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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments and remarks merit new grounds for rejection because they incorporate limitations from previous claim 8 into claim 1. Therefore, the rejection of claim 1 is now under 35 U.S.C. § 103 in view of the same references previously cited for claim 8, Simi and Tsao.
Applicant's arguments filed 11/14/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. On pp. 7-8 of the Remarks dated 11/14/2025, Applicant characterizes the claimed invention as requiring a rotation about a “vertical axis Z-Z” with respect to the proximal segment of the arm and on p. 9, states that this rotational configuration provides a benefit: “it is possible to reposition the surgical robot in various locations around the patient, because the two motorized manipulators…are allowed to flip their position with respect to the proximal segment of the arm.” On pp. 10-12, Applicant goes on to contrast this disclosure with the teachings of the Tsao reference, stating that the rotation taught in Tsao would “incorrectly position the centers of motion within the approach range of the instruments of the adjacent arched arm, thereby making it impossible for the two groups of instruments to operate within the patient anatomy.”
However, this is not persuasive, as these manipulators may flip their position individually without replacing each other positionally. The manipulators of Tsao may slide along their respective linkage to flip their positions with respect to a Y-Y axis, and they may rotate to flip in a Z-Z axis without any such collision of instrument or arched arm required, as nothing implicitly or explicitly requires any type of full 360˚ rotational motion or simultaneous operation of all instruments within any particular surgical field as claimed. In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., rotation about a vertical axis Z-Z, or operation of any surgical instruments within any particular region of the patient) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Therefore, the remarks are unpersuasive.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 9-15, and 34-36 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Simi et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0250085) hereinafter referred to as Simi; in view of Tsao et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0123798) hereinafter referred to as Tsao.
Regarding claims 1 and 9, Simi teaches a surgery assembly for robotic-aided microsurgery (¶¶[0002-0003]) comprising:
a macro-positioning passive arm (Fig. 1A-B, element 30 macro-positioning arm);
a pair of motorized manipulators (Fig. 1C-D micro-positioning devices 41, 141, 241, 341 etc. ¶[0111]) each comprising three mutually orthogonal motorized linear sliders (¶[0114] orthogonal DOF, ¶¶[0173-0175] three motorized sliders 51, 52, and 53, Fig. 9B-C and Fig. 10) wherein the motorized linear sliders of one motorized manipulator of said pair are parallel to the motorized linear sliders of the other motorized manipulator of said pair (Fig. 2A, the motorized actuating portions appear to be parallel, and mounted on the same linkage, element 38, Fig. 9B-C); wherein both said motorized manipulators of said pair are attached to a same first link of the macro-positioning passive arm (Fig. 1A-B, element 30 macro-positioning arm, both manipulators are attached to the final linkage, support member element 38);
a pair of sterile adapters (¶[0659] each medical instrument comprises a sterile barrier element 87 in Fig. 14A), each comprising a coupling device suitable for connecting to a surgical instrument (¶[0659], ¶[0662], Fig. 12);
a pair of surgical instruments (Fig. 9D-E, elements 160 and 260 medical instruments) respectively connected to said pair of sterile adapters (¶[0659] each medical instrument comprises a sterile barrier element 87 in Fig. 14A), wherein each surgical instrument comprises a shaft (Fig. 9E, elements 65 shafts); and
a pair of transmission components (¶[0658] mechanical transmission box element 62 for each of the medical instruments and upper portion 58) wherein each transmission component of said pair comprises:
a first fixing portion configured to rigidly connect to said at least one motorized manipulator (¶[0659] bayonet connection, Fig. 12);
a second fixing portion rigidly connecting to said at least one sterile adapter (¶[0659] bayonet connection, Fig. 12, other half of connector); and
a component body between said first fixing portion and said second fixing portion holding in a respective mutual position said first fixing portion and said second fixing portion (Fig. 14A, paired plungers and pushing elements); wherein:
said component body of each transmission component spaces said first fixing portion and said second fixing portion of an offset distance in a first horizontal direction, so that a manipulation action received from each motorized manipulator is transmitted shifted of said offset distance to the respective sterile adapter (Fig. 14A, paired plungers and pushing elements ¶[0394] transmits offset distance from pushing element 95 to plunger element 96, ¶[0661]);
said component body of each transmission component comprises at least one rigidly locked joint providing an angular offset forming a solid angle in said first horizontal direction and in a second horizontal direction which is orthogonal to said first horizontal direction between said first fixing portion and said second fixing portion of each transmission component (¶¶[0675-0676]);
each transmission component is interposed between one motorized manipulator and the respective sterile adapter (Figs. 10-12 and Fig. 14A, transmission components 58-59 interpose element 58 between sterile adapter and elements 51-56), so to rigidly determine the relative mutual position and orientation of said three mutually orthogonal motorized linear sliders of the motorized manipulator and said coupling device of the respective sterile adapter (Fig. 10, this is a rigid assembly, sterile adapter element 87 visible in Fig. 14A);
the shaft of each surgical instrument is offset in respect of each and all the sliding directions of said motorized linear sliders of the respective motorized manipulator (Fig. 9A, medical instruments 160 and 260 are offset from each other and the linear sliders);
the shafts of the two surgical instruments extend converging towards each other pointing with respective distal ends forward (Fig. 9A, the medical instruments are ported towards each other in a converging fashion);
each motorized manipulator comprises a respective case individually encasing a respective motorized manipulator of said pair (Fig. 9A, each micro-positioning device 141 and 241 have their own encasement);
said cases are spaced from one another along said first horizontal direction of a predefined horizontal distance so that a window is delimited at least partially by said two cases (Fig. 9B-C, space between the two micro-positioning devices);
said window designed for a surgeon to occupy a position behind it so that the two motorized manipulators result positioned above the surgeon's shoulders (Fig. 2B, Fig. 6 surgeon 200 occupying a space behind the micro-positioning devices, surgeon’s shoulder position is dependent on surgeon’s body height and therefore this is an intended use of the claimed device);
said macro-positioning passive arm comprising a plurality of arm links (Fig. 1A-C) including said same first link (Fig. 1B, element 38 support), said plurality of arm links being connected one another in series and articulated through rotational joints (¶[0135] arms a-a, b-b, c-c, d-d are connected with rotational joints), wherein said same first link which said pair of motorized manipulators are attached to further comprises two attachment portions, each attachment portion being suitable to connect to one motorized manipulator (¶[0171] attachment portions 173), and wherein:
a distal rotational joint connects said same first link and a second link of said plurality of arm links (¶[0652]).
Simi does not teach said distal rotational joint is provided between the attachment portions of the same first link, so that a pivoting action pivoting the same first link about the distal rotational joint of a pivoting angle, determines the motorized manipulators to flip their position in respect to the second link of the macro-positioning arm, wherein the position of the attachment portions of the first link are symmetrically arranged in respect to the distal rotational joint.
Attention is brought to the Tsao reference, which teaches a distal rotational joint is provided between attachment portions of a first link, so that a pivoting action pivoting the same first link about the distal rotational joint of a pivoting angle (¶[0036], ¶[0042]), determines the motorized manipulators to flip their position in respect to the second link of the macro-positioning arm wherein the position of the attachment portions of the first link are symmetrically arranged in respect to the distal rotational joint (Fig. 7, ¶[0049] the two surgical instruments are mounted symmetrically on one single rotational joint at the end of a surgical arm, ¶[0060]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to modify the first linkage of Simi to include a symmetrical mounting structure about a centrally located final rotational joint, as taught by Tsao, because Tsao teaches that its configuration allows for a large range of motion needed for many microsurgical procedures (Tsao ¶[0053]).
Regarding claim 2, Simi teaches the robotic surgery assembly of claim 1.
Simi teaches further comprising at least one motor box assembly (¶[0203] motor box element 61) interposed between each respective transmission component and each respective sterile adapter and comprising a roll motor suitable for pivoting the respective surgical instrument with its shaft about the axis of longitudinal development of the shaft (¶[0656], and ¶[0658] three degrees of freedom).
Regarding claim 3, Simi teaches the robotic surgery assembly of claim 1.
Simi further teaches wherein a distal end of a first shaft reaches a first working volume and a distal end of a second shaft reaches a second working volume wherein said first working volume and said second working volume are co-penetrated defining said shared working volume that can be reached by both distal portions of each shaft for any operative position of the sliders (¶[0112] work volume, ¶[0124] substantially coincide).
Regarding claim 4, Simi teaches the robotic surgery assembly of claim 3.
Simi further teaches wherein said shared working volume is a parallelepiped (¶[0080], ¶[0642] substantially overlapping work volume).
Regarding claim 5, Simi teaches the robotic surgery of claim 1.
Simi further teaches wherein one of said motorized linear sliders of each motorized manipulator of said pair extends along a vertical direction (¶[0114] orthogonal DOF includes XYZ encompassing a vertical direction, ¶¶[0173-0175] three motorized sliders 51, 52, and 53, Fig. 9B-C and Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 6, Simi teaches the robotic surgery assembly of claim 1.
Simi further teaches wherein:
said predefined horizontal distance is greater than said offset distance (Fig. 9D-E, the distance between elements 141 and 241 is larger than the offset between shafts 65);
each case of said case encases at least one transmission component (Fig. 9D-E each individual case houses a transmission component);
the two cases have a concave portion facing one another so that the shafts of the surgical instruments attached distally thereto converge one towards the other both reaching said shared working volume with a distal end thereof (Fig. 9D-E, shafts 65 converge to each other reaching the working volume ¶[0112] which substantially coincides ¶[0124]).
Regarding claim 7, Simi teaches the robotic surgery assembly of claim 1.
Simi further teaches wherein said first link of the macro-positioning arm and the pair of motorized manipulators form a reversed-"U"-shaped structure partially delimiting said window (Fig. 9D-E, and Fig. 6, the | ̅̅ | shape is considered to be a reversed-U-shaped structure).
Regarding claim 10, Simi teaches the robotic surgery assembly of claim 1.
Simi further teaches wherein said macro-positioning arm is connected to a robotic cart (Fig. 5, element 104 cart) having at least one ground contact unit (¶[0221] mobile cart).
Regarding claim 11, Simi teaches the robotic surgery assembly of claim 10.
Simi further teaches wherein the cart (Fig. 5, element 104 cart) comprises a top portion (Fig. 5, cart top) having a polygonal shape (Fig. 5, cart top has a shape) and defining a top portion perimeter (Fig. 5, cart top has a perimeter) forming a plurality of corner portions (Fig. 5, cart top has corners), wherein said macro-positioning arm is connected to near one of said comer portions (Fig. 5, macro-positioning arm element 30 is connected to an extruded portion that touches at least one corner of the cart top perimeter).
Regarding claim 12, Simi teaches the robotic surgery assembly of claim 11.
Simi further teaches wherein the top portion of the cart (Fig. 4, element 104 cart) comprises a screen (Fig. 5, element 111, display and ¶[0647] control panel for display of messages) to display information on the state of the robotic surgery assembly (¶[0647] display of messages or warnings of the machine itself).
Regarding claim 13, Simi teaches the robotic surgery of claim 1.
Simi teaches further comprising a master controller assembly comprising at least one master input tool to control at least one of said surgical instruments and/or at least one of said motorized manipulators (¶[0642]).
Regarding claim 14, Simi teaches the robotic surgery assembly of claim 13.
Simi further teaches wherein the master controller assembly comprises a sterile console (¶[0642] control devices).
Regarding claim 15, Simi teaches operatory arena comprising:
at least one robotic surgery assembly of claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1, above), and
an operatory table (¶[0221] operating table), and
a microscope assembly (¶[0221] microscope, Fig. 9C element 103), wherein
at least one ocular of the microscope assembly is at least partially within said window (Fig. 5-6, microscope is located in surgeon’s position window/area).
Regarding claim 34, Simi teaches the robotic surgery assembly of claim 10.
Simi further teaches wherein said at least one ground contact unit comprises a plurality of wheels (¶[0221] mobile cart).
Regarding claims 35-36, Simi teaches the robotic surgery assembly of claim 13.
Simi further teaches wherein the least one master input tool is mechanically unconstrained and is tracked by a tracking device (¶[0642], ¶[0649]), wherein the tracking device is an optical and/or electromagnetic tracking device (¶[0649] magnetic tracking sensor comprised of a magnetic field generator and wired markers).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMANDA L STEINBERG whose telephone number is (303)297-4783. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8-4.
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/AMANDA L STEINBERG/ Examiner, Art Unit 3792