A flatwire assembly includes a pair of elongate flatwire segments that are interconnected with a thin, flexible patch that overlies the opposed longitudinal ends of the segments. Input comprising an instruction to perform an operation on a first portion of the digital image may be received. The imaging tool is constructed to be of handheld size so as to be suitable for ultrasound and is RF-compatible with MR scanners. An absorber layer may be formed on the substrate. The method includes performing a write operation in a predetermined direction when writing the first-state data and second-state data, making a determination with respect to success in target data through verification, and attempting an additional write operation through a path reversed from a write path of corresponding data according to a result of the determination. Alternatively or additionally, the parameter can be used to ensure that the subscriber unit is in a stable state before an autonomous message is transmitted by preventing transmission of autonomous messages while the subscriber unit is generating messages at too rapid of a rate.