DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 20 April 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
3. According to the Amendment, filed 20 April 2026, the status of the claims is as follows:
Claim 1 is currently amended;
Claims 3-5 and 9 are previously presented; and
Claims 2, 6-8, and 10-12 are as originally filed.
Response to Arguments
4. Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, p. 4, filed 20 April 2026, with respect to the rejection of claims 1-12 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Watson et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0331724 A1 (“Watson”), in view of Corn, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0263997 A1 (“Corn”), have been fully considered, and are persuasive in view of the Amendment, filed 20 April 2026. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection, which was necessitated by amendment, is discussed below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
6. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
7. Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Watson et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0331724 A1 (“Watson”), in view of Corn, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0263997 A1 (“Corn”), and further in view of Cho et al., EP 3042606 A1 (“Cho”).
As to Claim 1, Watson teaches the following:
An electronic system (“pulse oximetry system”) 10 for determining an existence of pneumonia condition (see “The present disclosure relates to patient monitoring, and more particularly, relates to determining a characteristic, or representative, physiological parameter of a patient.” in para. [0001]; and see “FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a pulse oximetry system 10.” in para. [0029]), the electronic system 10 comprising:
at least one optical sensor (“sensor”) 12 configured to attach to a patient and measure physiological parameters the patient (see “Sensor 12 may include an emitter 16 for emitting light at two or more wavelengths into a patient's tissue. A detector 18 may also be provided in sensor 12 for detecting the light originally from emitter 16 that emanates from the patient's tissue after passing through the tissue.” in para. [0029]; and see “For example, multiparameter patient monitor 26 may be configured to display an estimate of a patients blood oxygen saturation generated by pulse oximetry monitor 14 (referred to as an "SpO.sub.2" measurement), pulse rate information from monitor 14 and blood pressure from a blood pressure monitor (not shown) on display 28.” in para. [0034]);
a hardware processor (“monitor 14” or “microprocessor 48”) 14/48 configured to determine a physiological parameter of the patient from the measured physiological parameters (see “This information may be used by monitor 14 to select appropriate algorithms, lookup tables and/or calibration coefficients stored in monitor 14 for calculating the patient's physiological parameters.” in para. [0039]); and
a display (“display 20” or “display 28”) 20 configured to present in a single screen user interface a first content that includes physiological information of the patient obtained from the at least one optical sensor (see “For example, multiparameter patient monitor 26 may be configured to display an estimate of a patients blood oxygen saturation generated by pulse oximetry monitor 14 (referred to as an "SpO.sub.2" measurement), pulse rate information from monitor 14 and blood pressure from a blood pressure monitor (not shown) on display 28.” in para. [0034]) and …
Watson does not teach the following:
a display configured to present … a second content that includes an entertainment content which is unrelated to the physiological information.
However, Corn teaches the following:
a display (“integrated display”) 260 (see fig. 2) configured to present a second content that includes an entertainment content which is unrelated to the physiological information (see “For example, the monitoring system may be employed on a tablet computing device or smartphone on which an instructional cartoon or educational game is displayed in order to capture a child's attention and increase the likelihood of compliance and successful completion. During the display of the cartoon or educational game the child's breathing waveform may be captured, analyzed and transmitted …” in para. [0044]).
Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the present application was effectively filed to modify Watson’s display to be configured to present a second content that includes an entertainment content which is unrelated to the physiological information (“a tablet computing device or smartphone on which an instructional cartoon or educational game is displayed”), as taught by Corn, in order to “…capture a child's attention and increase the likelihood of compliance and successful completion. During the display of the cartoon or educational game the child's breathing waveform may be captured, analyzed and transmitted (or transmitted and then analyzed depending on implementation of the monitoring and analysis system described herein)” (see Corn, para. [0044]). Both Watson and Corn are analogous art as they both teach determining and indicating the presence of pneumonia (see “For example, respiration rate information may be important for diagnosing and/or monitoring the progress of pneumonia or another physiological ailment. Blood pressure information may be important for diagnosing or monitoring a cardiovascular ailment.” in Watson, para. [0067]; and see “The embodiments of the present invention provide a mechanism for remote non-contact monitoring of physiologic (e.g.: respiratory and cardiac) functions that may be used to diagnose and monitor restrictive and obstructive lung disease including pneumonia, COPD and reactive airway diseases such as asthma and croup, and cardiopulmonary disorders that impact on the respiratory system, such as congestive heart disease.” in Corn, para. [0003]), and both Watson and Corn display information on the same or similar display devices (see “Output 414 may be any suitable output device such as, for example, one or more medical devices (e.g., a medical monitor that displays various physiological parameters, a medical alarm, or any other suitable medical device that either displays physiological parameters or uses the output of processor 412 as an input), one or more display devices (e.g., monitor, PDA, mobile phone, any other suitable display device, or any combination thereof), one or more audio devices, one or more memory devices (e.g., hard disk drive, flash memory, RAM, optical disk, any other suitable memory device, or any combination thereof), one or more printing devices, any other suitable output device, or any combination thereof.” in Watson, para. [0065]; and see “In one exemplary embodiment, the integrated monitoring apparatus 200 may be provided via a portable device such as a mobile phone or smartphone, tablet computing device or laptop.” in Corn, para. [0032]).
Watson in view of Corn does not teach the following:
… wherein the first content is displayed in a middle portion of the single screen user interface;
… wherein the second content is displayed in a bottom portion below the middle portion of the single screen user interface; and
a third content displayed in a top portion above the middle portion, wherein the third content indicates that a pulse is being searched.
However, Cho teaches the following:
a first content (“result of measuring SpO2”) is displayed in a middle portion of the single screen user interface (“screen interface”, not labeled, of “display 160”) 160 (see “FIG. 5B is a drawing illustrating a screen interface associated with measuring SpO2 and outputting the result of measuring SpO2 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.” in para. [0129], and see middle portion of “state 509” of fig. 5B);
a second content (“animation”) is displayed in a bottom portion below the middle portion of the single screen user interface 160 (see “In state 511, the electronic device 100 may display an interval (e.g., an interval where a representative value marker corresponding to a representative value is disposed) of 95% to 100% of a progress bar as an animation. For example, a bar-shaped image having a constant color may be gradually expanded and displayed relative to a representative value marker in an empty progress bar. The bar-shaped image may be gradually changed in shape from, for example, a point where the representative value marker is displayed and may be expanded in only an interval of 95% to 100%.” in para. [0136], and see bottom portion of “state 509” of fig. 5B); and
a third content (displayed title “SpO2”, not labeled, for “state 507, 509, or 511”) displayed in a top portion above the middle portion, wherein the third content indicates that a pulse is being searched (see “FIG. 5B is a drawing illustrating a screen interface associated with measuring SpO2 and outputting the result of measuring SpO2 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.” in para. [0129]; and see “Referring to FIG. 5B, in state 507, 509, or 511, an electronic device 100 of FIG. 1 may display measured sensing information and result information about the measured sensing information. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, in state 511, the electronic device 100 may display measured SpO2 using a numeral and a marker on a progress bar.” in para. [0130]; and see fig. 5B).
Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the present application was effectively filed to modify Waston in view of Corn’s display of content to include displaying the content in top, middle and bottom portions of a screen, as taught by Cho, in order to provide a variety of information to the user on a display screen to allow for self-monitoring of a physiological parameter.
As to Claim 2, Watson teaches the following:
a user interface (“user inputs”) 56 configured to receive age information associated with the patient (see “User inputs 56 may be used to enter information about the patient, such as age, weight, height, diagnosis, medications, treatments, and so forth. In an embodiment, display 20 may exhibit a list of values which may generally apply to the patient, such as, for example, age ranges or medication families, which the user may select using user inputs 56.” in para. [0044]).
As to Claim 3, Watson teaches the following:
a memory (“encoder”) 42 configured to store associative information between a plurality of patient ages and normal physiological parameters for each corresponding patient age (see “Encoder 42 may contain information specific to patient 40, such as, for example, the patient's age, weight, and diagnosis. This information may allow monitor 14 to determine, for example, patient-specific threshold ranges in which the patient's physiological parameter measurements should fall and to enable or disable additional physiological parameter algorithms. Encoder 42 may, for instance, be a coded resistor which stores values corresponding to the type of sensor 12 or the type of each sensor in the sensor array, the wavelengths of light emitted by emitter 16 on each sensor of the sensor array, and/or the patient's characteristics. In another embodiment, encoder 42 may include a memory on which one or more of the following information may be stored for communication to monitor 14: the type of the sensor 12; the wavelengths of light emitted by emitter 16; the particular wavelength each sensor in the sensor array is monitoring; a signal threshold for each sensor in the sensor array; any other suitable information; or any combination thereof.” in para. [0040]).
As to Claim 4, Watson teaches the following:
wherein the hardware processor 48 is configured to receive at least one patient information indicative of an age of the patient (see “In an embodiment, microprocessor 48 may determine the patient's physiological parameters, such as SpO.sub.2 and pulse rate, using various algorithms and/or look-up tables based on the value of the received signals and/or data corresponding to the light received by detector 18. Signals corresponding to information about patient 40, and particularly about the intensity of light emanating from a patient's tissue over time, may be transmitted from encoder 42 to a decoder 74. These signals may include, for example, encoded information relating to patient characteristics. Decoder 74 may translate these signals to enable the microprocessor to determine the thresholds based on algorithms or look-up tables stored in ROM 52. User inputs 56 may be used to enter information about the patient, such as age, weight, height, diagnosis, medications, treatments, and so forth. In an embodiment, display 20 may exhibit a list of values which may generally apply to the patient, such as, for example, age ranges or medication families, which the user may select using user inputs 56.” in para. [0044]).
As to Claim 5, Watson teaches the following:
wherein the hardware processor 48 is configured to access the memory 42 and acquire, based at least in part on the age of the patient, a normal physiological parameter for comparison with the determined physiological parameter of the patient (see para. [0044]).
As to Claim 6, Watson teaches the following:
wherein the hardware processor 48 is configured to compare the determined physiological parameter of the patient with the normal physiological parameter (see “Further, this information may include an estimated standard deviation of the measured breaths per minute as compared to an average number of breaths per minute, such as 1, 2, or 3 standard deviations.” in para. [0096]).
As to Claim 7, Watson teaches the following:
wherein the hardware processor 14 is configured to determine, based on a result of the comparison, a likelihood of the patient having a pneumonia condition (see “The characteristic physiological parameter value may provide a better indication of the patient's true status and/or may provide a better prediction of the patient's outcome (e.g., the characteristic respiration rate may be used with a patient scoring method, such as the CURB-65 score, a predictor of patient mortality associated with pneumonia).” in para. [0076]).
As to Claim 8, Watson teaches the following:
wherein the hardware processor 14 is configured to generate a diagnostic report including the likelihood of the pneumonia condition (see para. [0076]).
As to Claim 9, Watson teaches the following:
wherein the second content occupies a first portion of available space on the display 20 for presentation of visual information (see “Output 414 may be any suitable output device such as, for example, one or more medical devices (e.g., a medical monitor that displays various physiological parameters, a medical alarm, or any other suitable medical device that either displays physiological parameters or uses the output of processor 412 as an input), one or more display devices (e.g., monitor, PDA, mobile phone, any other suitable display device, or any combination thereof), one or more audio devices, one or more memory devices (e.g., hard disk drive, flash memory, RAM, optical disk, any other suitable memory device, or any combination thereof), one or more printing devices, any other suitable output device, or any combination thereof.” in para. [0065]).
As to Claim 10, Watson teaches the following:
wherein the display 20 presents, on a second portion of available space on the display for presentation of visual information, one or more physiological data related to the likelihood of the pneumonia condition (see para. [0065]).
As to Claim 11, Watson teaches the following:
wherein the hardware processor 14 is configured to update the one or more physiological data in real-time (see “The blood pressure values generated or accessed by the calibration device may be updated in real-time, resulting in a continuous source of blood pressure values for use in continuous or periodic calibration.” in para. [0075]).
As to Claim 12, Watson teaches the following:
wherein the physiological parameter is a respiratory rate (see “For example, respiration rate information may be important for diagnosing and/or monitoring the progress of pneumonia or another physiological ailment. Blood pressure information may be important for diagnosing or monitoring a cardiovascular ailment. The patient's physiological parameters may be affected, however, if the patient is aware that one or more of the physiological parameters is being monitored. It may therefore be clinically important to report a characteristic physiological parameter (i.e., the patient's respiration rate and/or blood pressure at rest and in the absence of distraction, movement, or distress) that is not affected by or altered as a result of a triggering event, such as a patient's interaction with the clinician.” in para. [0067]).
Conclusion
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NAVIN NATNITHITHADHA whose telephone number is (571)272-4732. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 8:00 am - 4:00 pm.
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/NAVIN NATNITHITHADHA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3791 05/01/2026
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