1. An assembled implant comprising at least one bone block assembly for securing soft tissue, and a segment of soft tissue of sufficient length to extend beyond said bone block assembly, said bone block assembly comprising two to ten components of cortical bone, cancellous bone, artificial bone or a combination thereof, wherein said soft tissue is sandwiched between at least two of said components, and said components being connected by one to ten biocompatible connectors, at least two of said components having opposing faces that contact opposing sides of said soft tissue, said opposing faces being a first opposing face and a second opposing face, said first opposing face comprising compression surfaces and one to ten cavities, said compression surfaces for compressing said soft tissue against the opposing face, and said cavities for receiving overflow soft tissue from said compression surfaces.
2. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein said components comprise cortical bone, cancellous bone or both.
3. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein said soft tissue comprises allograft tissue, autograft tissue, xenograft tissue, an engineered construct of natural or synthetic origin or a combination thereof.
4. The assembled implant of claim 3, wherein said soft tissue is selected from the group consisting of one to ten tendons, one to ten ligaments, an isolated segment or segments of pericardium, dermis, fascia, dura, skin, submucosal tissue, cartilage, or a combination thereof.
5. The assembled implant of claim 4, wherein said soft tissue is one to ten tendons.
6. The assembled implant of claim 5, wherein said one to ten tendons are treated with a crosslinking agent.
7. The assembled implant of claim 5, wherein two to ten tendons are used, said tendons being of different lengths.
8. The assembled implant of claim 5, wherein two to ten tendons are used, said tendons being of different cross-sectional area.
9. The assembled implant of claim 5, wherein two to ten tendons are used, said tendons being of different anatomical origins.
10. The assembled implant of claim 1, further comprising one to ten machined holes that traverse either said bone block assembly as a whole or a single component thereof.
11. The assembled implant of claim 1, further comprising a depression on at least one of said components that aids in surgical placement.
12. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein said components have an outer surface that is shaped to aid in surgical placement.
13. The assembled implant of claim 12, wherein the outer surface has a shape selected from the group consisting of polygonal, cylindrical, threaded, bulleted, chamfered, angled, ridged, capsule shaped, tapered and a combination thereof.
14. The assembled implant of claim 12, wherein the outer surface contains spikes or indentations.
15. The assembled implant of claim 1, at least one of said components comprise one to five grooves on an outer surface to accommodate one or more interference screws.
16. The assembled implant of claim 15, wherein said grooves comprise threads or tapped threads.
17. The assembled implant of claim 15, further comprising two equally placed grooves on an outer surface to accommodate one or more interference screws.
18. The assembled implant of claim 1, further comprising a groove on an outer surface of said bone block assembly to accommodate said soft tissue.
19. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein any of said components comprise an internal leading edge configuration that reduces tissue stresses during assembly and use.
20. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein at least one of the opposing faces contains a lengthwise tapering profile.
21. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein said first opposing face comprises compression surfaces and two to five cavities.
22. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein said first opposing face is given a surface treatment to produce a textured surface.
23. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein said one to ten cavities comprise one to ten channels.
24. The assembled implant of claim 23, wherein said channels comprise a cross-sectional profile selected from the group consisting of rectangular, square, semi-circular, semi-ovular, triangular, trapezoidal, sinusoidal, curvilinear, dovetail, omega and a combination thereof.
25. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein said said second opposing face comprises a face that is textured.
26. The assembled implant of claim 25, wherein said textured face comprises striations.
27. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein said one to ten cavities comprise one to ten channels; and said second opposing face comprises striations.
28. The assembled implant of claim 27, wherein at least one of said channels comprises an omega profile.
29. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein said implant is perfused or coated with an osteoinductive substance.
30. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein said soft tissue is a of one to ten tendons having a first end and a second end.
31. The assembled implant of claim 30, wherein only said first end of said one to ten tendons has a bone block assembly associated therewith.
32. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein said segment of soft tissue is sufficiently large so that excess tissue extends beyond the end or sides of said bone block assembly.
33. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein at least one of said components have an outer surface that is partially demineralized.
34. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein said implant is cleaned or perfused by treatment with a pressure cycling process.
35. The assembled implant of claim 1, wherein at least one of said components are themselves assembled from smaller portions of cortical bone, cancellous bone, artificial bone or a combination thereof.
36. An assembled implant comprising at least one bone block assembly for securing soft tissue, and a segment of soft tissue of sufficient length to extend beyond said bone block assembly, said bone block assembly comprising two to ten components of cortical bone, cancellous bone, artificial bone or a combination thereof, wherein said soft tissue is sandwiched between at least two of said components, and said components being connected by one to ten biocompatible connectors, at least two of said components having opposing faces for contacting opposing sides of said soft tissue, wherein at least one component has a face comprising one or more compression surfaces and one to ten cavities, said compression surfaces for compressing said soft tissue against the opposing face, and said cavities for receiving overflow soft tissue from said compression surfaces;
wherein said cavities comprise an undercut cross-sectional profile.
37. The assembled implant of claim 36, wherein said undercut cross-sectional profile comprises an omega profile.
38. A bone block assembly for securing soft tissue, said bone block assembly comprising two to ten components of cortical bone, cancellous bone, artificial bone or a combination thereof, wherein said soft tissue is sandwiched between at least two of said components, and said components being connected by one to ten biocompatible connectors, at least two of said components having opposing tissue engaging surfaces that contact opposing sides of said soft tissue, at least one of said tissue engaging surfaces comprising:
a face comprising compression surfaces and one to ten channels, said compression surfaces for compressing said soft tissue against the opposing face, and said one to ten channels for receiving overflow soft tissue from said compression surfaces.
39. The bone block assembly of claim 38, wherein said components comprise cortical bone, cancellous bone or both.
40. The bone block assembly of claim 38, further comprising one to ten machined holes that traverse either the bone block assembly as a whole or a single component thereof.
41. The bone block assembly of claim 38, further comprising a depression on at least one of said components that aids in surgical placement.
42. The bone block assembly of claim 38, wherein said components have an outer surface that is shaped to aid in surgical placement.
43. The bone block assembly of claim 42, wherein the outer surface has a shape selected from the group consisting of polygonal, cylindrical, threaded, bulleted, chamfered, angled, ridged, capsule shaped, tapered and a combination thereof.
44. The bone block assembly of claim 42, wherein the outer surface contains spikes or indentations.
45. The bone block assembly of claim 38, wherein at least one of said components comprise one to five grooves on an outer surface to accommodate one or more interference screws.
46. The bone block assembly of claim 45, wherein said grooves comprise threads or tapped threads.
47. The bone block assembly of claim 45, further comprising two equally placed grooves on an outer surface to accommodate one or more interference screws.
48. The bone block assembly of claim 38, further comprising a groove on an outer surface of said bone block assembly to accommodate said soft tissue.
49. The bone block assembly of claim 38, wherein any of said components comprise an internal leading edge configuration that reduces tissue stresses during assembly and use.
50. The bone block assembly of claim 38, wherein at least one of the opposing faces contain a lengthwise tapering profile.
51. The bone block assembly of claim 38, wherein said channels have an undercut cross-sectional profile.
52. The bone block assembly of claim 51, wherein the compression surfaces are given a surface treatment to produce a textured surface.
53. The bone block assembly of claim 51, wherein said undercut cross-sectional profile is an omega cross-sectional profile.
54. The bone block assembly of claim 38, wherein said channels comprise a cross-sectional profile selected from the group consisting of rectangular, square, semi-circular, semi-ovular, triangular, trapezoidal, sinusoidal, curvilinear, dovetail, omega and a combination thereof
55. The bone block assembly of claim 38, wherein one of said tissue engaging surfaces is textured.
56. The bone block assembly of claim 55, wherein said textured face comprises rows of ridges running across the intended direction of pull of the tendon.
57. The bone block assembly of claim 38, wherein one soft tissue engaging surface comprises compression surfaces and one to ten channels; and the opposing soft tissue engaging surface comprises rows of ridges running substantially perpendicular to the long side of the bone block.
58. The bone block assembly of claim 57, wherein at least one of said channels comprises an omega cross sectional profile.
59. The bone block assembly of claim 38, wherein at least one of said components is perfused or coated with an osteoinductive substance.
60. The bone block assembly of claim 38, wherein at least one of said components has an outer surface that is partially demineralized.
61. The bone block assembly of claim 38, wherein at least one of said components is cleaned or perfused by treatment with an alternating pressure cycling process.
62. The bone block assembly of claim 38, wherein at least one of said components are themselves assembled from smaller portions of cortical bone, cancellous bone, artificial bone or a combination thereof.
63. A bone block assembly for securing soft tissue, said bone block assembly comprising two to ten components of cortical bone, cancellous bone, artificial bone or a combination thereof., wherein said soft tissue is sandwiched between at least two of said components, and said components being connected by one to ten biocompatible connectors, at least two of said components having opposing faces for contacting opposing sides of said soft tissue, wherein at least one component has a face comprising one or more compression surfaces and one to ten cavities, said compression surfaces for compressing said soft tissue against the opposing face, and said cavities for receiving overflow soft tissue from said compression surfaces; wherein said cavities comprise an undercut cross-sectional profile.
64. The bone block assembly of claim 63, wherein said undercut cross-sectional profile comprises an omega profile.
65. An intermediate bone block comprising a machined segment of cortical bone, cancellous bone, artificial bone or a combination thereof, said intermediate having a soft tissue engaging surface comprising one to ten compression surfaces and one to ten cavities, said compression surfaces suitable for compressing soft tissue, said one to ten cavities comprising an omega cross-sectional profile.
66. The intermediate bone block of claim 65, wherein said one to ten cavities are laid out as one to ten channels across the tissue engaging surface.
67. The intermediate bone block of claim 66, wherein at least a portion of one of said channels is laid out the direction of the length of said intermediate bone block.
68. The intermediate bone block of claim 67, wherein the layout of one of said channels is linear.
69. The intermediate bone block of claim 67, wherein the layout of one of said channels is V-shaped.
70. The intermediate bone block of claim 67, wherein the layout of one of said channels is U-shaped.
71. An assembled implant comprising a first and second bone portion, and a segment of soft tissue of sufficient length to extend between said first and second bone portions, wherein
said first bone portion is attached to said segment of soft tissue by a naturally occurring attachment, and
said second bone portion is a bone block assembly for securing soft tissue comprising an upper component and a lower component of cortical bone, cancellous bone, artificial bone or a combination thereof, said upper component and said lower component sandwiching said soft tissue therebetween and being connected by one to ten biocompatible connectors.
72. The assembled implant of claim 71, wherein said first bone portion attached to said segment of soft tissue by a naturally occurring attachment is reinforced by a machined portion of bone that is connected thereto by one to ten biocompatible connectors.
73. An assembled implant comprising a first and second bone portion, and a segment of soft tissue of sufficient length to extend between said first and second bone portions, wherein
said first bone portion is attached to said segment of soft tissue by a naturally occurring attachment, and
said second bone portion is an intermediate bone block for securing soft tissue comprising cortical bone, cancellous bone, artificial bone or a combination thereof, said intermediate bone block having a face comprising compression surfaces and one to ten cavities, said compression surfaces for compressing said soft tissue, and said cavities for receiving overflow soft tissue from said compression surfaces;
wherein said cavities comprise an undercut cross-sectional profile.
74. The assembled implant of claim 73, wherein said first bone portion attached to said segment of soft tissue by a naturally occurring attachment is reinforced by a machined portion of bone that is connected thereto by one to ten biocompatible connectors.
75. The assembled implant of claim 73, wherein said undercut cross-sectional profile comprises an omega profile.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An amplifier comprising:
a variable attenuator having an input to receive an input signal to be attenuated, an output to supply an attenuated output signal, and a control terminal to receive a control signal from an automatic gain controller, wherein attenuation of the variable attenuator is dependent on the control signal; and
a first gain stage having a controllable gain, an input of the first gain stage connected with the output of the attenuator, wherein the gain of the first gain stage is controlled by a first gain stage controller.
2. The amplifier of claim 1, further comprising a second gain stage having a fixed gain, the second gain stage having an output connected with the input of the attenuator.
3. The amplifier of claim 1, wherein the attenuator is analog controllable such that the attenuation of the attenuator is continuously variable and the first gain stage is digitally controllable such that the gain of the first gain stage is controllable in discrete steps.
4. The amplifier of claim 1, wherein the attenuator comprises:
a first element disposed between the input of the attenuator and the output of the attenuator;
a control terminal configured to receive a control signal; and
a plurality of second elements connected to the control terminal such that each of the second elements changes attenuation between the input and the output differently with the control signal.
5. The amplifier of claim 4, wherein each second element comprises a field effect transistor (FET), the attenuator further comprising a plurality of resistors in series between the control terminal and ground, control inputs of the FETs connected to nodes between different adjacent resistors.
6. The amplifier of claim 5, wherein the FETs have different sizes, a smaller of the FETs is connected to the control terminal through a smaller resistance than a larger of the FETs.
7. The amplifier of claim 4, wherein the first element and the second elements form a voltage divider having an output node connected to the output of the variable attenuator.
8. An electronic apparatus comprising:
a variable attenuator having an input operable to receive an input signal to be attenuated, an output operable to supply an attenuated output signal, and a control terminal operable to receive a control signal such that attenuation of the attenuator is dependent on the control signal;
a first gain stage having a controllable gain, the first gain stage having an output and an input connected with the output of the attenuator; and
a control circuit connected with the output of the first gain stage and the control terminal of the attenuator, the control circuit operable to provide the control signal to the control terminal of the attenuator, the control circuit additionally connected with the first gain stage and operable to control the gain of the first gain stage, wherein the control circuit comprises:
an automatic gain controller operable to provide the control signal to the control terminal of the attenuator; and
a first gain stage controller operable to control the gain of the first gain stage.
9. The electronic apparatus of claim 8, wherein:
the automatic gain controller is connected with the output of the first gain stage and the control terminal of the attenuator; and
the first gain stage controller is connected with the first gain stage.
10. The electronic apparatus of claim 9, wherein the attenuator is analog controllable such that the attenuation of the attenuator is continuously variable and the first gain stage is digitally controllable such that the gain of the first gain stage is controllable in discrete steps.
11. The electronic apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a second gain stage having a fixed gain, the second gain stage having an output connected with the input of the attenuator.
12. The electronic apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a mixer having an input to receive an input signal to be down-converted and an output connected with the input of the second gain stage such that the down-converted signals are supplied to the second gain stage.
13. The electronic apparatus of claim 12, further comprising:
a low noise amplifier disposed between an input of the electronic apparatus and the mixer; and
a second amplifier disposed between the mixer and the attenuator.
14. The electronic apparatus of claim 9, wherein the attenuator comprises a plurality of parallel elements and a first voltage divider that is connected to the control terminal, the parallel elements connected to different nodes of the first voltage divider.
15. The electronic apparatus of claim 14, wherein the variable attenuator further comprises a second voltage divider containing a series circuit that includes a resistor and the parallel elements, a node between the resistor and the parallel elements connected to an output of the variable attenuator.
16. The electronic apparatus of claim 15, wherein the parallel elements vary over different ranges of resistance and a parallel element that varies over a smaller range of resistance is connected to the control terminal through a smaller resistance than a parallel element that varies over a larger range of resistance.
17. A method of amplifying a signal in an amplifier comprising a variable attenuator and a controllable gain stage, the method comprising:
receiving a signal to be attenuated;
controlling attenuation of the attenuator with an output of an automatic gain controller, the attenuation dependent on an output level of an output of the amplifier;
attenuating the signal to provide an attenuated signal;
controlling gain of the controllable gain stage with a controller; and
amplifying the attenuated signal using the controllable gain stage to provide a first amplified signal.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising controlling the attenuation of the attenuator and the gain of the controllable gain stage such that the output power level of the amplifier remains constant.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein controlling the attenuation of the attenuator and the gain of the controllable gain stage comprises:
supplying an output of the amplifier to the automatic gain controller;
supplying the output of the automatic gain controller to the attenuator to control the attenuation of the attenuator; and
supplying at least one of the output of the amplifier, the output of the automatic gain controller, or the attenuated signal to the controller to control the controllable gain stage.
20. The method of claim 17, further comprising controlling the attenuation of the attenuator and the gain of the controllable gain stage such that a noise figure of the amplifier does not exceed a predetermined amount over a predetermined range of gain of the amplifier.
21. The method of claim 20, further comprising decreasing the gain of the controllable gain stage when the attenuation of the attenuator reaches a predetermined maximum value and reducing the attenuation of the attenuator thereafter.
22. The method of claim 17, further comprising controlling the attenuation of the attenuator using an analog signal such that the attenuation of the attenuator is continuously variable and controlling the gain of the first gain stage using a digital signal such that the gain of the controllable gain stage is variable in discrete steps.
23. The method of claim 17, wherein the amplifier further comprises a fixed gain stage, the method further comprising:
receiving an input signal to be amplified;
amplifying the input signal using the fixed gain stage to provide a second amplified signal; and
supplying the second amplified signal to the attenuator as the signal to be attenuated.