov.