Brookhaven National Laboratory

Compact Gamma Camera for High-Resolution Imaging of Prostate Cancer
A nuclear medical probe that that pinpoints the locale of cancer tissue in the prostate gland. Diagnosis is easier using a gamma camera than with the conventional ultrasound imaging because the camera can more easily detect the small cancerous tissues and distinguish between benign and cancerous tumors. This was a joint entry with Hybridyne Imaging Technologies Inc.

Idaho National Laboratory

Water Sample Concentrator
It is an automated portable device that concentrates and packages a sample of suspected contaminated water for safe, efficient transport to a qualified analytical laboratory. This technology will help safeguard against pathogen contamination or chemical and biological attacks on water supplies.

RFinity - Mobile Open-Encryption Platform
An innovation that offers a low-cost, plug-n-play option that enables virtually any wireless telecommunications device to safely store sensitive personal information and perform secure transactions.

Precision Nanoparticles
It is a revolutionary technology that efficiently produces nanoparticles in uniform and prescribed sizes (1-100 nanometers) using supercritical fluids.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

GeMini Spectrometer
A portable gamma-ray spectrometer based on germanium technology. The instrument is so small that it fits in the palm of a hand, and this spectrometer is outfitted with an innovative low-powered, miniature cooling mechanism. GeMini was launched on NASA’s Mercury Messenger spacecraft and is now taking the first-ever gamma-ray data of the planet Mercury. GeMini also can be used to help prevent terrorists from smuggling nuclear materials into the country.

Artificial Retina
LLNL has assisted in the development of the first long-term retinal prosthesis, called an “artificial retina.” With this device, application-specific integrated circuits transform digital images from a camera into electric signals in the eye that the brain uses to create a visual image. In clinical trials, patients with vision loss were able to successfully identify objects, increase mobility, and detect movement using the “artificial retina.” This work was done in collaboration with four national laboratories (Argonne, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and Sandia), four universities (the California Institute of Technology, the Doheny Eye Institute, North Carolina State University and the University of California, Santa Cruz), an industrial partner (Second Sight Medical Products Inc. of Sylmar, Calif.) and the U.S. Department of Energy.

The FemtoScope
LLNL researchers have developed the fiber-optic-based FemtoScope, a time microscope that can be attached to the front end of any conventional recording instrument, such as an oscilloscope or streak camera. The FemtoScope can dramatically improve the performance of these traditional recording devices in the same way a high-performance lens improves a camera’s output. When the FemtoScope is combined with an optical streak camera, the system achieves a 20-fold increase in temporal resolution simultaneous with a 30-fold improvement in dynamic range for an overall improvement of 600 times compared to the performance of the streak camera alone. This breakthrough offers the potential to yield important insights into understanding the process of fusion energy burn. This entry was submitted in collaboration with Stanford University, the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton (Southampton, U.K.), and the University of California, Davis.  

ROSE compiler technology
ROSE, a compiler infrastructure developed by LLNL computer scientists, radically changes the accessibility of compiler technologies, allowing access to average software developers and scientists. ROSE enables users to build their own computer tools, including defect detection tools to uncover undetected bugs, code optimization tools to maximize program performance and program transformation tools that allow users to easily develop programs for today’s fast changing hardware platform.

Land Mine Locator: Eradicating the Aftermath of War
The Land Mine Locator is a humanitarian aerial land mine detection system designed to lower the time and cost of demining operations, and vastly improve the safety to personnel and equipment. The locator is equipped with an array of ultra-wideband radar sensors and sophisticated subsurface tomography algorithms, both developed by LLNL, that provide exceptional quality subsurface images. These technologies are combined with Hystar, a revolutionary aerial vehicle with unique flight capabilities that permit remote, reusable and safe operation for sensor platforms.  This entry was submitted in conjunction with First Alliance Technologies, LLC of San Ramon, Calif. and Hystar Aerospace Corp. of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Laser Beam Centering and Pointing System
Until now, two separate sensors were needed for laser beams, one for centering and another for pointing. Now, the Laser Beam Centering and Pointing System does the work of two sensors by using a special dual-imaging lens, which acts like a bifocal, to capture both images simultaneously and combine them into one.

Spectral Sentry - Protecting High-Intensity Lasers from Bandwidth-Related Damage
Many of today’s research lasers have bandwidth – or multiple colors – added to their pulses to prevent laser damage. That damage can occur when the initial seed pulses for these lasers are amplified trillions of times, to extreme levels that push laser materials to their physical limits. Spectral Sentry is an advanced technology developed by LLNL scientists and engineers to protect critical laser systems from pulses that contain insufficient bandwidth for amplification. The device inspects each individual laser pulse – travelling at up to 186,000 miles per second and generated by the laser it is protecting – and then determines if the pulse meets the minimum bandwidth requirements to avoid self-destruction when amplified. Spectral Sentry can stop the speed-of-light pulse it just measured from further amplification, avoiding potential laser damage.

Precision Robotic Assembly Machine for Building Nuclear Fusion Ignition Targets
LLNL scientists and engineers have developed the precision robotic assembly machine to manufacture the small and complex laser-driven fusion ignition targets for the world’s largest and most energetic laser, the National Ignition Facility. This entry was submitted in collaboration with General Atomics of San Diego, Calif.; Indicate Technologies Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif.; and Aerotech Inc. of Pittsburgh, Penn.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Ultra-Accelerate Weathering System
Multifaceted ultraviolet solar concentrator is used to speed up the exposure of coatings, paints and other materials to determine their durability and resistance to weathering. Industry applications include coatings used for solar panels, while other uses for the UAWS include paints or finishes used on homes, cars or bridges. This is a joint entry with NREL, Atlas Material Testing Technology and Institute of Laser Optical Technology.

PowerPlane UX Battery
A safe, rechargeable, deep-cycle, thin-film lithium microbattery. Ideal applications are remote wireless sensors, smart homes, smart cars and medical sensing devices. Unlike traditional batteries, the PowerPlane UX Microbattery has a long life cycle even if it is frequently and fully discharged. This is a joint entry with Planar Energy Devices.

SkyTrough Parabolic Trough Solar Concentrating Connector
Uses a reflector material developed by NREL and its collaborative research partner, SkyFuel, to create a ground-breaking and low-cost system for utility-sized power generation. This is a joint entry with SkyFuel.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

AFA: Alumina-Forming Austenitic Stainless Steels
AFA stainless steels boast an increased upper-temperature oxidation, or corrosion, limit that is 100 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit higher than that of conventional stainless steels. These new alloys deliver this superior oxidation resistance with high-temperature strengths approaching that of far more expensive nickel-based alloys without sacrificing the typical lower cost, formability and weldability of conventional stainless steels. These new alloys have applications ranging from gas turbines and power plants to chemical and petrochemical processing equipment.

Artificial Retina
The artificial retina, a bio-electronic implant, enables patients with a severe form of retinal degeneration that causes blindness, the ability to recognize objects and navigate their environment. With the aid of the most current 60-pixel implant, patients can distinguish between light and dark. In order to be able to read large print and recognize faces, the implant must feature 1,000 pixels. This was jointly submitted by  Argonne, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and Sandia National Laboratories; USC (Doheny Eye Institute); California Institute of Technology; North Carolina State University; University of California at Santa Cruz; and Second Sight Medical Products.

Fire-Resistive Phase Change Material
This first-ever organic fire-resistive material when incorporated into conventional insulation can improve the heating and cooling efficiency in buildings. The new materials, composed of fatty-acid esters from sustainable plant and animal fats and blended with cellulose insulation, are the first phase change materials to fulfill all requirements in the U.S. flammability tests. The PCM adds thermal mass to buildings, thus generating heating and cooling energy savings of up to 25 percent in residential buildings. Temperature fluctuations are absorbed by the PCM-enhanced insulation and transferred to the environment later, resulting in energy savings. This project was jointly submitted by ORNL, Microtek Laboratories and Advanced Fiber Technology.

Mass-Independent Kinetic-Energy-Reducing Inlet System for Mass Spectrometers
This technology permits high-resolution mass analysis of large, intact biological molecules without having to break them apart. With this spectrometer, the large biomolecular ions are captured in a trapping field while air is pumped away. Conventional spectrometers pump most of the ions away with the air, making them less sensitive. This mass spectrometer delivers much higher resolution in the high mass range compared to conventional spectrometers. For specific use in the medical field, the mass spectrometer can be developed to rapidly image a tumor and define the boundaries so the tumor can be most effectively treated.

MELCOT: Methodology for Estimating the Life of Power Line Conductor-Connector Systems Operating at High Temperatures
This technology predicts the service life of conductor-connector systems. The splices connecting the conductor lines are literally the weak links in power transmission systems. With this new method of investigating performance and integrity of the power line systems, researchers can develop more durable and reliable systems for the electric power grid. Power grid operators can maintain power flow and prevent potential grid failures, and effectively reroute power distribution during emergency or natural disasters. This was a joint submission with Electric Power Research Institute, Tennessee Valley Authority and PBS&J.

PulseForge 3100
The PulseForge 3100 uses rapid pulses of light for high-speed drying, curing, sintering or annealing high temperature materials on plastic and paper, enabling inexpensive and flexible electronics. With the PulseForge 3100, high intensity flashlamps briefly heat inks and films to controlled high temperatures. The PulseForge and Pulse Thermal Processing systems provide a thousand-fold increase in the energy flux that is available to the surface of the processed parting – cutting processing times to fractions of a second. This was a joint submission with NovaCentrix.

Superconducting Wires by Epitaxial Growth on SSIFFS
Superconducting wires are flexible, single-crystal, high-temperature cables that enable high-performance advantages for electric power grid applications. These cables are different because they are round, instead of flat like conventional wires, which lowers heat loss and eliminates energy loss, making longer transmission lengths possible. Superconducting wires can carry five times more power than copper cables and are capable of long-distance power transmission, interconnecting entire continents and providing local energy storage. For a specific device or design, wires can be bundled into larger dimension wires of any shape.

Thermomagnetic Processing Technology
Thermomagnetic processing technology could revolutionize the U.S. heat-treating industry with reduced energy and processing costs. This technology enhances materials performance with an 85 percent higher stretch capability strength, enabling lighter weight designs. Thermomagnetic processing technology uses superconducting magnets to cut down on energy use in the typical heat treat processing. High magnetic field processing reduces residual stress (post-heat treating stress) and eliminates material phases, thus eliminating specialized thermal processing steps. This was jointly submitted by ORNL, Eaton Corp., American Magnetics and Ajax TOCCO Magnethermic Corp.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Ultrasensitive ESI-MS Source & Interface
Scientists at PNNL have achieved a 40-fold increase in the sensitivity of mass spectrometry instrumentation that will benefit applications in human health, the environment, and pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries. The Ultrasensitive ESI-MS Source & Interface integrates four technologies to provide greater sensitivity and precise measurements while requiring smaller samples. PNNL’s improved ESI-MS instrumentation can measure amounts of compounds in a sample very precisely, even when very little material is available, which is especially important when sample sizes are limited, such as from microbiopsies of human tissue. PNNL scientists are using the improved sensitivity in studies to develop biomarkers for early disease diagnosis, drug target discovery and basic biological research.

Perpetua Power Puck
The Perpetua Power Puck™ harvests energy from its surrounding environment with the capability for replacing outright conventional chemical batteries.The Power Puck is a renewable energy source that has no moving parts, which makes it more efficient and cost-effective than other technologies. The technology can save time and money in situations where information needs to be collected and power sources need to be maintained at remote sites, such as monitoring the structural integrity of dams, bridges and pipelines. These energy harvesters are expected to last as long as the sensors and transmitters they power. This was a joint entry between PNNL and Perpetua Power Source Technologies.