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Objective: A left-sided double lumen tube is recommended for one-lung ventilation for most thoracic surgeries, but for certain indications, a right-sided double lumen tube (R-DLT) may be mandatory. Frequent malposition of R-DLTs has been reported. We propose an innovative modification of Mallinckrodt's Broncho-Cath™ R-DLT consisting of an enlarged area of the lateral orifice, and studied the impact of this modification on the adequacy of R-DLT positioning.Methods: Eighty adult patients scheduled for elective thoracic surgery were randomized into two groups: standard BronchoCath™ R-DLT, or modified Broncho-Cath™ R-DLT. After induction of anesthesia, the R-DLT was positioned using a fibreoptic bronchoscope. The position of the R-DLT was assessed on three occasions: with the patient supine (T1), then immediately following the patient's transfer to the lateral position (T2), and after repositioning of the tube, when needed, with the patient in lateral position (T3). A score ranging from 1 to 4 was accorded to the relative position of the right upper lobe (RUL) orifice in relation to the origin of the RUL bronchus. Results:The modified Broncho-Cath™ R-DLT was more frequently in an adequate position at T2: 77% vs 37% of patients (P = 0.0121), and easier to reposition at T3: 97% vs 74% of patients (P = 0.0109) in comparison to the standard BronchoCath™ R-DLT group. Conclusion:These data suggest the superiority of the modified Broncho-Cath™ R-DLT compared to a standard BronchoCath™ R-DLT for optimal R-DLT positioning to facilitate one-lung ventilation during thoracic surgery.

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This paper describes an experimental demonstration of a distributed, decentralized, low communication sensor management algorithm. We first review the mathematics surrounding the method, which includes a novel combination of particle filtering for predictive density estimation and information theory for maximizing information flow. Earlier work has shown the utility via Monte Carlo simulations. Here we present a laboratory demonstration to illustrate the utility and to provide a stepping stone toward full-up implementation. To that end, we describe an inverted Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) test-bed developed by The General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems (GDAIS) Michigan Research and Development Center (MRDC) to facilitate and promote the maturation of the research algorithm into an operational, field-able system. Using a modular design with wheeled robots as surrogates to UAVs, we illustrate how the method is able to detect and track moving targets over a large surveillance region by tasking a collection of limited field of view sensors.

A common problem in ground moving target indication (GMTI) radar is detecting a target with even a large radar cross section (RCS) when its line-ofsight velocity falls below the minimum detectable velocity (MDV) for that radar system. In a cooperative scenario, a target may employ a tagging device which can shift or spread its Doppler signature to become more detectable. In this paper we develop a bound on the minimum modulatable RCS of a passive (non-amplifying) device needed to be detectable as a function of radar and mode parameters, and compute this bound for specific GMTI and SAR radar modes.