Rice Patents
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This collection includes granted patents (not applications) by Rice faculty, students and staff that list Rice University as the original assignee (owner). For questions, please contact the Kelley Center for Government Information, Data and Geospatial Services by email at govhelp@rice.edu or by phone at 713-348-5483. If you are a Rice inventor and do not find your patent listed, please contact the Kelley Center to provide us with information about your patent.
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Item Method for printing objects having laser-induced graphene (LIG) and/or laser-induced graphene scrolls (LIGS) materials(2023-11-07) Tour, James M.; Luong X, Duy; Subramanian, Ajay; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeLaser-induced graphene (LIG) and laser-induced graphene scrolls (LIGS) materials and, more particularly to LIGS, methods of making LIGS (such as from polyimide (PI)), laser-induced removal of LIG and LIGS, and 3D printing of LIG and LIGS using a laminated object manufacturing (LOM) process.Item High resolution microendoscope employing differential structured illumination and method of using same(2023-10-31) Keahey, Pelham; Richards-kortum, Rebecca; William March Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeA high-resolution microendoscope system includes a light source, a fiber optic bundle configured to transmit light from the light source to a sample, a disc configured to receive light returned from the sample, the disc having spaced apart segments, the spaced-apart segments being at least one of openings and transparent portions, a first camera configured to capture a first image based at least in part on light passing through the disc, and a second camera configured to capture a second image based at least in part on light reflected from the disc.Item Preparation of Secondary Amines with Electrophilic N-Linchpin Reagents(2023-09-26) Kattamuri, Padmanabha Venkatesh; Kurti, Laszlo; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeIn one aspect, the present disclosure provides methods of preparing a secondary amine. In some embodiments, the secondary amine comprises two different groups or two identical groups. Also provided herein are compositions for use in the preparation of the secondary amine.Item Additive manufacture-assisted method for making structural elements having controlled failure characteristics(2023-08-15) Sajadi, Seyed Mohammad; Meiyazhagan, Ashokkumar; Boul, Peter; Rahman, Muhammad; Thaemlitz, Carl; Ajayan, Pulickel; Rice University; Saudi Arabian Oil Company; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeA process for making a layered multi-material structural element having controlled mechanical failure characteristics. The process includes the steps of: supplying a cementitious layer and forming a polymer layer on the cementitious layer by additive manufacture such that the polymer layer has a first thickness and the cementitious layer has a second thickness, wherein the polymer layer comprises a polymer and the cementitious layer comprises a cementitious material; and allowing the polymer from the polymer layer to suffuse into the cementitious layer for a period of time to obtain a suffused zone in the cementitious layer such that the suffused zone has a third thickness that is less than half the second thickness.Item Electrodes for selective removal of multivalent ions through capacitive deionization(2023-08-29) Verduzco, Rafael; Jain, Amit; Kim, Jun; Li, Qilin; Zuo, Kuichang; Rice University; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeA method of forming an electrode for capacitive deionization includes depositing an slurry onto a substrate, wherein the slurry comprises a porous material, a first crosslinkable hydrophilic polymer, and a crosslinker for the first crosslinkable hydrophilic polymer; annealing the slurry deposited on the substrate to create a crosslinked porous layer on the substrate; depositing an solution comprising an ion-exchange material, a second crosslinkable hydrophilic polymer, and a crosslinker for the second crosslinkable hydrophilic polymer onto the crosslinked porous layer; and optionally annealing and/or drying the solution on the crosslinked porous layer.Item Systems and methods for wireless treatment of arrhythmias(2023-08-01) Sun, Yuxiang; Babakhani, Aydin; Razavi, Mehdi; Burkland, David; Greet, Brian; John, Mathews; Lyu, Hongming; Rice University; William Marsh Rice University; Texas Heart Institute; Baylor College of Medicine; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeWireless treatment of arrhythmias. At least some of the example embodiments are methods including: charging a capacitor of a first microchip device abutting heart tissue, the charging by harvesting ambient energy; charging a capacitor of a second microchip device abutting the heart tissue, the charging of the capacitor of the second microchip device by harvesting ambient energy; sending a command wirelessly from a communication device outside the rib cage to the microchip devices; applying electrical energy to the heart tissue by the first microchip device responsive to the command, the electrical energy applied from the capacitor of the first microchip device; and applying electrical energy to the heart tissue by the second microchip device responsive to the command to the second microchip device, the electrical energy applied from the capacitor of the second microchip device.Item Passive and single-viewpoint 3D imaging system(2023-06-13) Wu, Yicheng; Boominathan, Vivek; Chen, Huaijin; Sankaranarayanan, Aswin C.; Veeraraghavan, Ashok; William Marsh Rice University; Carnegie Mellon University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeA method for a passive single-viewpoint 3D imaging system comprises capturing an image from a camera having one or more phase masks. The method further includes using a reconstruction algorithm, for estimation of a 3D or depth image.Item Enantiomerically enriched, polycrystalline molecular sieves(2023-05-09) Davis, Mark E.; Brand, Stephen Kramer; Schmidt, Joel E.; Deem, Michael W.; Rice University; California Institute of Technology; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeThis disclosure describes enantiomerically enriched chiral molecular sieves and methods of making and using the same. In some embodiments, the molecular sieves are silicates or germanosilicates of STW topology.Item Infrared photodetectors(2023-05-16) Zheng, Bob Yi; Zhao, Hangqi; Cerjan, Benjamin; Tanzid, Mehbuba; Nordlander, Peter J.; Halas, Nancy J.; Rice University; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeAn infrared photodetector includes: a p-type and highly-doped silicon substrate; a metal structure disposed on the silicon substrate; a first electric contact to the silicon substrate; and a second electric contact to the metal structure.Item Sulfurized carbon cathodes(2023-03-14) Tour, James M.; Salvatierra, Rodrigo Villegas; Silva, Gladys Anahi Lopez; Raji, Abdul-rahman O.; Rice University; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeAlkali metal-sulfur cells and batteries with cathode layers that store alkali metal charge carriers (e.g., lithium ions) in agglomerates of sulfurized carbon. The cathode layers lack costly and environmentally unfriendly nickel and cobalt. The cathode layers are composites that include agglomerates of sulfurized-carbon particles in a conductive binder and interconnected by sp2-bonded carbon materials, such as carbon nanotubes or nanoribbons, that extend within the agglomerates and between the sulfurized-carbon particles.Item Recycling Li-ion batteries using green chemicals and processes(2023-02-28) Tran, Mai K.; Rodrigues, Marco-tulio F.; Babu, Ganguli; Gullapalli, Hemtej; Ajayan, Pulickel M.; Rice University; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeA process for extracting, recovering and recycling metals and materials from spent lithium ion batteries (LIB) that comprises the contacting battery waste products with a deep eutectic solvent, and leaching the metal from the battery waste product and extracting the metal into the deep eutectic solvent with heat and agitation. After the leaching and extracting, the process further includes recovering the dissolved metals ions from the deep eutectic solvent solution, followed by a step of regeneration of cathode materials.Item Derivatives of thailanstatin A, methods of treatment and methods of synthesis thereof(2023-02-21) Nicolaou, Kyriacos C.; Rhoades, Derek; Kumar, Soundarapandian M.; Pattanayak, Manas R.; Lamani, Manjunath; Rice University; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeIn one aspect, the present disclosure provides analogs of thailanstatin of the formula wherein the variables are as defined herein. In another aspect, the present disclosure also provides methods of preparing the compounds disclosed herein. In another aspect, the present disclosure also provides pharmaceutical compositions and methods of use of the compounds disclosed herein.Item Serially expanding an artificial heart valve within a pediatric patient(2023-02-07) Justino, Henri; Harrington, Daniel; Chun, Kwonsoo; Rice University; Baylor College of Medicine; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeSome embodiments are directed to methods for serially expanding an artificial heart valve within a pediatric patient. For example, the artificial heart valve can be implanted into the pediatric patient during a first procedure, and then expanded during a second procedure to accommodate for the pediatric patient's growth. Some embodiments include introducing an expander into the implanted valve when the frame is expanded to a first working diameter, and then actuating the expander to expand the frame to a second working diameter greater than the first working diameter, to accommodate for the pediatric patient's growth.Item Mechanical opening of lipid bilayers by molecular nanomachines(2023-01-31) Tour, James M.; Pal, Robert; García, López Victor; Nilewski, Lizanne; Rice University; William Marsh Rice University; Durham University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeEmbodiments of the present disclosure pertain to methods of opening a lipid bilayer by associating the lipid bilayer with a molecule that includes a moving component capable of moving (e.g., rotating) in response to an external stimulus; and exposing the molecule to an external stimulus before, during or after associating the molecule with the lipid bilayer. The exposing causes the moving component of the molecule to move and thereby open the lipid bilayer (e.g., by pore formation). The external stimuli may include an energy source, such as ultraviolet light. The opened lipid bilayer may be a component of cell membranes in vitro or in vivo. The opening of the lipid bilayer may allow for the passage of various materials (e.g., active agents, such as peptide-based drugs) through the lipid bilayer and into cells. Additional embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to the aforementioned molecules for opening lipid bilayers.Item Multifunctional fluorescent and MRI-active nanostructure(2022-11-22) Halas, Nancy J.; Ayala-Orozco, Ciceron; Bishnoi, Sandra; Henderson, Luke; Neumann, Oara; Pautler, Robia; Nordlander, Peter; Rice University; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeA Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) enhancement agent includes a plurality of particles, each particle including: a metal core; a dielectric shell disposed on the metal core comprising at least one MRI contrast agent; and a metal shell disposed on the exterior surface of the dielectric shell that encapsulates the dielectric shell.Item Molecular hybridization probes for complex sequence capture and analysis(2022-11-22) Zhang, David; Wang, Juexiao; Yan, Yan; Rice University; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeThis present disclosure describes hybridization probes modularly constructed from several oligonucleotides with a pattern of designed complementary interactions, allowing the probes to sequence-specifically capture or analyze nucleic acid target sequences that are long and/or complex.Item Harmonic light-generating metasurface(2022-11-15) Semmlinger, Michael; Tseng, Ming-lun; Yang, Jian; Zhang, Ming; Tsai, Din Ping; Dong, Liangliang; Ahmadivand, Arash; Nordlander, Peter; Halas, Naomi Jean; Rice University; William Marsh Rice University; Academia Sinica; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeA harmonic light-generating metasurface includes a base substrate and a plurality of structures, that include nonlinear material, that are disposed in a pattern on a surface of the base substrate. Each structure of the plurality of structures individually supports a magnetic dipole mode. An electromagnetic field enhancement of the magnetic dipole mode induces generation of a harmonic signal by the plurality of structures. Alternatively, a harmonic light-generating metasurface, includes a base substrate, a supporting substrate that includes a nonlinear material, and a plurality of paired structures disposed in a pattern on a surface of the supporting substrate. Each paired structure, of the plurality of paired structures, collectively supports a toroidal dipole mode. An electromagnetic field enhancement of the toroidal dipole mode penetrates the supporting substrate to induce generation of a harmonic signal by the supporting substrate.Item Method, apparatus, and computer-readable medium for predicting a hybridization rate constant of a first sequence(2022-10-18) Zhang, Xuemeng; Fang, Zheng; Wu, Ruojia; Duan, Wei; Zhang, David; Rice University; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeEmbodiments of methods, systems, and tangible non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions are presented. A method includes calculating a plurality of feature values for a number of bioinformatic features of the desired hybridization reaction; and calculating distances between the plurality of feature values and corresponding database rate constant values stored in a database, the database comprising a plurality of hybridization reactions having known rate constants. The method additionally includes calculating a weighted average of a logarithm of the database rate constant values, with larger weights assigned to value instances having values lower in distance to the plurality of feature values of the desired hybridization reaction; and providing the weighted average as a predicted logarithm of the rate constant of the desired hybridization reaction.Item Synthesis of disorazoles and analogs thereof as potent anticancer agents(2022-10-11) Nicolaou, Kyrlacos C.; Bellavance, Gabriel; Buchman, Marek; Pulukuri, Kiran Kumar; Rigol, Stephan; Rice University; William Marsh Rice University; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeIn one aspect, the present disclosure provides disorazole analogs of the formula: Formula (I) wherein the variables are as defined herein. In another aspect, the present disclosure also provides methods of preparing the compounds disclosed herein. In another aspect, the present disclosure also provides pharmaceutical compositions and methods of use of the compounds disclosed herein. Additionally, drug conjugates with cell targeting moieties of the compounds are also provided.Item Transcatheter and serially-expandable artificial heart valve(2022-10-11) Justino, Henri; Harrington, Daniel; Chun, Kwonsoo; Rice University; William Marsh Rice University; Baylor College of Medicine; United States Patent and Trademark OfficeSome embodiments are directed to a transcatheter and serially-expandable artificial heart valve, e.g., to be minimally-invasively implanted into a pediatric patient during a first procedure, and then expanded during a second procedure to accommodate for the pediatric patient's growth. Some embodiments include an expandable frame having a compressed, delivery configuration, and an expanded, deployed configuration, in which the valve is implantable within the patient. The valve can have a first working condition when the frame is expanded to a first diameter and a second working condition when the frame is expanded to a second diameter greater than the first diameter. The valve can include a plurality of leaflets configured to accommodate the expansion of the frame and growth of the patient.