(DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 17 January 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 17 January 2025 has been entered. Claim(s) 1, 3-7, 9 and 20 are pending in the application. Claims 10-19 remain withdrawn. Applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome each and every objection to the claims and rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) previously applied in the office action dated 17 September 2024.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 4-7, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Debur (US 20170224985 A1) in view of Girouard (US 10610148 B2), further in view of Connor (US 20150366504 A1), henceforth referred to as Connor ‘504, in view of Walsh (US 20150173993 A1), further in view of Rosenbluth (US 20150321000 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Debur teaches a tubular garment comprising a controller device (central processor 140, Fig. 1), the tubular garment comprising a plurality of interlaced non-conductive fibres making up a body of the garment (Paragraph 0048—the wearable apparatus may be sleeves, anklets, socks, etc.; Figs. 2A, 9A and 10A shows a wrist sleeve) including:
a top portion and a bottom portion of the body separated by an intermediate portion, the intermediate portion for positioning over a joint of limb of a wearer of the garment (Paragraph 0048—the wearable apparatus may be sleeves, anklets, socks, etc. which would include a top portion and a bottom portion separated by an intermediate portion for positioning over a joint of a limb of the wearer of the garment; Figs. 2A, 9A and 10A shows a wrist sleeve). Debur additionally teaches wherein the joint is an ankle, the limb is a leg and the body forms a sock having an open end and a closed end (Paragraph 0048—the wearable apparatus may be sleeves, anklets, socks, etc.). It is further understood that a typical sock has an open end and a closed end, and that by suggesting use of a sock or anklet, Debur suggests use of the garment on a leg to cover an ankle joint;
a network of conductive pathways in the body for connecting to the controller device (Paragraph 0048—the sensors and stimulators are connected with the central processor through various paths; Paragraph 0045—the paths may represent wired or wireless paths to and from the central processor, such as through copper wire);
a strain sensor of the body positioned about the intermediate portion and coupled to the network of conductive pathways (Paragraph 0009—a third set of sensors may comprise a set of flex sensors; Paragraph 0040—the external sensors may comprise flex sensors; Paragraph 0050-0051—flex sensors may measure bend angles for the body part the sensor is attached to);
a first inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor mounted on the body and configured for communication with the controller device (Paragraph 0007—in a prior technique, the decision as to when the stimulation should be turned on or off is determined from the inertial measurement unit referred to as IMU signal; Paragraph 0008—utilizes a second set of sensors to provide a measurement representing motion and orientation of a body part…a processor receives the measurements; Paragraph 0042—position sensors may comprise an IMU; Position sensors 130, central processor 140, Fig. 1; Position sensors 240A-240C, Fig. 2B-2C);
a plurality of sensors of the body of the garment, at least one of said plurality of sensors being an electromyography (EMG) sensor providing EMG functionality and a plurality of actuators providing electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) functionality with respect to one or more muscles of the wearer, said one or more muscles of the wearer positioned adjacent to the body of the garment when the garment is worn by the wearer, the plurality of sensors and the plurality of actuators connected to the network of conductive pathways (Paragraph 0008—the system includes a set of EMG sensors and a set of stimulators; Paragraph 0041—the biosensors may comprise EMG; Paragraph 0043—the stimulator may provide signal to the muscles through placement over the skin using probes, contact pads, etc. to suitably position the stimulators; Paragraph 0049-0050—the sensors generate a set of measurement data and include external sensors, biosensors, and position sensors, where the measurement data may comprise EMG measurements such as muscle activations; biosensors 120, stimulators 160-1 through 160-N, Fig. 1; stimulators 210A-210D, biosensors 220A-220C, Fig. 2B-2C);
Debur additionally teaches that EMS stimulators are used to stimulate a first set of muscles within a first body part while EMG sensors are used to measure electromyograms from a second set of muscles coupled to the first body part (Paragraph 0008), such that the garment is wearable over the first and second body part and the stimulators and sensors make contact with the first and second sets of muscles, respectively (Paragraph 0010). Debur additionally notes that the wearable garment may be anklets or socks (Paragraph 0048). As a result, it is obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art that, according to common knowledge of lower limb anatomy, the sock garment of Debur may thus include an EMG sensor positioned to monitor activation of plantarflexor muscles of said wearer and wherein said EMS electrode is positioned on at least one of dorsiflexors and/or calf muscles of said wearer. Per these teachings, it is additionally clear that Debur teaches wherein said EMG sensor is used by the controller device to provide the EMG functionality and at least one actuator of said plurality of actuators is used by the controller device to provide the EMS functionality.
Debur additionally teaches wherein the controller device is programed to operate the EMG and EMS functionality based on signal data received from a second inertial measurement unit (IMU) configured to be positioned on an ankle joint of a limb of the wearer of the garment (Paragraph 0042--position sensors may comprise inertial measurement unit...plurality of IMU may be deployed to determine motion of more than one body part; Paragraph 0048—position sensors may be housed in the wearable part, which may be an anklet, i.e. worn on the ankle of the limb of interest; Paragraph 0015—may utilize the system to determine a primary gait characteristic from first measurements relating to position, determining secondary characteristics such as electromyogram from the primary gait characteristic and the first set of measurements, then providing functional stimulations to position the limb; Paragraphs 0074-0076—the stimulators may be triggered at different strengths depending on the measured position, determined by position sensors including the IMU; Paragraph 0080—In one embodiment, if the measured EMG signal exceeds a predefined threshold and the limb angular position is satisfied as measured by the IMU, the FES is triggered), said controller device is configured to:
detect, based on time-domain accelerometer data transmitted from the second IMU to said controller device, a first step by a limb of said wearer; detect, based on data transmitted from said first IMU to said controller device, and based on data from said EMG sensor dropping below a threshold value indicating deactivation of said plantarflexor muscles of said wearer, that said wearer has started to move said limb; activate said actuator on said dorsiflexors and/or calf muscles of said limb of said wearer to provide stimulation and aid in lifting said limb of said wearer; detect, by said first IMU, that a step of said limb has reached completion; and in response to detecting that said step of said limb has reached completion, deactivating said at least one actuator of said plurality of actuators (0080--information from the IMUs and the EMG are combined...IMU information may be used as a failsafe...stimulator may not be turned on when the limb is not in an appropriate position even if the EMG shows desired activity...if the EMG signal exceeds a threshold and the limb angular position is satisfied as measured by the IMU the stimulation is triggered; paragraph 0083--detecting individual gait characteristics in each gait cycle to trigger the FES at pre-defined parts of the gait cycle; paragraph 0035--trigger FES at pre-defined parts of the gait cycle; paragraph 0044--the trigger activates the stimulator to turn on or off; paragraph 0046-0047--central processor receives sensor signals and determines the manner and instance at which electrical stimulation must be triggered...; paragraph 0055--FES trigger generator generates a control signal to trigger the stimulators...generates optimal trigger points to assist multiple characteristics of the movement of the body part like gait cycle; Fig. 11, paragraph 0082--gait cycle includes beginning and end of a step; Fig. 12A-12B, paragraph 0083--may determine a gait characteristic such as heal strike, e.g. the beginning of a step). In particular, Debur teaches the activation or deactivation of EMS stimulation on a limb in response to IMU data and EMG sensor data meeting or failing to meet a threshold (Paragraph 0080) and similarly teaches that stimulation is triggered based on intent shown by muscle activation (Paragraph 0058-0063-- the pre-processor is configured to determine the desired movement (intent) of a body part based on the series of muscle activation signal received from bio-sensors…The end effect detector 530 compares the received EMG signal pattern in the data base to determine the intent (end motion). The intent is provided on the path 362 for activation or stimulation of the corresponding body part). It would thus have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to detect, based on data transmitted from said first IMU to said controller device, and based on said EMG sensor data dropping below a threshold value indicating deactivation of said plantarflexor muscles of said wearer, that said wearer has started to move said limb; activate said actuator on said dorsiflexors and/or calf muscles of said limb of said wearer to provide stimulation and aid in lifting said limb of said wearer; detect, by said first IMU, that a step of said limb has reached completion; and in response to detecting that said step of said limb has reached completion, deactivating said actuator as a matter of determining a threshold of muscle activation along with intent (e.g. to begin or complete a step) as Debur already describes the use of both IMU and EMG sensor data, as well as thresholds for stimulation activation and deactivation and intent determination based on muscle pathway activation and this would further serve to support the desired function of Debur of providing stimulation to assist in multiple characteristics of a gait/movement cycle (see paragraph 0081-0082).
Debur additionally teaches wherein said detecting further comprises: preprocessing data from said EMG sensor (Paragraph 0052, 0060), and detecting, by a machine learning algorithm, changes in said data from said EMG sensor (Paragraph 0035, 0083). Debur additionally provides some disclosure of filtering signals and correcting drift, generally (Paragraph 0058).
However, Debur fails to explicitly disclose detecting further comprises: dividing said data from said EMG sensor into segments for analysis; preprocessing said data from said EMG sensor using low-pass and high-pass filters to remove a Direct Current (DC) offset and noise exceeding a threshold frequency; extracting features from a frequency domain of said data from said EMG sensor, said frequency domain features including at least one of a fundamental frequency in a segment, a power of said fundamental frequency, and a power of one or more frequency sub-bands; detecting by a neural network type machine learning algorithm based on said extracted frequency domain features changes in said data from said EMG sensor.
Girouard, in analogous art of monitoring muscle activation using EMG sensors (Col. 3, line 52-63), discloses the detection of muscle activation changes includes dividing said data from said EMG sensor into segments for analysis (Col. 8, line 26-36--In some embodiments, one or more epoch periods may be selected for use with a frequency transform. That is, data collected within an epoch period may be grouped together and processed using a selected transform. In some embodiments, a transform may include an epoch period of time ranging from about 0.25 seconds to about 2 seconds, for example. In some embodiments, epoch periods may be staggered such as may be used to reduce latency between physical manifestation of seizure activity and detection of seizure activity; Col. 10, line 60-Col. 11, line 67-- a window of time (or clonic window) may be selected or determined…); preprocessing said data from said EMG sensor using low-pass and high-pass filters to remove a Direct Current (DC) offset and noise exceeding a threshold frequency (Col. 8, line 2-17-- EMG signal data may then be processed by removing direct current (DC) components of EMG signal data. For example, in some embodiments, a digital first order Infinite Impulse Response (HR) high pass filter may be used to remove a DC offset component; Col. 10, line 34-42-- In some embodiments, various operations and/or process techniques may be used as part of a routine executed in the step 42 to monitor an electromyography signal for portions of elevated signal amplitude. For example, in some embodiments, operations such as signal rectification, filtering, isolation of one or more frequency bands of EMG signal, and/or other processing operations may be executed… band-pass filtering and rectification may identify and shape data); extracting features from a frequency domain of said data from said EMG sensor, said frequency domain features including at least one of a fundamental frequency in a segment, a power of said fundamental frequency, and a power of one or more frequency sub-bands (Col. 8, line 18-64--EMG signal data may then be processed with one or more frequency transforms. For example, the EMG signal data may be transformed to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)… one or more signal magnitudes or power contents in two or more frequency bands may be calculated…; Col. 10, line 34-53-- various operations and/or process techniques may be used as part of a routine executed in the step 42 to monitor an electromyography signal for portions of elevated signal amplitude…). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the system of Debur, including monitoring for changes in EMG activity, to utilize the particular preprocessing and processing steps disclosed by Girouard in order to predictably improve the accuracy of the system for detecting changes in the EMG signal by using processing steps known in the art to reduce the effects of noise, drift, and other inaccuracies and to more precisely determine periods of increased or decreased EMG activity.
However, the combination of Debur and Girouard fails to explicitly disclose detecting further comprises: detecting by a neural network type machine learning algorithm based on said extracted frequency domain features changes in said data from said EMG sensor.
Connor ‘504, in analogous art of “an article of clothing with electromyographic (EMG) sensors which measures body motion and/or muscle activity” (Abstract), teaches wherein detecting further comprises: preprocessing said data from said EMG sensor using low-pass and high-pass filters (Paragraph 0151— data from multiple sets of wearable sensors can be analyzed using one or more methods selected from the group consisting of: band pass filter…external noise filtering…high pass filter…); extracting features from a frequency domain of said data from said EMG sensor, said frequency domain features including at least one of a fundamental frequency in a segment, a power of said fundamental frequency, and a power of one or more frequency sub-bands (Paragraph 0151, 0232, 0278, 0305-- data from multiple sets of wearable sensors can be analyzed using one or more methods selected from the group consisting of: Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)…Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)…Fourier Transformation (FT); paragraph 0230, 0253-- data from motion sensors and data from EMG sensors can be jointly analyzed using one or more statistical methods selected from the group consisting of: …Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) or other Fourier transformation… Power Spectral Density (PSD) analysis, power spectrum analysis, Principal Components analysis… spectral analysis…); detecting by a neural network type machine learning algorithm based on said extracted frequency domain features changes in said data from said EMG sensor (Paragraph 0152, 0232, 0253, 0278, 0305— data from multiple sets of wearable sensors can be analyzed using one or more methods selected from the group consisting of: machine learning…neural network….; Paragraph 0229-- In an example, a device and system for measuring body motion and/or muscle activity with both EMG sensors and motion sensors can be used to measure, estimate, and/or model changes in body configuration and posture). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the system of Debur, including monitoring for changes in EMG activity using a machine learning algorithm, to utilize the particular neural network for monitoring EMG activity of Connor ‘504 as a matter of simple substitution of two elements known in the art, in this case the substitution of some generic “machine learning” of Debur for the more specific “neural network” of Connor ‘504.
While Debur teaches using the EMG sensor to trigger operation of the IMU and EMS functionality by operating the IMU as a failsafe to confirm proper positioning when the EMG signal corresponds to muscle activation, it is clear from the alternative embodiments that the IMU could be utilized to measure position of the user’s limb prior to obtaining EMG measurements and then activating or deactivating the EMS stimulators such that upon said controller device determining that said first step by said other limb of said wearer has occurred, the device may activate said EMG sensor on said garment to monitor activation of said plantarflexor muscles of said wearer. Furthermore, Debur shows that the IMU and EMG sensors may be present on one leg while stimulators are present on the opposite leg (see Fig. 2A--stimulators 210 shown on each leg while a sensor 240 is shown on only one leg) such that sensor data from one leg may be capable of being used to trigger stimulation in the other leg, which is additionally supported by the description and drawings of the gait cycle, wherein a particular movement of one leg corresponds to a particular movement of the other leg (Fig. 11, paragraph 0080-0081). Debur does generally teach that it is known in the art to turn stimulation on or off in response to a signal from an IMU, such that one having ordinary skill in the art would have knowledge of triggering some functioning of the system based on an IMU signal (Paragraph 0007). Furthermore, Walsh, in analogous art of a system for generating force about one or more joints using an actuator responsive to received signals, teaches the system including a soft exosuit which may be seen as a garment (Abstract) wherein it is described that EMG sensors may sense muscle activation when the limb/joint is detected as being at a specific position using an IMU, such that when a particular joint position is detected by the IMU, the EMG sensors may be activated to sense muscle activation and to then cause activation of a muscle actuator (Paragraph 0225). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to utilize routine experimentation and/or simple substitution to cause the IMU signal to affect operation of the EMG sensors and EMS actuators in order to ensure correctness of the joint position and muscle activation prior to activating muscle stimulation in order to thus It would thus have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to detect, based on data transmitted from said first IMU to said controller device, and based on said EMG sensor data dropping below a threshold value indicating deactivation of said plantarflexor muscles of said wearer, that said wearer has started to move said limb; activate said actuator on said dorsiflexors and/or calf muscles of said limb of said wearer to provide stimulation and aid in lifting said limb of said wearer; detect, by said first IMU, that a step of said limb has reached completion; and in response to detecting that said step of said limb has reached completion, deactivating said actuator as this would further serve to support the desired function of Debur of providing stimulation to assist in multiple characteristics of a gait/movement cycle (see paragraph 0081-0082).
Walsh additionally teaches the garment may include a sock element (Paragraph 0134) including EMG sensors that sense muscle activation at specific locations (Paragraph 0225) which may be utilized to detect or measure parameters relating to plantarflexion or dorsiflexion (Paragraphs 0118), and in particular describes that actuators may be positioned to assist with dorsiflexion (Paragraph 0136, 0146), as well as wherein EMG sensors may be used by the controller to provide EMG functionality (Paragraph 0225-0227—muscle activation measured using EMGs…the exosuit is tensioned in proportion to the activation of certain muscles) and actuators which may be used by the controller to provide muscle stimulation (Abstract, Paragraph 0007, Paragraph 0383). Walsh additionally teaches the use of an IMU and EMG sensors in combination to detect a gait cycle and responsively trigger stimulation to assist with parts of the gait cycle (Paragraphs 0157, 0160, 0225). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the system of Debur, including the limitations of the claim described above, with the particular sensor and stimulator placement on plantarflexor and dorsiflexor muscles of Walsh, as well as to further support an argument as to the use of IMU and EMG sensors to trigger activation and deactivation of stimulation, as the particular muscle activation patterns relating to gait are well understood in the art and would require no additional alterations to the system, and the use of such triggering would predictably reduce the power consumption of the device as well as predictably improving the user-friendliness of the device by eliminating any need for the user to trigger stimulation.
Walsh additionally teaches that the system may use sensors and actuators on both limbs (Fig. 12-14B, 21-22, 62, 68—which all show a system which includes both a limb and an opposing limb) to facilitate motions wherein the limbs move in different directions at different times by actuating joints in opposite legs or arms, such that the legs movements may be seen as coupled together (Paragraph 0007), where the sensors used in determining limb movement are IMUs (Paragraph 0157) which are used to actuate on or off at positions corresponding to points of the gait (Paragraph 0157). It would have been obvious to modify Debur with the teachings of Walsh in order to utilize an IMU located on an ankle joint of an other limb than said limb to detect movements corresponding to a step of the other limb to trigger actuation of sensors and actuators on said limb in order to predictably improve the ability of the system to facilitate a coordinated motion of two limbs such as walking.
However, the combination of Debur and Walsh does not specifically disclose deactivating said EMG sensor on said garment in response to detecting that the user has started to move said limb. Debur does generally teach that it is known in the art to turn stimulation on or off in response to a signal from an IMU, such that one having ordinary skill in the art would have knowledge of triggering some on- or off-response of the system based on a signal which demonstrates the user has started to move a limb (Paragraph 0007). Rosenbluth, in analogous art of a noninvasive wearable apparatus including sensing and stimulation means (Abstract, paragraphs 0013, 0103, 0122) teaches a system wherein the system uses sensors to sense motion of patient’s extremity and delivers stimulus based on the motion data (Paragraphs 0021, 0106, 0022) and additionally teaches that stimulation and detection are alternating processes where when stimulation is occurring, detection is turned off, and vice versa (Paragraph 0205-0207). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to combine the combination of Debur and Walsh with the EMG sensor deactivation of Rosenbluth as the use of such triggering would predictably reduce the power consumption of the device.
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Debur, Girouard, Connor ‘504, Walsh, and Rosenbluth teaches the system of claim 1. Debur additionally teaches the garment may be a sleeve, anklet, sock, or other garment to surround a joint (Paragraph 0048). However, the combination of Debur, Walsh, and Rosenbluth does not specifically teach wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors is positioned in a rear portion of the top portion and at least one other sensor of the plurality of sensors is positioned to either side of the top portion, the top portion being adjacent to the open end. Connor ‘504 in analogous art of “an article of clothing with electromyographic (EMG) sensors which measures body motion and/or muscle activity” (Abstract) teaches wherein in addition to the EMG sensors, the clothing may include a myostimulator (Paragraph 0280, 0210, 0234), and wherein the plurality of sensors is positioned in a rear portion of the top portion (Fig. 4, EMG sensor pairs 225 and 226, 205 and 206, which are positioned in a rear portion of the area above the knee) and to either side of the top portion (Fig. 3, EMG sensor pairs 129 and 130, 109 and 110, which are positioned at the sides of the leg on a portion above the knee joint). Connor ‘504 additionally teaches the wearable device could be an ankle band, ankle brace, footwear, pantyhose, or other article of clothing, including those which may be worn on the ankle or foot such as a sock (Paragraph 0067-0068 and 0285), wherein the EMG sensors are configured to cover the mid-section of a selected muscle which is proximal or distal from a selected body joint such that sensors are generally placed above and below the joint within the article of clothing (Paragraph 0068). The combination of Debur, Walsh, and Rosenbluth with Connor ‘504 could thus be combined to teach the positioning of EMG sensors in a top portion of a garment, the top portion being adjacent to the open end of the garment above the joint. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the combined system of Debur, Walsh, and Rosenbluth with the sensor placement of Connor ‘504 through routine experimentation to ensure that the sensors measure the muscles of interest while not being obtrusive to a wearer.
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Debur, Girouard, Connor ‘504, Walsh, and Rosenbluth teaches the system of claim 4. Connor ‘504 teaches wherein the plurality of sensors positioned in the rear portion are positioned in pairs to either side of a longitudinal centerline of the garment extending between the open end and the closed end (Fig. 4—the centerline of the garment is marked by longitudinal sensors 424 and 404, EMG sensor pairs 225 and 226 and 205 and 206 are positioned to either side of the centerline).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Debur, Girouard, Connor ‘504, Walsh, and Rosenbluth teaches the system of claim 1. Connor ‘504 additionally teaches further comprising the plurality of sensors having sensors positioned in the rear portion of a bottom portion of the garment (Fig. 4—EMG sensor pairs 227 and 228 and 207 and 208 are positioned in a rear portion of the portion of the garment below the knee joint). Connor additionally teaches the wearable device could be an ankle band, ankle brace, footwear, pantyhose, or other article of clothing, including those which may be worn on the ankle or foot such as a sock (Paragraph 0067-0068 and 0285), wherein the EMG sensors are configured to cover the mid-section of a selected muscle which is proximal or distal from a selected body joint such that sensors are generally placed above and below the joint within the article of clothing (Paragraph 0068). The combination of Debur and Walsh with Connor could thus be combined to teach the positioning of EMG sensors in a bottom portion of a garment, the bottom portion being adjacent to the closed end of the garment below the joint.
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Debur, Girouard, Connor ‘504, Walsh, and Rosenbluth teaches the system of claim 1. Debur additionally teaches further comprising the controller device configured to detect motion of the wearer via the signal data and to perform the EMG and EMS functionality sequentially (Paragraph 0015—may utilize the system to determine a primary gait characteristic from first measurements relating to position, determining secondary characteristics such as electromyogram from the primary gait characteristic and the first set of measurements, then providing functional stimulations to position the limb; Paragraphs 0074-0076—the stimulators may be triggered at different strengths depending on the measured position, determined by position sensors including the IMU; Paragraph 0080—In one embodiment, if the measured EMG signal exceeds a predefined threshold and the limb angular position is satisfied as measured by the IMU, the FES is triggered).
While Debur teaches using the EMG sensor to trigger operation of the IMU and EMS functionality by operating the IMU as a failsafe to confirm proper positioning when the EMG signal corresponds to muscle activation, it is clear from the alternative embodiments that the IMU could be utilized to measure position of the user’s limb prior to obtaining EMG measurements and then activating the EMS stimulators. Furthermore, Walsh teaches a system for generating force about one or more joints using an actuator responsive to received signals, the system including a soft exosuit which may be seen as a garment (Abstract) wherein it is described that EMG sensors may sense muscle activation when the limb/joint is detected as being at a specific position using an IMU, such that when a particular joint position is detected by the IMU, the EMG sensors may be activated to sense muscle activation and to then cause activation of a muscle actuator (Paragraph 0225). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to utilize routine experimentation and/or simple substitution to cause the IMU signal to affect operation of the EMG sensors and EMS actuators in order to ensure correctness of the joint position and muscle activation prior to activating muscle stimulation. Both Debur and Walsh may be seen to teach detecting motion of the wearer via the signal through the detection of joint position using an IMU, as well as performance of the EMG and EMS functionality sequentially, as EMS is taught to occur following EMG measurement.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Debur, Girouard, Connor ‘504, Walsh, and Rosenbluth teaches the system of claim 1. Connor ‘504 teaches further comprising one or more bio impedance sensors of the body (Paragraph 0114, 0134, 0231—the invention can further comprise bioimpedance sensors). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the combined system of Debur, Walsh, and Rosenbluth with the bioimpedance sensors of Connor in order to predictable improve the accuracy of the measurement of muscle activity (Connor ‘504—Paragraph 0005—Combined multivariate analysis of data from electromyographic (EMG) sensors and other types of sensors can provide more accurate measurement of muscle activity than data from either type of sensor alone).
Claim 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Debur (US 20170224985 A1) in view of Girouard (US 10610148 B2), further in view of Connor (US 20150366504 A1), henceforth referred to as Connor ‘504, in view of Walsh (US 20150173993 A1), further in view of Rosenbluth (US 20150321000 A1), further in view of Connor (US 20150309563), henceforth referred to as Connor ‘563.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Debur, Girouard, Connor ‘504, Walsh, and Rosenbluth teaches the system of claim 1. However, the combination does not specifically teach wherein at least one of the strain sensor and the plurality of sensors comprise conductive fibres interlaced with the nonconductive fibres making up the body. Connor ‘563 in analogous art of an article of clothing with sensors for measuring body motion and other parameters (Abstract), teaches using flexible energy pathways to transmit energy (Paragraph 0150) and provide data to estimate motion and other parameters, including EMG or bend/strain (Paragraph 0150) such that at least one of the strain sensor and the plurality of sensors comprise conductive fibres interlaced with the nonconductive fibres making up the body (Paragraph 0154, 0166—the garment may sense strain or stretching via the conductive energy pathways; Paragraph 0153—the garment may consist of one or more of an array of electroconductive members woven together, an integrated array of electroconductive members, nonconductive fibers, and a nonconductive layer, among others, such that the garment may comprise nonconductive fibers interlaced with conductive fiber pathways). It would’ve been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the combined system of Debur, Walsh, and Rosenbluth with the conductive fiber sensors of Connor ‘563 via a simple substitution in order to predictably improve the comfort of the device for the wearer and reduce limiting effects of a worn device on the user’s range of motion (Connor ‘563—Paragraph 0015).
Claim 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Debur (US 20170224985 A1) in view of Girouard (US 10610148 B2), further in view of Connor (US 20150366504 A1), henceforth referred to as Connor ‘504, in view of Walsh (US 20150173993 A1), further in view of Rosenbluth (US 20150321000 A1), further in view of Tropper (US 20090171788 A1).
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Debur, Girouard, Connor ‘504, Walsh, and Rosenbluth teaches the system of claim 1. However, the combination of Debur, Walsh, and Rosenbluth fails to specifically teach wherein said controller device is configured to deactivate said EMG sensor, said actuator, said first IMU and said second IMU when no activity has been detected for a predetermined period of time. Debur does generally teach that it is known in the art to turn stimulation on or off in response to a signal from an IMU, such that one having ordinary skill in the art would have knowledge of triggering some on- or off-response of the system based on a signal which may demonstrate a lack of activity (Paragraph 0007). Tropper, in the same field of endeavor of a system for detecting motion of a user, where the system may be a wearable such as an anklet or footwear (Abstract, paragraph 0012, 0031, 0044), additionally teaches wherein a controller device of the system is configured to deactivate elements of the system when no activity has been detected for a predetermined period of time (Paragraph 0038). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to combine the combination of Debur, Walsh, and Rosenbluth with the deactivation after a period of time of inactivity of Tropper as the use of such a deactivation setting would predictably reduce the power consumption of the device by preventing the device from operating when it is not needed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-7, 9, and 20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
In particular, the challenged limitations are taught by newly cited Girouard and newly cited portions of Connor ‘504 as described above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANNA ROBERTS whose telephone number is (571)272-7912. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30-4:30 EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alexander Valvis can be reached on (571) 272-4233. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/ANNA ROBERTS/Examiner, Art Unit 3791 /ALEX M VALVIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3791