KEYWORDS: Situational awareness sensors, Sensors, Surveillance, Curium, Data conversion, Information security, Environmental sensing, Environmental monitoring, Information fusion, Surgery
To save lives in a mass casualty event, decision makers need access to a wide range of information and analyses and
they need direction on when and how to use that information. We have developed an integrated approach to support
decision-making efforts within overwhelming CBRN events. The end product is called the Actionable Knowledge
Report (AKR). This tool provides fused knowledge and analysis summaries focused on needs of specified end-users in a
near-real time, web-based, multi-level secure, common operating picture environment. The AKR provides to decision
makers a tool to meet their overall goal of preserving and saving lives by breaking down their efforts into two broad
areas: minimizing casualties, and managing the unavoidable casualties. To do this effectively, a number of capabilities
in each of these areas must be considered. To arrive at a solution, capabilities need to be connected into strategies to
form a reasonable course of action (COA). To be successful, situational awareness must be maintained, and risks of
implementation and sustainability of the execution must be taken into account. In addition, a CBRN situation can
overwhelm the existing infrastructure and capabilities. This will place a large burden on the individuals, forcing them to
explore alternative and non-conventional strategies. The AKR provides an interactive medium to develop and
implement the best COA. Both the AKR and the underlying analytical process (including the incorporation of CBRN
casualty and resource estimation tools) are described in this paper.
We describe a process to fabricate an optical-quality grating using protein as the biomaterial building block. The resulting grating is capable of generating high-quality diffraction. We demonstrate how such a biograting has the potential for the detection of small amounts of unlabeled biological analyte.
There is a need for technology capable of providing unique, sensitive, and rapid detection against threats posed by biological weapons, infectious diseases, and environmental pathogens. A potential solution presented herein is a photonic-based biosensor that utilizes a pair of diffractive phase gratings. This concept is merged with the ability to use surface chemistry techniques to precisely immobilize receptors at specific locations to create optical grating structures out of biological materials. The sensor is configured such that a change in the optical phase of diffracted laser light results when the refractive index profile of the 'bio-grating' is altered upon analyte binding to the molecular receptors within the grating structure. Because of the phase nature of the detection technique and the noise reduction nature of the grating geometry, the method is inherently sensitive with a potential for detecting small amounts of the unlabeled analyte. The optical transduction technique utilizing the gratings is described in detail. Data is presented addressing the analyte detection sensitivity from results generated from ideal optical glass gratings of varying etch depth. The fabrication techniques for creating gratings out of biological materials are discussed.
A fiber handpiece developed for dermatological and vascular medical applications is discussed in detail. The handpiece can be zoomed such that it can deliver output spot diameters ranging from 2 mm to 10 mm when connected to a fiber optic with a 365 micrometer diameter core size. The spot diameter is invariant at the treatment plane over a continuous wavelength spectrum between 532 nm to 1064 nm and exhibits a spot diameter variation of less than 10% over the depth of focus of plus or minus 5 mm at each spot size setting. In these regards, the handpiece can be considered 'achromatic' and 'telecentric.' Details of the optical design, the design process, and important delivery device considerations will be discussed.
A rod of solid state gain material centered between two flat end mirrors (i.e. the flat-flat resonator) is a common laser resonator configuration. Positive dioptric power in the rod, thermally induced by the pumping of the gain medium, enables the resonator to operate in the stable regime. A typical problem that may ultimately limit maximum power in lasers of this type is the susceptibility of the cavity end mirrors to laser-induced damage. A technique that mitigates this damage by increasing the intra-cavity spot width at the end mirror location is described. The resulting modified resonator is equivalent to the flat-flat resonator with regard to its output laser beam propagation parameters and to the symmetrical mode fill of the gain medium.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.