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 .
This action is in response to the communication filed on 12/18/2025.
The Claim(s) 13 have been canceled by the applicant.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claim(s) 12 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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 of this title, 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.
Claim(s) 17-19, 12, and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Baker et al. (U.S. Pub. 20170223490) in view of Kotz et al. (U.S. Pub. 20170143206), further in view of Sobol et al. (U.S. Pub. 20190209022), further in view of Hirst et al. (WIPO. Pub. WO2016099844).
Regarding claim 17 Baker disclose, a system, comprising:
a wireless device read as: “patient monitor 112” configured to be connected to a wireless local area network (WLAN) of a hospital read as: “a LAN/WAN connection 116”, the wireless device including one or more processors having executable instructions stored in a non-transitory memory that para. 87, “Depending on the exact configuration and type of computing device, the system memory may be volatile (such as RAM), non-volatile (such as ROM, flash memory, etc.)”, when executed, cause the one or more processors to:
indicate to a neighboring wireless patient monitoring device read as any of: “physiological sensors 104, 106, 108, 110 or 122” not connected to the WLAN, by transmitting a beacon from the wireless device via a first out-of-band (OOB) communication channel para. 41, “the second physiological sensor detects the modulated OOB signal, demodulates the signal and extracts the OOB BT pairing information”, an availability of the wireless device to initiate a connectionless communication forwarding mode with the neighboring wireless patient monitoring device via a second OOB communication channel para. 41, “a simple ping to show connection to the same body for OOB discover, depending on the implementation. The OOB BT pairing information is then used, possibly with other information transmitted over the BT link, to pair the second physiological sensor with patient monitor 112”;
in response to detecting that the neighboring wireless patient monitoring device initiates the connectionless communication forwarding mode para. 41-46, “Once the example personal area network 100 is created in the manner described (i.e. by pairing a first physiological sensor to patient monitor 112), data can be transmitted from each of the physiological sensors to patient monitor 112”, receive data from the neighboring wireless patient monitoring device via the second OOB communication channel para. 46, “Sensor data is transmitted through the air via Bluetooth to patient monitor 112 via Bluetooth radio 114”, and
forward the received data to an information system of the hospital via the WLAN para. 57, “each sensor sends physiological data via Bluetooth to patient monitor 112 and patient monitor 112, in turn, sends the physiological data to server computer 118 via LAN/WAN connection 116”.
Baker does not specifically disclose, the wireless device including one or more processors. However, Kotz teach, “a wearable master electronic device, or Amulet, includes at least one processor with a memory, the processor coupled to a radio subsystem”, see para. 10.
Baker and Kotz does not specifically disclose, wherein the wireless device transmitting a beacon via the first OOB communication channel is coupled to a first patient and where the neighboring wireless device is coupled to a second patient, the second patient different than the first patient. However, Sobol teach, “In one form for a location where multiple patients may be equipped with the wearable electronic device 100, the transmission between the various BLE beacons 200 to the various wearable electronic devices 100 may be arranged in a mesh topology network”, see para. 124.
Baker, Kotz and Sobol does not specifically disclose, wherein the wireless device is a patient monitoring device identical to the neighboring wireless patient monitoring device. However, Hirst teach, para. 54, Fig. 1, “There can be multiple patient monitor mounts 120 connected throughout a healthcare facility, via the network 150”,
Baker, Kotz, Sobol and Hirst are analogous because they pertain to the field1 of wireless communication and, more specifically, to configuring patient monitoring network parameters.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kotz, Sobol and Hirst in the system of Baker so the device on every patient can perform through the processor coupled to the transceiver the functions and configuration of the system indicated on each patient independently. The motivation for doing so would have been to allow the wireless device to autonomously receive, transmit and process the corresponding signals and parameters to configure the network and the monitoring sensors to obtain the patient health information.
Regarding claim 18 Baker disclose, wherein the data includes at least one of patient data read as: “patient ID” and patient status information read as: “physiological data”; para. 46, “Each transmission of sensor data may include the patient ID (PID)… since the sensor 102, 104, 106, 108, 110 is paired to exactly one patient monitor 112, then the physiological data might be transmitted from the sensors to patient monitor”.
Regarding claim 19 Baker disclose, wherein the indicating the availability of the wireless device to the neighboring wireless patient monitoring device to initiate the connectionless communication forwarding mode via the first OOB communication channel further includes para. 24, “Typical information exchanged using OOB pairing includes the device ID and the Bluetooth link key”:
operating in a second mode in which the availability of the wireless device to initiate the connectionless communication forwarding mode is indicated in response to the wireless device being connected to the WLAN and connectionless communication forwarding being allowed at the wireless device para. 26, “each of the example physiological sensors 104, 106, 108, 110 has Bluetooth capability and, therefore, all include a Bluetooth radio. The example patient monitor 112 includes a Bluetooth radio 114 and a LAN/WAN connection 116, providing a gateway 121. The LAN/WAN connection 116 permits data to be transmitted between the example personal area network 100 and one or more server computers 118 that are accessible via the LAN/WAN connection”; and
operating in a first mode in which the availability of the wireless device to initiate the connectionless communication forwarding mode is not indicated in response to at least one of the wireless device not being connected to the WLAN and connectionless communication forwarding not being allowed at the wireless device para. 46, “Alternately, since the sensor 102, 104, 106, 108, 110 is paired to exactly one patient monitor 112, then the physiological data might be transmitted from the sensors to patient monitor without the PID”.
Baker does not specifically disclose, the wireless device not being connected to the WLAN. However, Kotz teach, “While the Amulet and nodes have been described above in the context of a body area network having ability to verify that its nodes and Amulet are worn by the same wearer, and to identify that wearer, stand-alone wearable devices 400 (FIG. 6) capable of identifying a wearing wearer are useful without the BAN”, see para. 133.
Baker, Kotz, Sobol and Hirst are analogous because they pertain to the field of wireless communication and, more specifically, to configuring patient monitoring network parameters.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kotz in the system of Baker, Sobol and Hirst so the device can read and obtain the patient health information as a standalone device. The motivation for doing so would have been to allow the wireless device to autonomously receive, transmit and process the corresponding signals and parameters to configure the network and the monitoring sensors to obtain the patient health information.
Claim 12 recites a method corresponding to the apparatus of claim 17 and thus is rejected under the same reason set forth in the rejection of claim 17.
Regarding claim 12 Baker does not specifically disclose, wherein the neighboring wireless device is not connected to the wireless network. However, Kotz teach, “While the Amulet and nodes have been described above in the context of a body area network having ability to verify that its nodes and Amulet are worn by the same wearer, and to identify that wearer, stand-alone wearable devices 400 (FIG. 6) capable of identifying a wearing wearer are useful without the BAN”, see para. 133.
Baker and Kotz, further teach, wherein the wireless device is coupled to a first access point (AP) in a first location and the neighboring wireless device is coupled to a second AP in a second location, the second location different than the first location. However, Sobol teach, “In one form, the BLE beacon 200 may be run entirely within a private network, while in another, it may be made to communicate securely with the cloud 500 or a related high-performance computing (HPC) equipment.”, see para. 124.
Baker, Kotz, Sobol and Hirst are analogous because they pertain to the field of wireless communication and, more specifically, to configuring patient monitoring network parameters.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kotz and Sobol in the system of Baker and Hirst so the device can read and obtain the patient health information as a standalone device. The motivation for doing so would have been to allow the wireless devices to autonomously receive, transmit and process the corresponding signals and parameters relative to each patient information on different locations, to configure the network connections and the monitoring sensors to obtain the patient health information and transmitted it to central processing system.
Regarding claim 14 Baker disclose, wherein the receiving the information transmitted to the wireless device from the neighboring wireless device further comprises receiving patient data transmitted to the wireless device from the neighboring wireless device para. 46, “Sensor data is transmitted through the air via Bluetooth to patient monitor 112 via Bluetooth radio 114”; and
the forwarding the information to the information system further comprises forwarding the patient data to the information system para. 57, “each sensor sends physiological data via Bluetooth to patient monitor 112 and patient monitor 112, in turn, sends the physiological data to server computer 118 via LAN/WAN connection 116”.
Regarding claim 15 Baker disclose, wherein indicating the availability of the wireless device to the neighboring wireless device further comprises: in response to both of the wireless device being connected to the wireless network and connectionless communication forwarding being allowed by the wireless device para. 41, “a simple ping to show connection to the same body for OOB discover, depending on the implementation. The OOB BT pairing information is then used, possibly with other information transmitted over the BT link, to pair the second physiological sensor with patient monitor 112”,
operating in a second mode in which the availability of the wireless device is indicated to the neighboring wireless device; and in response to either of the wireless device not being connected to the wireless network and connectionless communication forwarding not being allowed by the wireless device, operating in a first mode in which the availability of the wireless device is not indicated to the neighboring wireless device para. 46, “Alternately, since the sensor 102, 104, 106, 108, 110 is paired to exactly one patient monitor 112, then the physiological data might be transmitted from the sensors to patient monitor without the PID”.
Baker does not specifically disclose, the wireless network and connectionless communication forwarding not being allowed by the wireless device. However, Kotz teach, “While the Amulet and nodes have been described above in the context of a body area network having ability to verify that its nodes and Amulet are worn by the same wearer, and to identify that wearer, stand-alone wearable devices 400 (FIG. 6) capable of identifying a wearing wearer are useful without the BAN”, see para. 133.
Baker, Kotz, Sobol and Hirst are analogous because they pertain to the field of wireless communication and, more specifically, to configuring patient monitoring network parameters.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kotz in the system of Baker, Sobol and Hirst so the device can read and obtain the patient health information as a standalone device. The motivation for doing so would have been to allow the wireless device to autonomously receive, transmit and process the corresponding signals and parameters to configure the network and the monitoring sensors to obtain the patient health information.
Claim(s) 20 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Baker et al. (U.S. Pub. 20170223490) in view of Kotz et al. (U.S. Pub. 20170143206), further in view of Sobol et al. (U.S. Pub. 20190209022), further in view of Hirst et al. (WIPO. Pub. WO2016099844), further in view of Wang (U.S. Pub. 20180227800),
Regarding claim 20 Baker, Kotz Sobol and Hirst does not specifically disclose, wherein one or both of the first OOB communication channel and the second OOB communication channel is a channel of a medical body area network (MBAN). However, Wang teaches, “With reference to FIG. 6, a medical institution 50 includes one or more MBAN systems 52 implementing the multi-channel communication scheme. The MBAN systems 52 are each associated with a patient 54 and are each deployed to capture physiological data of the patient 54. Further, each of the MBAN systems 52 includes one or more sensor devices 56, 58 and a hub device 60 acting as a coordinator device communicating over an MBAN 62 of the MBAN system 52”, see para. 48.
Baker, Kotz, Sobol, Hirst and Wang are analogous because they pertain to the field of wireless communication and, more specifically, to configuring patient monitoring network parameters.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Wang in the system of Baker, Kotz Sobol and Hirst so the device can operate in various healthcare scenarios with a promising and ubiquitous technology for wireless health monitoring and disease detection. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve patient healthcare monitoring and outcomes and enhance patient well-being in general.
Regarding claim 16 Baker, Kotz Sobol and Hirst does not specifically disclose, wherein one or both of the first OOB communication channel and the second OOB communication channel is a radio frequency channel of a medical body area network (MBAN) within the 2360-2400 MHz band of frequencies. However, Wang teaches, “With reference to FIG. 6, a medical institution 50 includes one or more MBAN systems 52 implementing the multi-channel communication scheme. The MBAN systems 52 are each associated with a patient 54 and are each deployed to capture physiological data of the patient 54. Further, each of the MBAN systems 52 includes one or more sensor devices 56, 58 and a hub device 60 acting as a coordinator device communicating over an MBAN 62 of the MBAN system 52”, see para. 48. Further Wang discloses the MBAN being within the 2360-2400 MHz band of frequencies, para. 23, “the United States MBAN band (i.e., 2360-2400 MHz)”.
Baker, Kotz Sobol and Hirst and Wang are analogous because they pertain to the field of wireless communication and, more specifically, to configuring patient monitoring network parameters.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Wang in the system of Baker, Kotz Sobol and Hirst so the device can operate in various healthcare scenarios with a promising and ubiquitous technology for wireless health monitoring and disease detection. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve patient healthcare monitoring and outcomes and enhance patient well-being in general.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Al-Ali et al. (U.S. Pub. 20220215944) which disclose(s) medical monitoring system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAUL RIVAS whose telephone number is (571)270–5590. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday – Friday, from 8:30am to 5:00pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sujoy K. Kundu, can be reached on (571) 272 - 8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571–272–8300.
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/R.R/ Examiner, Art Unit 2471
/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471