Remifentanil is an ultrashort acting mu opioid, well suited to total intravenous (i.v.) anaesthesia. Pain immediately following emergence from anaesthesia is a potential problem because of the rapid offset. This study investigated the transition from remifentanil/propofol total intravenous anaesthesia to post-operative analgesia with epidural or patient controlled analgesia morphine in 22 patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. A remifentanil post-operative infusion initiated during emergence was titrated in the recovery room for 30 min, at which time 14% of patients had a pain score of 2 and 86% had pain scores of 0 or 1 (0 = no pain; 1 = mild pain; 2 = moderate pain; 3 = severe pain), at a mean infusion rate of 0.086 mug kg −1 min −1 . A smooth transition was then made to either epidural analgesia or patient controlled analgesia with morphine; pain scores were not significantly changed during the transition. Nausea occurred in 16 of the 22 patients, but only following administration of morphine. Epidural analgesia produced significantly lower pain scores on the surgical ward compared with patient controlled analgesia.

Large area amorphous silicon image sensor arrays are important for x-ray medical imaging and document scanning as well as a variety of other applications where large sensor size is required. The paper first summarizes the present state of the flat panel x-ray imager technology, and compares the two main approaches for x-ray detection. We then describe the performance of a new, large area, high resolution, radiographic imager based on a single amorphous silicon array with 2304×3200 pixels, and an active area of 30×40 cm (12×1 6”).

X-ray microtomography is used to nondestructively section printed wiring boards in which conductive anodic filaments (CAFs) had grown, Quantification of the spatial distribution of copper is compared for microtomography and for serial sections obtained in SEM with backscattered electrons. The agreement between the techniques is excellent and indicates that microtomography may be used confidently to follow the subsurface growth of CAFs.

The surface reflectivity of ion implanted silicon is a function of the entire past history of the material, including the nature of the implanted species and the implant dose. It is influenced by interference effects, arising from discontinuities in index of refraction at the surface and at the boundary between damaged and undamaged material. The reflectivity may be either higher or lower than that of the unimplanted silicon. As the crystalline silicon regrows from below, the reflectivity changes because of variable constructive or destructive interference. This paper describes monitoring of the surface reflectivity during continuous laser annealing. The beam from a continuous argon ion laser is scanned in a raster pattern over the silicon surface. The surface reflectivity for a HeNe laser beam is monitored as a function of time during crystalline regrowth. The reflectivity contains an oscillatory component which arises because of changes in interference due to the decreasing thickness of the noncrystalline layer. The oscillatory behavior produces a signature characteristic of the annealing. The reflectivity monitoring technique is useful for investigating the influence of parameters such as the spatial profile of the laser beam and the implantation dose on the annealing characteristics. The results are correlated with measurements of the depth profile of the implanted ions, as revealed by anodic oxidation and stripping.