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
1. Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claims 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. A new rejection has been made in view of Phee (US 20150230697 A1).
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.
2. Claim(s) 1-9, 11, 13, and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over (US 20060178559 A1) in view of Phee (US 20150230697 A1).
In regards to claim 1, Kumar discloses a control unit (Par. 0052 teaches a control unit [400]) comprising:
a master control apparatus configured to transmit a master signal for providing overall control of a plurality of operating devices configured to operate medical instruments at a medical site (Par. 0051-0054 discloses a master controller [406] to send signals; Abstract teaches this system is used for a medical robotic system, specifically including a plurality of robotic arms 121, 122 and 123; interpreted as a plurality of operating devices configured to operate medical instruments 157, i.e. end effectors/instruments located at the distal tip of each of the arms.); and
a hub control apparatus configured to receive the master signal from the master control apparatus and to provide motion control of the operating devices according to the master signal, and wherein the hub control apparatus is configured to provide coordinated control of the plurality of operating devices according to the master signal (Par. 0051-0054 teaches a slave manipulator [416], i.e. hub, to receive and execute control commands sent from the master).
Kumar does not disclose wherein the hub control apparatus including a connection mechanism configured to selectively switch between mechanical connection and mechanical disconnection of the hub control apparatus and the plurality of operating devices wherein the mechanically connect the hub control apparatus to each of the plurality of operating devices via the connection mechanism when simultaneously operating the plurality of operating devices according to the master signal; and mechanically disconnect the hub control apparatus from at least one of the plurality of operating devices via the connection mechanism when operating only one of the plurality of operating devices according to the master signal.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Phee discloses a surgical robotic system (Abstract) wherein the system comprises an interface that can mechanically disconnect and connect the controller and the instruments or robotic arms (i.e. the operating devices) while the robotic system is in use (Par. 0098-0101) in order to allow for more selective control of the system by a user/operator.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have taken the teachings of Kumar and modified them by having the system configured to selectively switch between mechanical connection and mechanical disconnection of the hub control apparatus and the plurality of operating devices, as taught and suggested by Phee, in order to allow for more selective control of the system by a user/operator.
In regards to claim 2, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control unit according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of operating devices include a device configured to be remotely operated by an operator and/or a device configured to be directly operated by the operator (Par. 0027 of Kumar teaches remote participation/operation).
In regards to claim 3, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control unit according to claim 1, wherein an operation target of the plurality of operating devices includes a medical instrument configured to be inserted into a living body (Par. 0031 of Kumar discloses that the system can control surgical devices [157] can be inserted into the user via an incision).
In regards to claims 4 and 5, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control unit according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of operating devices include a driving source configured to operationally drive the medical instrument and wherein the hub control apparatus is configured to coordinately control motion of the driving source for the plurality of operating devices according to the master signal (Par. 0061 of Kumar teaches a drives system for controlling positions).
In regards to claim 6, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control unit according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of operating devices include a plurality of types of operating devices differing in the medical instruments to be operated and/or a plurality of types of operating devices differing in product specifications (Par. 0033 of Kumar teaches using various surgical tools).
In regards to claim 7, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control unit according to claim 1, wherein the master control apparatus is installed in a space that is different from a treatment room where the medical instruments are used for treatment purposes (Fig 1 of Kumar shows the surgeons control station [101, 131, 161] being in a separate space than the treatment area).
In regards to claim 8, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control unit according to claim 7, wherein the hub control apparatus is configured to receive, in the treatment room, the master signal transmitted from the master control apparatus (Fig 1 and Par. 0039-0040 of Kumar teach the master signals being transmitted over line [110, 111, 112]).
In regards to claim 9, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control unit according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of operating devices are configured to be operated in the treatment room by the hub control apparatus (Par. 0039-0040 and Fig 1 of Kumar show the slave cart [120], i.e. hub, performing the treatment using the devices).
In regards to claim 11, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control unit according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of operating devices include a camera configured to capture images that convey one or more of a state of an operational procedure and a state of a patient (Par. 0038 of Kumar teaches employing a camera).
In regards to claim 13, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control unit according to claim 1, wherein the coordinated control of the plurality of the operating devices includes selectively driving or stopping the plurality of operating devices during a surgical procedure (Par. 0061 of Kumar teaches a drives system for controlling/driving the instruments).
In regards to claim 15, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control unit according to claim 1, wherein the master signal includes a command for reporting an operating status of the plurality of operating devices to an external device (Par. 0044-0045 of Kumar teach displays that can show current status of the procedure).
In regards to claim 16, Kumar discloses a medical system comprising:
a plurality of operating devices configured to operate medical instruments at a medical site (Abstract);
a master control apparatus configured to transmit a master signal for providing overall control of the plurality of operating devices (Par. 0051-0054 discloses a master controller [406] to send signals; Abstract teaches this system is used for a medical robotic system); and
a hub control apparatus configured to receive the master signal from the master control apparatus and to provide motion control of the plurality of operating devices according to the master signal, and wherein the hub control apparatus is configured to provide coordinated control of the plurality of operating devices according to the master signal (Par. 0051-0054 teaches a slave manipulator [416], i.e. hub, to receive and execute control commands sent from the master).
Kumar does not disclose wherein the hub control apparatus including a connection mechanism configured to selectively switch between mechanical connection and mechanical disconnection of the hub control apparatus and the plurality of operating devices wherein the mechanically connect the hub control apparatus to each of the plurality of operating devices via the connection mechanism when simultaneously operating the plurality of operating devices according to the master signal; and mechanically disconnect the hub control apparatus from at least one of the plurality of operating devices via the connection mechanism when operating only one of the plurality of operating devices according to the master signal.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Phee discloses a surgical robotic system (Abstract) wherein the system comprises an interface that can mechanically disconnect and connect the controller and the instruments or robotic arms (i.e. the operating devices) while the robotic system is in use (Par. 0098-0101) in order to allow for more selective control of the system by a user/operator.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have taken the teachings of Kumar and modified them by having the system configured to selectively switch between mechanical connection and mechanical disconnection of the hub control apparatus and the plurality of operating devices, as taught and suggested by Phee, in order to allow for more selective control of the system by a user/operator.
In regards to claim 17, Kumar discloses a control method comprising:
transmitting a master signal from a master control apparatus to a hub control apparatus (Par. 0051-0054 discloses a master controller [406] to send signals to the slave [416], i.e. hub); and
causing the hub control apparatus to provide coordinated control of a plurality of operating devices according to the master signal, the operating devices being configured to operate medical instruments at a medical site (Par. 0051-0054 teaches a slave manipulator [416], i.e. hub, to receive and execute control commands sent from the master; Abstract teaches this system is used for a medical robotic system).
Kumar does not disclose wherein the hub control apparatus including a connection mechanism configured to selectively switch between mechanical connection and mechanical disconnection of the hub control apparatus and the plurality of operating devices wherein the mechanically connect the hub control apparatus to each of the plurality of operating devices via the connection mechanism when simultaneously operating the plurality of operating devices according to the master signal; and mechanically disconnect the hub control apparatus from at least one of the plurality of operating devices via the connection mechanism when operating only one of the plurality of operating devices according to the master signal.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Phee discloses a surgical robotic system (Abstract) wherein the system comprises an interface that can mechanically disconnect and connect the controller and the instruments or robotic arms (i.e. the operating devices) while the robotic system is in use (Par. 0098-0101) in order to allow for more selective control of the system by a user/operator.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have taken the teachings of Kumar and modified them by having the system configured to selectively switch between mechanical connection and mechanical disconnection of the hub control apparatus and the plurality of operating devices, as taught and suggested by Phee, in order to allow for more selective control of the system by a user/operator.
In regards to claim 18, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control method according to claim 17, further comprising: remotely operating the plurality of operating devices by an operator or directly operating the plurality of operating devices by the operator (Par. 0027 of Kumar teaches remote participation/operation).
In regards to claim 19, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control method according to claim 17, wherein an operation target of the plurality of operating devices includes:
a medical instrument configured to be inserted into a living body (Par. 0031 of Kumar discloses that the system can control surgical devices [157] can be inserted into the user via an incision);
the plurality of operating devices include a driving source configured to operationally drive the medical instrument; and wherein the hub control apparatus is configured to coordinately control motion of the driving source for the plurality of operating devices according to the master signal (Par. 0061 of Kumar teaches a drives system for controlling positions).
In regards to claim 20, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control method according to claim 17, wherein the plurality of operating devices include a plurality of types of operating devices differing in the medical instruments to be operated and/or a plurality of types of operating devices differing in product specifications (Par. 0033 of Kumar teaches using various surgical tools).
3. Claim(s) 10, 12, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumar and Phee in view of Wenderow (US 20100069833 A1).
In regards to claims 10 and 12, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control unit according to claim 1, except for wherein one or more of the plurality of operating devices is a robot configured to control a catheter during a percutaneous coronary intervention; wherein the medical instruments include one or more of a guiding catheter, a guide wire, a balloon catheter, a stent delivery system, and an atherectomy catheter.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Wenderow teaches a robotic catheter system to treat percutaneous coronary intervention (Abstract and Par. 0002) wherein there is a control unit [14] sending signals to control the surgical robot to guide a catheter (Par. 0050) for the purpose of remotely treating a patient with diseased, often obstructed, heart arteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have taken the teachings of Kumar and Phee and modified them by having the control unit guide a catheter into a user, as taught and suggested by Wenderow, for the purpose of remotely treating a patient with diseased, often obstructed, heart arteries.
In regards to claim 14, the combined teachings of Kumar and Phee disclose the control unit according to claim 13, except for wherein coordinated control of the plurality of the operating devices is configured to provide motion control to deliver a balloon catheter to a treatment area in a blood vessel and to move or position a guide wire in the blood vessel.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Wenderow teaches a robotic catheter system to treat percutaneous coronary intervention (Abstract and Par. 0002) wherein there is a control unit [14] used to deliver balloon catheter to a treatment area in a blood vessel (Par. 0050) for the purpose of remotely treating a patient with diseased, often obstructed, heart arteries.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have taken the teachings of Kumar and Phee and modified them by having the control unit guide a catheter/balloon into a user, as taught and suggested by Wenderow, for the purpose of remotely treating a patient with diseased, often obstructed, heart arteries.
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 SKYLAR LINDSEY CHRISTIANSON whose telephone number is (571)272-0533. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:30-5:30 EST.
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/S.L.C./Examiner, Art Unit 3792
/LYNSEY C Eiseman/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3796