UNM Rainforest Innovations

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued eight U.S. patents to UNM Rainforest Innovations during the months of July, August, and September for technologies invented at the University of New Mexico. The patents, issued during UNM Rainforest Innovations’ 2023 fiscal first quarter, are for a variety of technologies created by researchers in the Departments of Pathology; Civil, Construction, & Environmental Engineering; Electrical & Computer Engineering; Physics & Astronomy; and the Center for High Technology Materials.

Issued Patent for “Detection of bioagents using a shear horizontal surface acoustic wave biosensor”

Patent No. 11,378,576, issued July 5, 2022

This technology is currently licensed.

Inventors: Richard S. Larson, Brian Hjelle, David C. Brown, Marco Bisoffi, Susan M. Brozik, Darren W. Branch, Thayne L. Edwards, David Wheeler

(Ref. 2007-048)

A robust biosensor that combines the sensitivity of surface acoustic waves (SAW) generated at a frequency of 325 MHz with the specificity provided by antibodies and other ligands for the detection of viral agents. In preferred embodiments, a lithium tantalate based SAW transducer with silicon dioxide waveguide sensor platform featuring three test and one reference delay lines was used to adsorb antibodies directed against Coxsackie virus B4 or the negative-stranded category A bioagent Sin Nombre virus (SNV), a member of the genus Hantavirus, family Bunyaviridae, negative-stranded RNA viruses. Rapid detection (within seconds) of increasing concentrations of viral particles was linear over a range of order of magnitude for both viruses, although the sensor was approximately 50.times.10.sup.4-fold more sensitive for the detection of SNV. For both pathogens, the sensor’s selectivity for its target was not compromised by the presence of confounding Herpes Simplex virus type 1. The biosensor was able to detect SNV at doses lower than the load of virus typically found in a human patient suffering from hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS). Further, in a proof-of-principle real world application, the SAW biosensor was capable of selectively detecting SNV agents in complex solutions, such as naturally occurring bodies of water (river, sewage effluent) without analyte pre-processing.

Issued Patent for “Gradually recruited fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite

Patent No. 11,400,685, issued August 2, 2022

Inventors: Eslam Mohamed Soliman, Mahmoud Reda Taha

(Ref. 2016-053)

Described here is a 3D printed fiber reinforced polymer composite having a nonlinear stress-strain profile created by a central layer and a plurality of recruited successive layers.

Issued Patent for “System and methods for dynamic covariance estimation of a multivariate signal

Patent No. 11,402,452, issued August 2, 2022

Inventors: Maziar Yaesoubi, Vince Calhoun

(Ref. 2017-052)

The present invention describes a system and methods of capturing rapid changes in complex systems by examining the interaction of the various components within the system. A multivariate signal is decomposed into a dictionary of elements and a corresponding sparse mixing matrix Each dictionary element may provide a rank-1 estimation of a disjoint partition of time points of the signal that may permit estimation of the covariance of each partition using an outer-product of the corresponding dictionary element.

Issued Patent for “Correlation-based robust authentication technique using helper data only”

Patent No. 11,411,751, issued August 9, 2022

This technology is currently licensed.

Inventors: James Plusquellic, Matt Areno

(Ref. 2018-108)

This invention provides a privacy-preserving, mutual PUF-based authentication protocol that uses soft data to exchange and correlate Helper Data bitstrings instead of PUF response bitstrings as a means of authenticating chips to prevent attacks.

Issued Patent for “System and method for determining a photon statistic measurement of a pulsed light source using an unbalanced beamsplitter

Patent No. 11,422,028, issued August 23, 2022

Inventors: Hamed Pourbeyram, Arash Mafi

(Ref. 2019-044)

A method and system for determining a photon statistics of a light source using an unbalanced beam-splitter is disclosed. The method includes collecting data for photon counts for a first output path and a second output path by a first detector and a second detector, respectively, for a first time period, a first power level, and a first characteristic and collecting data for photon counts for the first output path and the second output path by the first detector and the second detector, respectively, for a second time period, a second power level, and a second characteristic; and processing outputs of the first and the second detector to determine the photon statistics.

Issued Patent for “Stabilization system based on properties of polarization maintaining fibers

Patent No. 11,422,320, issued August 23, 2022

Inventors: Jean-Claude Diels, Hanieh Afkhamiardakani

(Ref. 2019-105)

Described here is a nonlinear transmission system comprising a polarization maintaining (PM) fiber and a polarizer, based on the extreme sensitivity of the state of polarization of transmitted light on various parameters, such as the temperature, the optical power input to the fiber. Passive stabilization is achieved by simply terminating the PM fiber by a polarizer at a selected angle. Active stabilization of the optical length of the PM fiber is achieved by feeding back the transmitted into the control of optical power sent through the fiber.

Issued Patent for “Rapid culture free pathogen detection via spectrally resolved fluorescence microscopy

Patent No. 11,434,516, issued September 6, 2022

Inventors: Aaron Kurt Neumann, Matthew S. Graus, Jerilyn A. Timlin

(Ref. 2017-015)

Methods and apparatus for rapid, culture free pathogen detection are provided. The methods utilize optical spectroscopy techniques to identify and/or characterize pathogens in a sample via the detection of unique properties and/or analytes that are specific to particular pathogens.

Issued Patent for “Semiconductor product comprising a heteroepitaxial layer grown on a seed area of a nanostructured pedestal

Patent No. 11,456,370, issued September 27, 2022

Inventors: Steven R.J. Brueck, Stephen D. Hersee, Seung-Chang Lee, Daniel Feezell

(Ref. 2012-007)

Described here is a method for making a heteroepitaxial layer. The method comprises providing a semiconductor substrate. A seed area delineated with a selective growth mask is formed on the semiconductor substrate. The seed area comprises a first material and has a linear surface dimension of less than 100 nm. A heteroepitaxial layer is grown on the seed area, the heteroepitaxial layer comprising a second material that is different from the first material. Devices made by the method are also disclosed.

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