Blood clot filters having self-centering capabilities when placed in a blood vessel are disclosed. The preferred adaptive control device is an expert system circuit which controls a heater provided on a thermally-powered actuator to implement an adaptive process in which a sensed variable, such as room air temperature, is driven toward a target temperature control range. A first finished dimension of the decals is determined by a width of the tape, and a second finished dimension of the decals is determined by indexing the tape through a selected distance. A positive vote indicates a past communication was allowed and a negative vote indicates a past communication was not allowed. Another aspect of the invention provides a method for deconvolving Scanning Capacitance raw data into an accurate representation of electrical carrier distributions suitable for the higher resolution attainable with the new sample preparation technique.