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US9393428B2 - Implantable antenna assemblies - Google PatentsImplantable antenna assemblies Download PDF
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Implantable antenna assemblies can be used for wireless transmission of signals and power to an implanted medical device. For example, a cochlear implant system includes an external portion and an implanted portion. The external portion communicates signals and power to the implanted portion through the skin of the patient. The implanted portion includes an antenna assembly that receives the signals and power.
The accompanying drawings illustrate various examples of the principles described herein and are a part of the specification. The illustrated examples are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements.
A variety of implanted devices, such as pacemakers and cochlear implants, use an implanted antenna assembly to receive power and electrical signals through the patient's skin. The implantable antenna assembly is designed to meet specific criteria for biocompatibility, lifetime, and transmission efficiency. For example, a cochlear implant system typically comprises both an external unit that receives and processes ambient sound waves and an implanted processor/electrode array that receives data and power from the external unit via an implanted antenna. The implanted processor/electrode array uses this data and power to directly stimulate the auditory nerve.
The antenna assembly for a typical cochlear implant includes an inductor made from a metal strand such as gold or platinum that is wound in one or several loops. An electromagnetic shield is formed around the inductor to reduce noise and undesirable alteration of the characteristics of the inductor by external objects. The inductor and electromagnetic shield are embedded in silicone. The ends of the strand are connected to the electronics in the implanted processor of the implant. The antenna assembly receives the information and energy sent through the skin flap by a headpiece. The antenna assembly designed to be flexible so that it can adjust to the shape of the skull.
These antenna assemblies for cochlear implants are manufactured by highly skilled technicians in a largely manual process. This results in the antenna assemblies being very costly and prone to some amount of deviation in electrical and mechanical properties. The deviation in electrical properties can result in antennas assemblies built by the same process having different transmission characteristics. Each antenna assembly is individually calibrated and tuned so that the antenna assemblies can be used with standard external units. Deviation in mechanical characteristics of the antenna assemblies results in minor dimensional and strength variations. A way to reduce costs, deviation in geometry and electrical properties, and to scale up production is to manufacture the antenna assemblies as flexible printed circuit boards.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present systems and methods. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present systems and methods may be practiced without these specific details. Reference in the specification to "an embodiment," "an example," or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least that one embodiment, but not necessarily in other embodiments. The various instances of the phrase "in one embodiment" or similar phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
The cochlear implant (202) is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing. In many cases, deafness is caused by the absence or destruction of the hair cells in the cochlea, i.e., sensorineural hearing loss. In the absence of properly functioning hair cells, there is no way auditory nerve impulses can be directly generated from ambient sound. Thus, conventional hearing aids, which amplify external sound waves, provide no benefit to persons suffering from complete sensorineural hearing loss.
Unlike hearing aids, the cochlear implant (202) does not amplify sound, but works by directly stimulating any functioning auditory nerve cells inside the cochlea (150) with electrical impulses representing the ambient acoustic sound. Cochlear prosthesis typically involves the implantation of electrodes into the cochlea. The cochlear implant operates by direct electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve cells, bypassing the defective cochlear hair cells that normally transduce acoustic energy into electrical energy.
External components (200) of the cochlear implant system (100) can include a Behind-The-Ear (BTE) unit (175), which contains the sound processor and has a microphone (170), a cable (177), and a transmitter (180). The microphone (170) picks up sound from the environment and converts it into electrical impulses. The sound processor within the BTE unit (175) selectively filters and manipulates the electrical impulses and sends the processed electrical signals through the cable (177) to the transmitter (180). The transmitter (180) receives the processed electrical signals from the processor and transmits them to the implanted antenna assembly (187) by electromagnetic transmission. In some cochlear implant systems, the transmitter (180) is held in place by magnetic interaction with a magnet (189) in the underlying antenna assembly (187).
The components of the cochlear implant (202) include an internal processor (185), an antenna assembly (187), and a cochlear lead (190) having an electrode array (195). The internal processor (185) and antenna assembly (187) are secured beneath the user's skin, typically above and behind the pinna (110). The antenna assembly (187) receives signals and power from the transmitter (180). The internal processor (185) receives these signals and performs one or more operations on the signals to generate modified signals. These modified signals are then sent through the cochlear lead (190) to the electrode array (195), which is the portion of the cochlear lead (190) that is implanted within the cochlea (150) and provides electrical stimulation to the auditory nerve (160).
The cochlear implant (202) stimulates different portions of the cochlea (150) according to the frequencies detected by the microphone (170), just as a normal functioning ear would experience stimulation at different portions of the cochlea depending on the frequency of sound vibrating the liquid within the cochlea (150). This allows the brain to interpret the frequency of the sound as if the hair cells of the basilar membrane were functioning properly.
The cochlear lead (190) typically comprises an electrode array (195) that is implanted in one of the cochlear ducts. The electrode array (195) includes several stimulating electrode contacts, conventionally numbering about 6 to 30, longitudinally disposed on a thin, elongated, flexible carrier. The electrode array is pushed into one of the cochlear ducts, such as the scala tympani, to a depth of about 13 to 30 mm via a cochleostomy or a surgical opening made in the round window at the basal end of the duct.
In use, the electrode array (195) delivers electrical current into the fluids and tissues immediately surrounding the individual electrode contacts to create transient potential gradients that, if sufficiently strong, cause the nearby auditory nerve fibers to generate action potentials. The density of electrical current flowing through volume conductors such as tissues and fluids tends to be highest near the electrode contact that is the source of such current. Consequently, stimulation at one contact site tends to selectively activate auditory nerve fibers with spiral ganglion cells that are closest to that contact site.
The conductive metal traces (315, 320, 325, 330, 335, 350) are formed on various surfaces of the flexible substrates to create an inductor (315, 350) and a shield (320, 325, 335). The metal traces may be formed using a variety of techniques including printing, chemical etching and laser machining. The metals that are fused to the polymer sheets to form traces are noble metals such as titanium, platinum, gold or alloys thereof. A first substrate layer includes conductive traces that make up the inductor on one side and one trace to connect the inductor to the implant electronics on the opposite side. Traces formed on the second and third substrate layers form the shield. In one example, the noble metal used to form the traces is gold. To facilitate adhesion of gold to the polymer substrates, a very thin adhesion layer of titanium or platinum can be used. The thickness of the traces is selected to achieve the desired electrical resistance and flexibility. The sheet thicknesses of the substrates are in a range of 0.0005 to 0.002 inches (12.5 to 50 μm). The flexible printed antenna includes a number of connection points (355, 360) that interface with the internal processor (185,
The traces include a spiral inductor coil (315) that is connected at either end to two of the connection points (360). The inductor coil (315), and the entire antenna assembly, is specifically tuned receive the signals and power from the exterior transmitter (180,
The shield is made up of two separate segments (325, 335). The segments include conductive traces (330) that surround the antenna coil (315). These conductive traces are connected to two terminals (355). By grounding the two terminals (355), the shield can protect the inductor (315) from undesired noise and alternation of the antenna's properties.
The antenna assembly (187) may include features that allow it to be positioned and interface with the internal processor more easily. In this implementation, a radius (367) is included in near the connection points (355, 360). The radius (367) matches a corresponding curvature on the outer surface of the internal processor (185,
In one example, flexible printed antenna assembly (187) includes four individual substrate layers that are laminated together.
In this illustrative implementation the traces in the antenna assembly (187) are formed on the polyimide substrates. The traces include a thin adhesion layer (317). The adhesion layer (317) is made up of a material that strongly binds with both the polyimide and the noble metal deposited over the adhesion layer. For example, the adhesion layer (317) may be titanium or platinum and the traces (315, 325, 330) may be formed from gold or a gold alloy. The adhesion layer and traces may be deposited using a variety of methods including plating, sputtering, vapor deposition or other methods. The traces can be shaped using chemical etching, laser ablation, or other suitable technique.
Traces (315) that make up the antenna inductor are formed on the first flexible substrate (340-1). The inductor traces (315) may have larger cross sections than other traces and be formed from gold or a gold alloy. Gold provides good flexibility and superior electrical conductivity. The shields include gold traces (330) formed on a second substrate (340-2) and third substrate (340-3). These traces (330) are connected together using vias (320) that pass through the first and second substrates (340). When complete, the shields include a number of conductive loops that pass around the traces that make up the inductor. In one implementation, the inductor trace has a thickness of approximately 0.0007 inches (18 μm) and a width of approximately 0.02 inches (500 μm). The shield traces have a thickness of approximately 0.0009 inches (23 μm) and a width of approximately 0.007 inches (179 μm).
After the desired traces are formed on the substrates, the substrates are laminated together using an intermediary adhesive (342). The thickness of the adhesive (342) in
The design illustrated in
- PI/Ti/Au/Adhesive/PI/Ti/Au/Adhesive/PI/Ti/Au/Adhesive/PI.
The thickness of these layers may vary. In general, the unencapsulated antenna assembly (187) may have a thickness between 200 and 400 μm. Encapsulation with 0.008 inch (203 μm) thick layer of silicone results in an encapsulated thickness of approximately 0.029 inches (737 μm). This relatively thin and flexible antenna assembly (187) may have a number of advantages, including being more flexible, easier to implant, less noticeable to the patient, and less prone to damage. The flexibility of the antenna assembly allows it to adapt to the contours of the patients bone structures. The assembly's thinness and flexibility allows it to be surgically positioned with minimal trauma to the patient.
The antenna assembly can be subjected to impact from externally applied forces, such as those associated with the falling of a patient or a blow to the patient's body in the region of the implanted medical device. Such impact forces can cause antennas that are formed from wire to fail from a tensile breakage of wire. By contrast, the present design uses traces that are formed within a multilayer flexible circuit board. The polyimide that makes up the multilayer flexible circuit board is flexible through its thickness but resists in-plane stretching that might result in breakage of the traces. Thus, the antenna can deform rather than break if the impact is normal to the plane of the antenna. The strength of the antenna assembly resists stretching from oblique impacts.
The impact resistance of the antenna assembly was tested repeatedly impacting the antenna assembly using a calibrated surface striker. The impact produced by the surface striker was at a 10 degree angle from a normal vector that is perpendicular to the plane of the antenna assembly. The antenna assembly was placed on a metal surface (to simulate the skull) and a 2.8 mm thick polyurethane sheet was placed over the antenna assembly (to simulate skin covering the antenna assembly). The surface striker repeatedly impacted the antenna assembly with energies of up to 13 joules. There was no damage to the antenna assembly.
Upper portions of the shields are formed on a second flexible substrate (340-2) (step 510). These upper portions are two arcs (325, 335) with inwardly extending traces. An extension is formed from the end of each arc to allow the arcs to be connected to an electrical ground. In this implementation, the electrical ground is the titanium housing of the implanted processor.
Lower portions of the shields are formed on a third flexible substrate (step 515). The lower portions of the shields include a number of radial spokes that extend inward from the outer perimeter of the third flexible substrate toward the center.
In this example, the first, second and third flexible substrates are laminated together and via holes are formed through the substrates (step 520). Although the illustrations show the substrates as having their final rounded shape and the center cutout for the magnet, traces for multiple layers and multiple antennas can be formed on a single sheet of polyimide. This allows for many layers to be formed in a single series of operations. The sheet can then be cut into the individual substrates and stacked together to form the multilayer flexible circuit. In other embodiments, the multiple sheets may be laminated together and then cut into individual assemblies.
The via holes may be formed in a variety of ways, including using laser machining, mechanical punching, drilling or other appropriate technique. In some examples, the via holes may be formed through individual substrates prior to lamination. For example, the first substrate uses a via to connect the return trace to the antenna coil. This via only needs to pass through the first substrate. However, forming this via in the just the first substrate can require several separate operations. In other examples, all the vias are formed simultaneously and pass all the way through the three stacked substrates. For example, the via holes may be formed at the same time the laminated substrates are cut into individual assemblies.
The via holes are filled with a noble metal. This forms vias that connect to traces that intersect the via holes. The vias connect the upper and lower portions of the shields, connect the antenna coil and the return trace, and form connection points. As discussed above, the connection points may be formed by plating the via holes and leaving a through aperture sized to receive posts on the internal processor. For example, the interior of via holes that are designed to form connection points may be plated to a minimum thickness with a noble metal. In one embodiment, the minimum thickness is 0.001 inches (25 μm).
Additional layers may be laminated over the top and/or bottom of the three laminated substrates. These layers can serve to protect the traces from mechanical abrasion and to further isolate the traces from the implanted environment. In some examples, the additional layers may be formed from the same material as the flexible substrates. If present, the additional layers do not cover the connection points.
Following the lamination of the additional layers, if any, the antenna assembly is complete and can be connected to the processor (step 530). The antenna assembly can be connected to the processor by electrically connecting the connection points to contacts on the processor (185). To connect the coil to the implants electronics, four holes have been drilled through the entire structure that conform to the geometry of the feedthrough pins on the implants case. The connection of the inductor and shield to the case can be made in a variety of ways including conductive epoxy.
Additionally or alternatively, some of the connection points may be flat pads. These pads on the antenna coil can be electrically connected to corresponding pads on a hermetic electrical feedthrough. In some embodiments, this hermetic electrical feedthrough is disposed on the bottom of the processor. The pads on the antenna assembly can be connected to the processor using a number of techniques including laser welding and soldering. Connecting the pads to the processor electrically and mechanically connects the antenna assembly to the processor.
Additional connections can be made to the processor and the processor and antenna assembly can be encapsulated (step 535). The additional connections may include connecting the electrode array to the processor. These additional connections may be formed before or after the antenna is connected to the processor. The encapsulant may be medical grade silicone. Silicone is flexible and biocompatible and acts as a cushion between the surrounding biological tissues and the implanted components. The silicone may also act as a strain relief that mechanically joins the various components and prevents kinking of electrical conductors. In some embodiments, the silicone overmold (345) includes a pocket over the center of the antenna (187) that retains the magnet (189).
The implementation given above is only one example. A variety of other methods could be used, including methods that add, combine, omit, or reorder steps. For example, the return trace could be formed on the third substrate with the lower portions of the shields. This would eliminate patterning of the back surface of the first substrate.
Although the description above describes a printing process being used to form the traces on the various substrate surfaces, other techniques could also be used. For example, the traces could be formed from sheets of conductive foil that are then adhered to and sandwiched between substrate layers. The sheets of conductive foil could be platinum or gold foil that is cut to shape using laser or micro-machining.
One consideration in the design of a cochlear implant is the ability to remove any magnetic material that may adversely affect diagnostic imaging required by the patient. Diagnostic imaging that may be adversely affected by the magnet includes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans. An MRI uses a powerful magnetic field to align polar molecules in the human body. Perturbations of this alignment are used to make two and three dimensional images of soft tissues in the body. An MRI may be particularly useful for imaging the brain, muscles, heart and cancers. However, the application of the magnetic field during an MRI interacts with the magnet (189) to produce undesirable forces and possibly motion of the magnet and/or cochlear implant. A CT scan uses X-rays to image structures in the body. The magnet can disrupt the imaging produced by the CT scan in areas that are close to the magnet. This can be particularly undesirable when the area of interest is close to the magnet and cochlear implant. Consequently, one of the considerations in designing a cochlear implant is to allow a surgeon to easily remove the magnet (189) prior to diagnostic imaging and then replace the magnet following the diagnostic imaging. In
In an illustrative embodiment shown in
The antenna configurations shown above are only illustrative examples of principles described herein. A variety of other configurations could be used.
All of the embodiments described above allow for the separate explanation of the magnet without disrupting the other components of the cochlear implant. The magnet is directly accessible after creating an opening in the overlying skin. The magnet is removed by pushing back the encapsulant lip around the opening of the pocket and lifting the magnet out of the pocket.
The principles described above can be used to create antenna assemblies that are flexible and implantable. The use of printing techniques on a multilayer substrate results in an antenna assembly that can be produced with low cost and with low electrical and mechanical deviation. The ability to repeatably produce an antenna design with low electrical deviations can increase the efficiency of the energy transfer to the antenna and extend the battery life of the exterior device. Additionally, the multilayer antenna assembly is an extremely thin, strong design. This increases the safety of the antenna assembly and makes it less intrusive when implanted.
The preceding description has been presented only to illustrate and describe examples of the principles described. This description is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit these principles to any precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.
Claims (27)
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The gas chambers worked to their fullest capacity from April to July 1944, during the massacre of Hungary's Jews. Hungary was an ally of Germany during the war, but it had resisted turning over its Jews until Germany invaded that March.[177] A rail spur leading to crematoria II and III in Auschwitz II was completed that May, and a new ramp was built between sectors BI and BII to deliver the victims closer to the gas chambers.[178] On 29 April the first 1,800 Hungarian Jews arrived at the camp;[178] from 14 May until early July 1944, 437,000 Hungarian Jews, half the pre-war population, were deported to Auschwitz, at a rate of 12,000 a day for a considerable part of that period.[105] The crematoria had to be overhauled. Crematoria II and III were given new elevators leading from the stoves to the gas chambers, new grates were fitted, and several of the dressing rooms and gas chambers were painted. Cremation pits were dug behind crematorium V.[178] The last mass transports to arrive in Auschwitz were 60,000–70,000 Jews from the Łódź Ghetto, some 2,000 from Theresienstadt, and 8,000 from Slovakia.[166][179] The last selection took place on 30 October 1944.[162] Crematorium IV was demolished after the Sonderkommando revolt on 7 October 1944. The SS blew up crematorium V on 14 January 1945, and crematoria II and III on 20 January.[180]
In April 1940, Rudolph Höss, who become the first commandant, identified the Silesian town of Oswiecim as a possible site for a concentration camp. The function of the camp was initially to intimidate Poles and prevent resistance to German rule. It was also perceived as a cornerstone of the policy to re-colonize Upper Silesia, which had once been a German region, with 'pure Aryans'. On April 27th, Himmler ordered construction of the camp.
Schindler Ahead LogBook is the digital document repository to ease the handling of building equipment documents. Having one central place to compile technical and legal documents or user guides ends the need for exhaustive searches and paper copies. Everything is digital, easy to navigate and accessible from any device. The web-based system also allows file sharing with residents and partners. Paperless and stress less.
In April 1940, Rudolph Höss, who become the first commandant, identified the Silesian town of Oswiecim as a possible site for a concentration camp. The function of the camp was initially to intimidate Poles and prevent resistance to German rule. It was also perceived as a cornerstone of the policy to re-colonize Upper Silesia, which had once been a German region, with 'pure Aryans'. On April 27th, Himmler ordered construction of the camp.
Military trucks loaded with bread arrived on 28 January, and volunteers began to offer first aid and improvised assistance the following week.[249] The liberation of the camp received little Western press attention at the time. Laurence Rees attributes this to three factors: the previous discovery of similar crimes at the Majdanek concentration camp, competing news from the Allied summit at Yalta, and the Soviet Union's Marxist presentation of the camp "as the ultimate capitalist factory where the workers were dispensible", combined with its interest in minimizing attention to Jewish suffering.[252]
The invasion of France consisted of two phases, Operation Yellow (Fall Gelb) and Operation Red. Yellow opened with a feint conducted against the Netherlands and Belgium by two armoured corps and paratroopers. Three days later, the main effort of Panzer Group von Kleist attacked through the Ardennes and achieved a breakthrough with air support. The group raced to the coast of the English Channel, dislodging the British Expeditionary Force, Belgian Army, and some divisions of the French Army. The motorized units initially advanced far beyond the following divisions. When the German motorized forces were met with a counterattack at the Battle of Arras (1940), British tanks with heavy armour (Matilda I & IIs) created a brief panic in the German High Command. The motorized forces were halted outside the port city of Dunkirk which was being used to evacuate the Allied forces. Hermann Göring had promised his Luftwaffe would complete the job but aerial operations did not prevent the evacuation of the majority of Allied troops (which the British named Operation Dynamo); some 330,000 French and British. Operation Red then began with XV Panzer Corps attacking towards Brest and XIV Panzer Corps attacking south, east of Paris, towards Lyon, and XIX Panzer Corps completing the encirclement of the Maginot Line. The defending forces were hard pressed to organize any sort of counter-attack. The French forces were continually ordered to form new lines along rivers, often arriving to find the German forces had already passed them.
However, Schindler's financial woes continued, and he went bankrupt in 1958. He left his wife Emilie in Argentina to find fortune back in Germany, but despite his efforts, his various businesses repeatedly failed. Again, he had to depend on the charity of the Schindler Jews, many of whom he was still in contact with, to support his well being. In 1963, the same year he declared bankruptcy, he was honored by the State of Israel as Righteous Among the Nations, an award for non Jews who helped save Jews during the Holocaust. A year later, he had a heart attack and spent time recuperating in a hospital.
September 21, 1939 - Heydrich issues instructions to SS Einsatzgruppen (special action squads) in Poland regarding treatment of Jews, stating they are to be gathered into ghettos near railroads for the future "final goal." He also orders a census and the establishment of Jewish administrative councils within the ghettos to implement Nazi policies and decrees.
He went on to say that the use of tanks "left much to be desired...Fear of enemy action against the flanks of the advance, fear which was to prove so disastrous to German prospects in the west in 1940 and in the Soviet Union in 1941, was present from the beginning of the war." John Ellis further asserted that "...there is considerable justice in Matthew Cooper's assertion that the panzer divisions were not given the kind of strategic mission that was to characterize authentic armored blitzkrieg, and were almost always closely subordinated to the various mass infantry armies."
Italy introduced some antisemitic measures, but there was less antisemitism there than in Germany, and Italian-occupied countries were generally safer for Jews than German-occupied territories. In some areas, the Italian authorities even tried to protect Jews, such as in the Croatian areas of the Balkans. But while Italian forces in Russia were not as vicious towards Jews as the Germans, they did not try to stop German atrocities either. There were no deportations of Italian Jews to Germany while Italy remained an ally.[171] Several forced labor camps for Jews were established in Italian-controlled Libya. Almost 2,600 Libyan Jews were sent to camps, where 562 died.[172]
Oskar Schindler was a German who joined the Nazi Party for business reasons. Before the war, Schindler was known mainly for his interest in making quick money, drinking, and womanizing. Indeed, he saw the war at first as a chance to indulge in all three. Soon after the invasion of Poland, he came to the city of Kraków in search of business opportunities. With equal doses of bribery and charm, he managed to convince the Nazis that he was the right man to take over a failed cookware factory outside the city. He then proceeded to make a fortune turning out mess kits for German soldiers.
The passengers had landing certificates and transit visas by the Cuban Director-General of Immigration, Manuel Benitez Gonzalez. But, a week before the ship left, Cuban President Federico Laredo Bru published a decree that overturned all recent landing certificates. For them to land in Cuba, they needed written authorization from the Cuban Secretaries of State and Labor and a $500 bond. Most of the passengers were not prepared for the bureaucratic mess they were about to face in Cuba.
Responding to domestic pressures to act on behalf of Jewish refugees, U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt convened, but did not attend, the Évian Conference on resettlement, in Évian-les-Bains, France, in July 1938. In his invitation to government leaders, Roosevelt specified that they would not have to change laws or spend government funds; only philanthropic funds would be used for resettlement. Britain was assured that Palestine would not be on the agenda. The result was that little was attempted and less accomplished.
The SS: The SS was a military-style group of Nazis, founded in 1925, who were like Hitler's personal bodyguards. They were in charge of overseeing the killing of people in the camps. Part of the SS called the Einsatzgruppen were put in charge of killing many people, before the extermination camps were opened to carry this out on a much greater scale. The SS also took control of intelligence, security and the police force.
After Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Oskar Schindler set up an enamelware factory in Krakow that used a combination of Jewish workers interred by the Germans and free Polish workers. His initial interest, of course, was to make money. But as time went on, he grew to care about his Jewish workers, particularly those with whom he came into contact on a daily basis. In addition, helping Jews became a way to fight against what he viewed as disastrous and brutal policies emanating from Adolf Hitler and the SS.
Estimates of Jewish participation in partisan units throughout Europe range from 20,000 to 100,000.[323] In the occupied Polish and Soviet territories, thousands of Jews fled into the swamps or forests and joined the partisans,[324] although the partisan movements did not always welcome them.[325] An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 joined the Soviet partisan movement.[326] One of the famous Jewish groups was the Bielski partisans in Belarus, led by the Bielski brothers.[324] Jews also joined Polish forces, including the Home Army. According to Timothy Snyder, "more Jews fought in the Warsaw Uprising of August 1944 than in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of April 1943".[327][r]
Tested by the Germans during the Spanish Civil War in 1938 and against Poland in 1939, the blitzkrieg proved to be a formidable combination of land and air action. Germany's success with the tactic at the beginning of World War II hinged largely on the fact that it was the only country that had effectively linked its combined forces with radio communications. The use of mobility, shock, and locally concentrated firepower in a skillfully coordinated attack paralyzed an adversary's capacity to organize defenses, rather than attempting to physically overcome them, and then exploited that paralysis by penetrating to the adversary's rear areas and disrupting its whole system of communications and administration. The tactics, as employed by the Germans, consisted of a splitting thrust on a narrow front by combat groups using tanks, dive bombers, and motorized artillery to disrupt the main enemy battle position at the Schwerpunkt. Wide sweeps by armoured vehicles followed, establishing the Kessel that trapped and immobilized enemy forces. Those tactics were remarkably economical of both lives and matériel, primarily for the attackers but also, because of the speed and short duration of the campaign, among the victims.
In the first few decades after the Holocaust, scholars argued that it was unique as a genocide in its reach and specificity.[476] This began to change in the 1980s during the West German Historikerstreit ("historians' dispute"), an attempt to re-position the Holocaust within German historiography. Ernst Nolte triggered the dispute in June 1986 with an article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "Vergangenheit, die nicht vergehen will: Eine Rede, die geschrieben, aber nicht mehr gehalten werden konnte" ("The past that will not pass: A speech that could be written but not delivered"), in which he compared Auschwitz to the Gulag and suggested that the Holocaust was a response to Hitler's fear of the Soviet Union: "Was the Bolshevik murder of an entire class not the logical and factual prius of the 'racial murder' of National Socialism? ... Was the source of Auschwitz a past that would not go away?"[aa]
As for Schindler's wife Emilie, who also played a huge (but publicly understated) role in saving hundreds of Jews during World War II, she continued to live in Argentina, scraping by with the help of the Schindler Jews and the government of Argentina. Towards the end of her life and in failing health, she asked to live her remaining days in Germany. Although a home was secured for her in Bavaria in the summer of 2001, she would never live in it. Soon after she became critically ill and died on October 5, 2001 in a Berlin hospital. She was just shy of her 94th birthday.
In January 1945 a trainload of 250 Jews who had been rejected as workers at a mine in Goleschau in Poland arrived at Brünnlitz. The boxcars were frozen shut when they arrived, and Emilie Schindler waited while an engineer from the factory opened the cars using a soldering iron. Twelve people were dead in the cars, and the remainder were too ill and feeble to work. Emilie took the survivors into the factory and cared for them in a makeshift hospital until the end of the war.[74][73] Schindler continued to bribe SS officials to prevent the slaughter of his workers as the Red Army approached.[75] On 7 May 1945 he and his workers gathered on the factory floor to listen to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announce over the radio that Germany had surrendered, and the war in Europe was over.[76]
On January 20, 1942, several top officials of the German government met to officially coordinate the military and civilian administrative branches of the Nazi system to organize a system of mass murder of the Jews. This meeting, called the Wannsee Conference, "marked the beinning of the full-scale, comprehensive extermination operation [of the Jews] and laid the foundations for its organization, which started immediately after the conference ended" (Yahil, The Holocaust, p. 318).
Notable memoirists of the camp include Primo Levi, Elie Wiesel, and Tadeusz Borowski.[195] Levi's If This is a Man, first published in Italy in 1947 as Se questo è un uomo, became a classic of Holocaust literature, an "imperishable masterpiece".[275][h] Wiesel wrote about his imprisonment at Auschwitz in Night (1960) and other works, and became a prominent spokesman against ethnic violence; in 1986, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.[277] Camp survivor Simone Veil was later elected President of the European Parliament, serving from 1979 to 1982.[278] Two Auschwitz victims—Maximilian Kolbe, a priest who volunteered to die by starvation in place of a stranger, and Edith Stein, a Jewish convert to Catholicism—were later named saints of the Catholic Church.[279]
After some time off to recover in Zwittau, Schindler was promoted to second in command of his Abwehr unit and relocated with his wife to Ostrava, on the Czech-Polish border, in January 1939.[13] He was involved in espionage in the months leading up to Hitler's seizure of the remainder of Czechoslovakia in March. Emilie helped him with paperwork, processing and hiding secret documents in their apartment for the Abwehr office.[14] As Schindler frequently travelled to Poland on business, he and his 25 agents were in a position to collect information about Polish military activities and railways for the planned invasion of Poland.[15] One assignment called for his unit to monitor and provide information about the railway line and tunnel in the Jablunkov Pass, deemed critical for the movement of German troops.[16] Schindler continued to work for the Abwehr until as late as fall 1940, when he was sent to Turkey to investigate corruption among the Abwehr officers assigned to the German embassy there.[17]

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Michael HMembers
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Old French Violin - where and when was it made?
Michael H replied to KB_Smith's topic in The PegboxYes we have, and some shared personal experiences amongst some of us with eyes bigger than our brains.
Cello string identification?
Michael H posted a topic in The PegboxI can't find a chart that shows this yellow and brown string. Based upon thickness for being a C string, I believe it is tungsten. Does anyone have an idea?
Help. Good place to buy strings?
Michael H replied to PhilipKT's topic in The Fingerboardhttps://www.thestringzone.co.uk Has always been the best prices I can find.
One more attempt, is it a Roth?
I second Heinicke. The thick ebony of the purfling (which I would almost say French purfling, but corners do not appear to match stylistically), the sharp chin, blackened Degani style f-holes, rounded scroll eye. I have never seen one in person, but trying to put the elements together.
No label. Plates looked ply at first, but it's solid. All-in-all it's easy to play and has a surprisingly good tone, so it will make a student happy. Just feel stupid not knowing anything else to say about it. At this point, all I can say is "it's a full-sized cello that sounds good and has a spooky scroll." I have had plenty of old S & R for rentals ranging from 1990s and up, but those have always looked completely different. I have never had a Suzuki cello, though.
Translucent cello scroll...
Michael H posted a topic in The PegboxI had this cello pegged as a German factory cello circa 1960 based on the body. I adore these celli for their tone at a relatively low price. Before the work to be done, I set it up first to see if the tone is worth the work. I did not notice this at first, but the scroll is partly translucent. Now I'm not really sure what era this cello is from as I have never seen it before. Purfling is scratched but some idiot ran a black market around the back plate, which is not coming off with water and steel wool.
Do strings go "dead"?
Michael H replied to Alma's topic in The PegboxI find this thread humorous. One of my students just asked when he needs to change strings. I gave a general vague answer that is commonly heard: Me: "It is common to change your strings with light to moderate use every 6 months." Him: "Common? What would you do?" Me: "I change my strings more frequently than that." Him: "What would you do if you were me?" Me: "Practice a lot more. Then plan on changing your strings every 6 months." Him: "Wait... didn't you just say light to moderate use is every 6 months." Me: "Yes." Him: "I practice more than you think." Me: "No. And yes to your next question. " Him: "You don't even know what I was going to say. But seriously, you think I need to practice more?" Me: "... ..."
Cello ID
Michael H replied to Tostra's topic in The PegboxThe few scuffs look a bit purposed to me. Although I have never owned an authentic older Italian cello, I do not believe there were purposed scratches. Although it seems like a shallow observation on my part, I have had several fakes that were ruled out due to shallow observation. You could do what I did, and sell it as a contemporary replica, which can fetch a fair sum, especially when compared side-to-side with a newer competitive brand like Haide, Eastman, Etc.
My lack of knowledge with Vuillaume led me to not realize it was more of a firm than a maker. I did not realize. I suppose here in the US, a bow version might be Salchow. He is capable of making nice bows while dealing high quality bows. Maybe Bein & Fushi?
Scouring this forum, it appears there are at least a handful of members that deserve historic comparisons. I am making my own mental chart (let "=" mean "similarities to"): Sounders= Morel Noon= modern Italian maker using intellect, intuition, history to pave a new form through tradition. Aerospace engineer! Seriously? Can you back off a bit to give some of us a chance? Burgess= Vuillaume? Swan= Hill (and Sons) dealer Blank Face= mysterious and knowledgeable enthusiast/professional that must have a successful practice I know there are more. :)
Thanks for the ebony tip! It's more just under 2.5mm gap, but still significant. The entire area had signs of a poorly pitched neck, whereas the bottom had a slight inward curve, and the overhang was too much. Should there be any worry about the force against the top plate after the wedge is placed?
I pretty much have the fb projection issue taken care of. Luckily, thanks to Dave's most recent comment, I realized that the rib/top overhang near the neck was way too deep, indicating that either it sank over time, or was previously reglued with the neck improperly "pulled back." I have gained nearly 9mm and there is still overhang. I expect it will settle a few mm with tension. There is the gap from the top plate to the neck foot, about 3mm, or so. What are you using to fill this area to retain aesthetics? A small spruce wedge cut to size? Or something else? In the past, the reveal was far too small, even with a clavette, to be concerned that a bit of leveled hide helped disguise. Wax colored to match?


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