DETAILED ACTION
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.
3. Claims 1-3, 5-6, 8, 10-12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ridkosil in view of Xie et al., US-PGPUB 2014/0052414 (hereinafter Xie)
Regarding Claims 1, 6, 8 and 10. Ridkosil discloses signal sampling, wherein the signal sampling (Abstract), comprises:
(Claims 6, 10) conducting a reconstruction with the first sampling points and the second sampling point of the electrical signal which are sampled signal sampling method to obtain a reconstructed waveform of the electrical signal, comprises:
using a sampling circuit to sample electrical signal using a pre-determined sampling method to obtain a plurality of first sampling points of the electrical signal each of which is represented by a first amplitude and a corresponding first time, using a retaining circuit to measure a second amplitude of the electrical signal, wherein the second amplitude is different from the plurality of the first amplitudes (Fig. 1A; col. 3, lines 62-67; Col. 4, lines 1-26),
using a delay circuit to delay the electrical pulse signal to obtain a delayed pulse signal and using a determining circuit to determine a second time when an amplitude of the electrical pulse signal reaches the second amplitude based on a time at which the delayed pulse signal reaches the second amplitude to obtain a second sampling point of the electrical pulse signal, which is represented by the second amplitude and the second time (Fig. 1A, delayed input; Col. 4, lines 27-47), wherein the second sampling point together with the first sampling points define a reconstructed waveform of the electrical signal (Col. 6, lines 19-27, Col. 7, lines 16-43; Col. 8, lines 37-58, reconstruction)
Ridkosil does not explicitly disclose scintillation pulse signal that is output by a photoelectric element in response to visible light produced in a scintillation crystal and sampling scintillation pulse signal and reconstruct scintillation pulse signal.
Xie discloses scintillation pulse signal that is output by a photoelectric element in response to visible light produced in a scintillation crystal and sampling scintillation pulse signal (Paragraphs [0002]-[0007]) and reconstructing the scintillation pulse signal (Abstract; Paragraph [0017])
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Xie in Ridkosil and sample the scintillation pulse signal that is output by a photoelectric element in response to visible light produced in a scintillation crystal and reconstruct scintillation pulse signal in PET with better signal to noise performance.
Regarding Claims 2 and 11. Ridkosil discloses the second time comprises:
measuring a first delay time and a second delay time when the amplitude of the delayed pulse signal reaches any of the first amplitudes and the second amplitude, respectively, calculating a difference between the first delay time and the second delay time, and calculating the second time corresponding to the second amplitude using the difference and the first time corresponding to the first amplitude (Fig. 1A; Col. 6, lines 64-68; Col. 7, lines 1-15)
Regarding Claim 3, 12. Ridkosil discloses the pre-determined sampling method comprises a multi-amplitude threshold sampling method or a time interval sampling method (Fig. 1A)
Regarding Claim 5, 14. Ridkosil discloses the second amplitude comprises a maximum or minimum amplitude of the pulse signal (Fig. 1A). The modified Ridkosil does not disclose maximum or minimum amplitude of the scintillation pulse signal.
Xie discloses scintillation pulse signal (Paragraphs [0002]-[0007]).
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to combine the teachings of Xie and Ridkosil and have the second amplitude comprises a maximum or minimum amplitude of the scintillation pulse signal, so as to reconstruct scintillation pulse signal in PET with better signal to noise performance.
Claims 4 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ridkosil US Pat No. 5,055,845 in view of Xie, 2014/0052414 as applied to Claims 1 and 6 and further in view of Bienfang et al., US-PGPUB 2015/0076361 (hereinafter Bienfang)
Regarding Claim 4 and 13. Ridkosil discloses a sine wave signal, a cosine wave signal, a triangle wave signal, a sawtooth wave signal, a step wave signal, or a square wave signal (Fig. 1A)
The modified Ridkosil does not disclose scintillation pulse signal comprises one of the following types of pulse signals generated by a PET detector
Bienfang discloses the scintillation pulse signal comprises one of the following types of pulse signals generated by a PET detector (Paragraph [0066]; Paragraphs [0064]-[0065])
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teaching of Bienfang in PET application with the modified Ridkosil, since a sine wave signal, a cosine wave signal, a triangle wave signal, a sawtooth wave signal, a step wave signal, or a square wave signal are typically measured in the PET detection.
5. Claims 7, 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ridkosil US Pat No. 5,055,845 in view of Xie, 2014/0052414 as applied to Claims 6 and 11 and further in view of Sackner et al., US-PGPUB 2008/0027341 (hereinafter Sackner)
Regarding Claim 7 and 15-18. Ridkosil discloses reconstruction with the first sampling points and the second sampling point (Col. 6, lines 19-27, Col. 7, lines 16-43; Col. 8, lines 37-58, reconstruction)
The modified Ridkosil does not disclose conducting a fitting to the first sampling points and the second sampling point, conducting an interpolation of the first sampling points and the second sampling point; or conducting an interpolation of the first sampling points and the second sampling point, and a fitting to all the sampling points after interpolation, wherein the interpolation comprises a linear interpolation and/or a spline interpolation.
Sackner discloses conducting a fitting to the first sampling points and the second sampling point, conducting an interpolation of the first sampling points and the second sampling point; or conducting an interpolation of the first sampling points and the second sampling point, and a fitting to all the sampling points after interpolation,
wherein the interpolation comprises a linear interpolation and/or a spline interpolation (Paragraph [0069])
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching of Sackner in the modified Ridkosil and conduct a fitting to the first sampling points and the second sampling point, conduct an interpolation of the first sampling points and the second sampling point, or conduct an interpolation of the first sampling points and the second sampling point, and a fitting to all the sampling points after interpolation, wherein the interpolation comprises a linear interpolation and/or a spline interpolation, so as to perform reconstruction with smoothing of any discontinuities in the data.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ridkosil US Pat No. 5,055,845 in view of Xie, 2014/0052414 as applied to Claim 8 and further in view of Wang, US-PGPUB 2014/0313626 (hereinafter Wang)
Regarding Claim 9. The modified Ridkosil does not disclose the measuring unit comprises a voltage retaining circuit consisting of a capacitor, a diode, and an inductor, wherein one end of the capacitor and one end of the inductor are connected in parallel and grounded, the other end of the capacitor and one end of the diode are connected in parallel, and the other end of the diode and the other end of the inductor are connected in series.
Wang discloses the measuring unit comprises a voltage retaining circuit consisting of a capacitor, a diode, and an inductor, wherein one end of the capacitor and one end of the inductor are connected in parallel and grounded, the other end of the capacitor and one end of the diode are connected in parallel, and the other end of the diode and the other end of the inductor are connected in series (Figs. 1, 2, with overprotection circuit 1 without being connected to power regulation circuit 7)
At the time of the invention filed, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching of Wang in the modified Ridkosil and have the measuring unit comprises a voltage retaining circuit consisting of a capacitor, a diode, and an inductor, wherein one end of the capacitor and one end of the inductor are connected in parallel and grounded, the other end of the capacitor and one end of the diode are connected in parallel, and the other end of the diode and the other end of the inductor are connected in series, so as to provide protection from any sudden surges in voltages.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HYUN D PARK whose telephone number is (571)270-7922. The examiner can normally be reached 11-4.
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/HYUN D PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
