Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090082806 | MENISCAL REPAIR SYSTEM - A meniscal repair system including a pair of elongate needles with a suture filament attached between respective proximal ends of the needles. Two implants are attached to the suture (e.g., molded thereon) between the needles so as to form a suture bridge between the implants. One implant may comprise a barbed shaft aligned with the suture, while the other may be in the form of a T-bar that can be deployed so as to be perpendicular to a portion of the suture filament. The system may further include one or more dilators (e.g., one or more suture knots or molded beads) disposed along the length of the suture filament to aid in passage of the implant after the associated needle. | 03-26-2009 |
20100010485 | ELECTROSURGICAL INSTRUMENT WITH AN ABLATION MODE AND A COAGULATION MODE - The electrosurgical instrument is configured to selectively perform ablation or coagulation as desired. The electrosurgical instrument includes at least two electrodes on the electrode probe that can be activated using an RF generator. The electrosurgical instrument is selectively switchable between an ablation mode and a coagulation mode by changing the amount of active surface area. In particular, in the ablation mode, a relatively small surface area is active. Thus, for a given power input, the current density is relatively high. In the coagulation mode, the active surface area is increased, thereby reducing the current density in the coagulation mode for the given power input. | 01-14-2010 |
20100106153 | ELECTROSURGICAL INSTRUMENT WITH AN ABLATION MODE AND A COAGULATION MODE - Electrosurgical instruments are configured to selectively perform ablation or coagulation as desired. The electrosurgical instruments include at least two electrodes on the electrode probe that can be activated using an RF generator. The electrosurgical instruments are selectively switchable between an ablation mode and a coagulation mode by changing the amount of active electrode surface area. In particular, in the ablation mode, a relatively small electrode surface area is active. Thus, for a given power input, the current density is relatively high. In the coagulation mode, the active electrode surface area is increased, thereby reducing the current density in the coagulation mode for the given power input. | 04-29-2010 |
20120065677 | BONE ANCHORS FOR USE IN ATTACHING SOFT TISSUE TO BONE - Bone anchors are provided having three suture attachment sites disposed within a bore. The bone anchors are suitable for use in rotator cuff repair procedures. The bone anchors comprise an anchor body having a bore that opens at a proximal end of the anchor body. At least three attachment sites are positioned within the bore. Each attachment site is capable of slidably receiving a respective suture thereon. The three attachment sites are spaced apart and configured such that the portions of the respective sutures that are in contact with the three attachment sites are maintained separated during use. In one embodiment, the three suture attachment sites are provided by two transverse pins placed within the bore. In another embodiment, the bore opens at a distal end and a longitudinal pin is inserted into the opening at the distal end. The at least three attachment sites are provided by the longitudinal pin disposed within the bore. The bone anchors can be fully threaded and can have fine thread and coarse threads for engaging cortical and cancellous bone tissue, respectively. | 03-15-2012 |
20120143250 | BONE ANCHORS WITH THREAD PATTERN OPTIMIZED FOR ATTACHMENT TO HARD AND SOFT BONE TISSUE - Bone anchors useful in rotator cuff repair optimize the thread pattern for engaging different types of bone tissues, including harder cortical bone and softer cancellous bone. Bone anchors may include fine threads for engaging cortical bone and coarse threads for engaging cancellous bone. Threads can be made finer by increasing root diameter and surface angle of the threads. The pitches of the fine and coarse threads are kept the same, which allows fine threads to follow the impression created by coarse threads as the anchor is driven into a bone. Threads that engage cortical bone can be multi-fluted and include a first flute that follows the same thread pattern as coarse threads such that first flute follows the groove created by the coarse threads as the bone anchor is driven into a bone. Bone anchors can have a distal non-threaded stabilizing extension at the distal end. | 06-07-2012 |
20130013064 | SUTURE ANCHORS AND ASSEMBLIES FOR ATTACHING SOFT TISSUE TO BONE - Improved bone anchors are disclosed for anchoring one or more sutures attached to soft tissue to a bone. The bone anchor has an anchor body that extends between a distal and a proximal end. A bore is formed axially in the anchor body and opens at the proximal end. One or more pins are fixed within the bore of the anchor body. One or more sutures can be looped on the pins for anchoring soft tissue to bone. The anchor body has a socket within the bore for receiving a driver tool. The distal end of the anchor body forms a non-threaded extension, which stabilizes the bone anchor, and helps prevent lateral movement during use. In one embodiment, the anchor body has coarse threads for engaging soft bone tissue and fine threads for engaging hard bone tissue. | 01-10-2013 |
20140074163 | SUTURE ANCHORS AND ASSEMBLIES FOR ATTACHING SOFT TISSUE TO BONE - Improved bone anchors are disclosed for anchoring one or more sutures attached to soft tissue to a bone. The bone anchor has an anchor body that extends between a distal and a proximal end. A bore is formed axially in the anchor body and opens at the proximal end. One or more pins are fixed within the bore of the anchor body. One or more sutures can be looped on the pins for anchoring soft tissue to bone. The anchor body has a socket within the bore for receiving a driver tool. The distal end of the anchor body forms a non-threaded extension, which stabilizes the bone anchor, and helps prevent lateral movement during use. In one embodiment, the anchor body has coarse threads for engaging soft bone tissue and fine threads for engaging hard bone tissue. | 03-13-2014 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080310846 | FREQUENCY MODULATED BURST MODE TRANSMITTER - The present invention is directed towards a frequency modulated burst mode optical transmitter and systems and methods related thereto. Reverse electrical signals are used to frequency modulate a carrier signal. A carrier detect circuit checks for the presence of a subcarrier signal in received reverse electrical signals. When a subcarrier signal is detected, a laser is turned on and the frequency modulated carrier signal is used to intensity modulate the laser to provide an optical signal. In the absence of a subcarrier signal, the laser is turned off and no optical signals are transmitted. By operating in a burst mode, resources are conserved as optical signals are transmitted only when content-carrying reverse electrical signals are received. A delay circuit may be included to prevent loss of any signal information | 12-18-2008 |
20080310849 | FREQUENCY MODULATED BURST MODE OPTICAL SYSTEM - The present invention is directed towards a frequency modulated (FM) burst mode optical system that allows optical signals having a common wavelength provided by a plurality of FM burst mode optical transmitters to be passively combined onto a single optical fiber. A single FM optical receiver receives the combined signals and processes them accordingly. Each FM burst mode optical transmitter includes an FM modulator, a carrier detect circuit and a laser. The FM modulator modulates a carrier signal, such as a 1.21 GHz signal, with received reverse electrical signals. When a subcarrier signal is detected by the carrier detect circuit, the laser is turned and the frequency modulated carrier signal is used to intensity modulate a laser to provide an optical signal. Due to the burst-mode transmission of optical signals, the optical signals can be passively combined and transmitted to a single optical receiver. | 12-18-2008 |
20090196205 | CLOCK SYNCHRONIZATION IN A BIDIRECTIONAL NETWORK - An architecture for providing high-speed access over frequency-division multiplexed (FDM) channels allows transmission of ethernet frames and/or other data across a cable transmission network or other form of FDM transport. The architecture involves downstream and upstream FDM multiplexing techniques to allow contemporaneous, parallel communications across a plurality of frequency channels. Furthermore, the architecture allows a central concentrator to support a plurality of remote devices that each have guaranteed bandwidth through connection-oriented allocations of bi-directional data flows. The upstream and downstream bandwidth allocation can support symmetrical bandwidth as well as asymmetrical bandwidth in either direction. The architecture generally can be used to support connection-oriented physical layer connectivity between a remote device and the central concentrator. Furthermore, the architecture may be integrated into other higher level devices such as, but not limited to, bridges, switches, routers, and/or gateways. In addition, the architecture may be used as a local network such as the networks commonly called local area networks (LANs). As a local network, the architecture supports guaranteed bandwidth for delivery of data flows to a plurality of host devices. Each host device might have a network interface card (NIC) that conforms to the architecture of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. Moreover, because the architecture may peacefully coexist with other services commonly-found in cable distribution networks, these other services may also be delivered to a host device. Thus, as a non-limiting example a host device may utilize the preferred embodiments of the present invention for local area network (LAN) data communication, and may also utilize cable television video channels in the same communication medium to carry various multimedia information. | 08-06-2009 |