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 arguments filed 08/16/2024 have been fully considered but they are NOT persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to independent claims 1, 8 and 13 have been fully 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.
Newly found prior art Toh, et al., US 20170188938 A1 teaches systems and methods comprising the steps of collecting presence data further comprises collecting infrared images and removing inanimate heat sources from the infrared images. The step of removing inanimate heat sources from the infrared images further comprises filtering the infrared images for each pixel across time using a median filter and a moving average filter; finding an average temperature of the infrared images per frame and filtering the average across time using a median filter; finding time and location of inanimate heat sources in the presence data; masking out inanimate heat sources in the infrared images; and setting the temperature of a masked region to the mean temperature of regions not masked, which teaches “the aggregate background value comprising an aggregation of background values of a background of each image captured by the LWIR sensor; filter the passive LWIR sensor output based on an image mask derived from the aggregate background value to detect a LWIR-based presence of the living subject in at least one image captured by the LWIR sensor based on a detection of the black-body radiation”, as required by claims 1, 8 and 13.
Therefore, the claims stand rejected.
Double Patenting
Examiner has made acknowledgement of Applicant’s request to hold the double patenting rejections in abeyance until the claims are deemed allowable.
Withdrawn Objections
Pursuant of Applicant’s amendments filed 10/14/20225, the objection made to claim 13 has been withdrawn.
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.
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.
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.
Claims 1-6, 8-16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lev, et al., US 20220007950 A1 in view of Boric-Lubecke, et al., US 20080119716 A1 and Toh, et al., US 20170188938 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Lev teaches a system for presence and vitals detection of a living subject, the system (system 200 of [0058]) comprising:
a passive long wave infrared low-resolution ("LWIR") sensor ([0061] discloses a thermal sensor in the long-infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum (e.g., about 9000-14000 nanometers. Of note, the disclosure does not provide any definitions for the recited “passive” and “low-resolution” hence the thermal sensor which is stipulated to operate in the range above is interpreted to be tantamount to the recited “passive long wave infrared low-resolution (“LWIR”) sensor”));
a radar ([0082] discloses a doppler and/or radar sensor);
a processor (“one or more hardware processors 202”[0058]); and
a user interface (user interface of [0065]);
wherein LWIR sensor is utilized to detect black-body radiation originating from a living subject (the graph in fig. 3 indicates average thermal reading indicative of the temperature at an area below a nose of person. [0091]-[0096] indicate that temperature measurement from the thermal images indicates a physiological state of the person, such as respiratory rate, chest movement/displacement. While not explicitly stated, the measured temperature, paragraphs 91 and 94, is due to black-body radiation of the person [see [0026] of Applicant’s PG-Pub which sets forth that all warm blooded living subjects naturally radiate black body heat]);
wherein the processor (204 of fig. 2 and [0058]) is configured to run an algorithm to perform digital signal processing on data provided by the Doppler radar and the LWIR sensor ([0048] indicates computing physiological parameters, step 108 of fig. 1, such as respiratory rate and/or heart rate from the thermal sensors, that is IR cameral and Doppler and/or radar sensor)
monitor passive LWIR sensor output from the passive LWIR sensor ([0067] states that “Referring now back to FIG. 1, at 102, respective datasets are received from each one of multiple remote, non-contact sensors monitoring a person. Each respective dataset may be the output of the respective sensor, for example, a video including multiple frames, sequentially acquired individual still frames, and respective values indicative of other measurements made by the respective sensor. The respective dataset may be the raw output of the respective sensor, and/or output that has been processed to obtain a value”);
determine an aggregate background value of the passive LWIR sensor output ([0072] states that “the combination of time synchronized dataset are analyzed for errors”, the errors comprising interferences ([0047]), “non-correlated portion of datasets” above or below a threshold, “features of the datasets” and compared to predefined non-error and/or error values (e.g., using a set of rules), for example, maximum value, standard deviation, expected patterns”, ([0073]) all of which types of errors is hereby interpreted as background value that is combined);
detect, in response to the LWIR-based presence, a Doppler radar-based presence of the living subject based on a detection of the frequency change of reflections (“In an example, the first remote non-contact sensor is a thermal and/or visual sensor that captures a sequence of thermal and/or visual images depicting a chest and/or head of the person. The second remote non-contact sensors is a Doppler and/or radar sensor. One or more thermal and/or visual images are analyzed to identify a target location of the chest and/or head of the person depicted therein” [0113]);
generate, in responses to the LWIR-based presence and the radar-based presence, vitals information for the living subjects based at least in part on the black-body radiation and the frequency change of the reflections (see step 108 of fig. 1, [0106] stating that “The physiological parameter may be computed, for example, by a mapping dataset that maps values of the sub-physiological parameters into the physiological parameter (e.g., in a multi-dimensional space), a function, and/or a classifier trained on a training dataset of sample datasets and/or combinations of sub-physiological parameters labelled with the physiological parameter. For example, the value of the physiological parameter is computed based on the values of the sub-physiological parameters, and/or number of rules met. For example, the higher the temperature, and the higher the respiratory rate, and the lower the oxygen saturation, the more likely that the person is infected with the viral illness”); and
output the vitals information and the LWIR-based presence and the radar-based presence for communication to the user interface (“Computing device 204 and/or client terminal(s) 208 include and/or are in communication with one or more physical user interfaces 224 that include a mechanism for entering data and/or viewing data, for example, a touchscreen display used to indicate a new person for analysis, and/or for presenting the computed physiological parameter” [0065]).
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Lev does not teach that the radar is Doppler radar, wherein the Doppler radar emits a radiofrequency at a specific frequency, and detects a frequency change of reflections of a plurality of targets which have subtle movements caused by respiration and/or ballistocardiography from the living subject.
However, within the same field of endeavor, Boric-Lubecke teaches systems and methods for determining presence and/or physiological motion of at least one subject using a Doppler radar system having a quadrature receiver (see abstract), wherein the Doppler radar emits a radiofrequency at a specific frequency ([0056] discloses a continuous wave Doppler radar transmitting a single tone signal at a specific frequency), and detects a frequency change of reflections of a plurality of targets which have subtle movements caused by respiration and/or ballistocardiography from the living subject ([0056] indicates modulation of the reflected signals from the incident radar due to respiratory and/or heart activity).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure Lev wherein the radar is Doppler radar wherein the Doppler radar emits a radiofrequency at a specific frequency, and detects a frequency change of reflections of a plurality of targets which have subtle movements caused by respiration and/or ballistocardiography from the living subject, as taught by Boric-Lubecke, which would allow accurate respiratory and/or cardiographic measurements (paragraph 8) with having less noise (paragraphs 7-9).
Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke fails to teach the aggregate background value comprising an aggregation of background values of a background of each image captured by the LWIR sensor; filter the passive LWIR sensor output based on an image mask derived from the aggregate background value to detect a LWIR-based presence of the living subject in at least one image captured by the LWIR sensor based on a detection of the black-body radiation.
However, within the same field of endeavor, Toh teaches a method and system for monitoring sleep of a subject, where the sleep of the subject is monitored using a sensor unit including infrared array sensors for sleep tracking, which is used to track motion and also to detect presence of the subject. Further, the environment surrounding the subject is monitored. See abstract. According to [0008], the method and system include collecting presence and motion data from a sensor unit; transmitting the presence and motion data from the sensor unit to a processing unit; with the processing unit, determining whether the presence and motion data suggest presence of the subject; when the presence and motion data suggest the presence of the subject. [0009] then states “collecting presence data further comprises collecting infrared images and removing inanimate heat sources from the infrared images. The step of removing inanimate heat sources from the infrared images further comprises filtering the infrared images for each pixel across time using a median filter and a moving average filter; finding an average temperature of the infrared images per frame and filtering the average across time using a median filter; finding time and location of inanimate heat sources in the presence data; masking out inanimate heat sources in the infrared images; and setting the temperature of a masked region to the mean temperature of regions not masked.” and hence teaching the aggregate background value comprising an aggregation of background values of a background of each image captured by the LWIR sensor; filter the passive LWIR sensor output based on an image mask derived from the aggregate background value to detect a LWIR-based presence of the living subject in at least one image captured by the LWIR sensor based on a detection of the black-body radiation.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure Lev, as modified by Boric-Lubecke, wherein the aggregate background value comprises an aggregation of background values of a background of each image captured by the LWIR sensor; filter the passive LWIR sensor output based on an image mask derived from the aggregate background value to detect a LWIR-based presence of the living subject in at least one image captured by the LWIR sensor based on a detection of the black-body radiation, as taught by Toh, to improve the accuracy of the presence determination by reducing the noise in the data ([0097]-[0098]).
Regarding claim 2, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above.
Lev fails to teach wherein the Doppler radar is a pulsed Doppler radar or a continuous wave Doppler radar.
However, Boric-Lubecke further teaches wherein the Doppler radar is a pulsed Doppler radar or a continuous wave Doppler radar ([0056] indicates that the Doppler radar is a continuous wave (CW) radar system).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure Lev wherein the Doppler radar is a pulsed Doppler radar or a continuous wave Doppler radar, as taught by Boric-Lubecke, which would allow accurate respiratory and/or cardiographic measurements (paragraph 8) with having less noise ( [0007]-[0009]).
Regarding claim 3, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above
Lev further teaches wherein the user interface presents data using a LED, a display or a speaker (“Computing device 204 and/or client terminal(s) 208 include and/or are in communication with one or more physical user interfaces 224 that include a mechanism for entering data and/or viewing data”[0065]).
Regarding claim 4, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above.
Lev further teaches wherein the user interface comprises a second communication module for receiving data from a first communication module in communication with the processor (paragraph 65 indicates that computing device 204 and/or client terminal(s) 208 include and/or are in communication with one or more physical user interfaces 224 via network interface 222 of paragraph 62. While not explicitly disclosed as a first communication module and a second communication module, communication between the physical user interface 224 and the computing device 204 include hardware and instructions for the stated communication, as is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art).
Regarding claim 5, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above.
Lev further teaches a memory (data storage device 220 of paragraph 64) configured to store sensor output from the LWIR sensor (paragraph 64 indicates that the data storage stores datasets acquired by the sensors 212, which includes the long IR range thermal sensor of paragraph 61).
Regarding claim 6, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 1 above.
Lev further teaches wherein the LWIR sensor is an imaging sensor presence detector (paragraph 61 indicates that the long IR range thermal sensor captures thermal images, meaning the thermal sensor is an imaging sensor presence detector).
Regarding claim 8, Lev teaches a system for presence and vitals detection of a living subject (system 200 of paragraph 58), the system comprising:
a monitoring device comprising a passive long wave infrared low- resolution ("LWIR") sensor(paragraph 61 discloses a thermal sensor in the long-infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum (e.g., about 9000-14000 nanometers. Of note, the disclosure does not provide any definitions for the recited “passive” and “low-resolution” hence the thermal sensor which is stipulated to operate in the range above is interpreted to be tantamount to the recited “passive long wave infrared low-resolution (“LWIR”) sensor”)), a radar(paragraph 82 discloses a doppler and/or radar sensor), a processor (paragraph 58), and a first communication module (paragraph 65 indicates that computing device 204 and/or client terminal(s) 208 include and/or are in communication with one or more physical user interfaces 224 via network interface 222 of paragraph 62. While not explicitly disclosed as a first communication module and a second communication module, communication between the physical user interface 224 and the computing device 204 include hardware and instructions for the stated communication, as is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art); and
an interface device (user interface 224 of paragraph 65) comprising a second communication module and a user interface module(paragraph 65 indicates that computing device 204 and/or client terminal(s) 208 include and/or are in communication with one or more physical user interfaces 224 via network interface 222 of paragraph 62. While not explicitly disclosed as a first communication module and a second communication module, communication between the physical user interface 224 and the computing device 204 include hardware and instructions for the stated communication, as is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art);
wherein LWIR sensor is utilized to detect black-body radiation originating from a living subject(the graph in fig. 3 indicates average thermal reading indicative of the temperature at an area below a nose of person. Paragraphs 91-96 indicate that temperature measurement from the thermal images indicates a physiological state of the person, such as respiratory rate, chest movement/displacement. While not explicitly stated, the measured temperature, paragraphs 91 and 94, is due to black-body radiation of the person [see paragraph [0026] of Applicant’s PG-Pub which sets forth that all warm blooded living subjects naturally radiate black body heat]);
wherein the processor (204 of fig. 2 and paragraph 58) is configured to run an algorithm to perform digital signal processing on data provided by the Doppler radar and the LWIR sensor (paragraph 48 indicates computing physiological parameters such as respiratory rate and/or heart rate from the thermal sensors, that is IR cameral and Doppler and/or radar sensor) to generate presence information (In [0048] the generating of respiratory rate/temperature information is an indication of a presence of the living subject and hence comprises presence information) comprising:
monitor passive LWIR sensor output from the passive LWIR sensor ([0067] states that “Referring now back to FIG. 1, at 102, respective datasets are received from each one of multiple remote, non-contact sensors monitoring a person. Each respective dataset may be the output of the respective sensor, for example, a video including multiple frames, sequentially acquired individual still frames, and respective values indicative of other measurements made by the respective sensor. The respective dataset may be the raw output of the respective sensor, and/or output that has been processed to obtain a value”);
determine an aggregate background value of the passive LWIR sensor output ([0072] states that “the combination of time synchronized dataset are analyzed for errors”, the errors comprising interferences ([0047]), “non-correlated portion of datasets” above or below a threshold, “features of the datasets” and compared to predefined non-error and/or error values (e.g., using a set of rules), for example, maximum value, standard deviation, expected patterns”, ([0073]) all of which types of errors is hereby interpreted as background value that is combined);
detect, in response to the LWIR-based presence, a radar-based presence of the living subject based on a detection of the frequency change of reflections (“In an example, the first remote non-contact sensor is a thermal and/or visual sensor that captures a sequence of thermal and/or visual images depicting a chest and/or head of the person. The second remote non-contact sensors is a Doppler and/or radar sensor. One or more thermal and/or visual images are analyzed to identify a target location of the chest and/or head of the person depicted therein” [0113]);
generate, in responses to the LWIR-based presence and the radar-based presence, vitals information for the living subjects based at least in part on the black-body radiation and the frequency change of the reflections (see step 108 of fig. 1, [0106] stating that “The physiological parameter may be computed, for example, by a mapping dataset that maps values of the sub-physiological parameters into the physiological parameter (e.g., in a multi-dimensional space), a function, and/or a classifier trained on a training dataset of sample datasets and/or combinations of sub-physiological parameters labelled with the physiological parameter. For example, the value of the physiological parameter is computed based on the values of the sub-physiological parameters, and/or number of rules met. For example, the higher the temperature, and the higher the respiratory rate, and the lower the oxygen saturation, the more likely that the person is infected with the viral illness”); and
output the vitals information and the LWIR-based presence and the radar-based presence for communication to a user interface (“Computing device 204 and/or client terminal(s) 208 include and/or are in communication with one or more physical user interfaces 224 that include a mechanism for entering data and/or viewing data, for example, a touchscreen display used to indicate a new person for analysis, and/or for presenting the computed physiological parameter” [0065]).
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Lev does not teach that the radar is Doppler radar wherein the Doppler radar emits a radiofrequency at a specific frequency, and detects a frequency change of reflections of a plurality of targets which have subtle movements caused by respiration and/or ballistocardiography from the living subject.
However, Boric-Lubecke teaches systems and methods for determining presence and/or physiological motion of at least one subject using a Doppler radar system having a quadrature receiver (see abstract), wherein the Doppler radar emits a radiofrequency at a specific frequency (paragraph 56 discloses a continuous wave Doppler radar transmitting a single tone signal at a specific frequency), and detects a frequency change of reflections of a plurality of targets which have subtle movements caused by the respiration and/or ballistocardiography from the living subject (paragraph 56 indicates modulation of the reflected signals from the incident radar due to respiratory and/or heart activity).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure Lev such that the radar is Doppler radar wherein the Doppler radar emits a radiofrequency at a specific frequency, and detects a frequency change of reflections of a plurality of targets which have subtle movements caused by the respiration and/or ballistocardiography from the living subject, as taught by Boric-Lubecke, which would allow accurate respiratory and/or cardiographic measurements (paragraph 8) with having less noise (paragraphs 7-9).
Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke fails to teach the aggregate background value comprising an aggregation of background values of a background of each image captured by the LWIR sensor; filter the passive LWIR sensor output based on an image mask derived from the aggregate background value to detect a LWIR-based presence of the living subject in at least one image captured by the LWIR sensor based on a detection of the black-body radiation.
However, within the same field of endeavor, Toh teaches a method and system for monitoring sleep of a subject, where the sleep of the subject is monitored using a sensor unit including infrared array sensors for sleep tracking, which is used to track motion and also to detect presence of the subject. Further, the environment surrounding the subject is monitored. See abstract. According to [0008], the method and system include collecting presence and motion data from a sensor unit; transmitting the presence and motion data from the sensor unit to a processing unit; with the processing unit, determining whether the presence and motion data suggest presence of the subject; when the presence and motion data suggest the presence of the subject. [0009] then states “collecting presence data further comprises collecting infrared images and removing inanimate heat sources from the infrared images. The step of removing inanimate heat sources from the infrared images further comprises filtering the infrared images for each pixel across time using a median filter and a moving average filter; finding an average temperature of the infrared images per frame and filtering the average across time using a median filter; finding time and location of inanimate heat sources in the presence data; masking out inanimate heat sources in the infrared images; and setting the temperature of a masked region to the mean temperature of regions not masked.” and hence teaching the aggregate background value comprising an aggregation of background values of a background of each image captured by the LWIR sensor; filter the passive LWIR sensor output based on an image mask derived from the aggregate background value to detect a LWIR-based presence of the living subject in at least one image captured by the LWIR sensor based on a detection of the black-body radiation.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure Lev, as modified by Boric-Lubecke, wherein the aggregate background value comprises an aggregation of background values of a background of each image captured by the LWIR sensor; filter the passive LWIR sensor output based on an image mask derived from the aggregate background value to detect a LWIR-based presence of the living subject in at least one image captured by the LWIR sensor based on a detection of the black-body radiation, as taught by Toh, to improve the accuracy of the presence determination by reducing the noise in the data ([0097]-[0098]).
Regarding claim 9, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 8 above.
Lev fails to teach wherein the Doppler radar is a pulsed Doppler radar or a continuous wave Doppler radar.
However, Boric-Lubecke further teaches wherein the Doppler radar is a pulsed Doppler radar or a continuous wave Doppler radar (paragraph 56 indicates that the Doppler radar is a continuous wave (CW) radar system).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure Lev wherein the Doppler radar is a pulsed Doppler radar or a continuous wave Doppler radar, as taught by Boric-Lubecke, which would allow accurate respiratory and/or cardiographic measurements (paragraph 8) with having less noise (paragraphs 7-9).
Regarding claim 10, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 8 above.
Lev further teaches wherein the first communication module is configured to transmit data to the second communication module(paragraph 65 indicates that computing device 204 and/or client terminal(s) 208 include and/or are in communication with one or more physical user interfaces 224 via network interface 222 of paragraph 62. While not explicitly disclosed as a first communication module and a second communication module, communication between the physical user interface 224 and the computing device 204 include hardware and instructions for the stated communication, as is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art).
Regarding claim 11, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 8 above.
Lev further teaches a memory (data storage device 220 of paragraph 64) configured to store sensor output from the LWIR sensor (paragraph 64 indicates that the data storage stores datasets acquired by the sensors 212, which includes the long IR range thermal sensor of paragraph 61).
Regarding claim 12, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 8 above.
Lev further teaches wherein the LWIR sensor is an imaging sensor presence detector or a single pixel presence detector(paragraph 61 indicates that the long IR range thermal sensor captures thermal images, meaning the thermal sensor is an imaging sensor presence detector).
Regarding claim 13, Lev teaches a method for presence and vitals detection of a living subject (fig. 1 and paragraph 58) , the method comprising:
detecting at a passive long wave infrared low-resolution (LWIR) sensor (long-infrared range thermal sensor of paragraph 61) of a monitoring device black-body radiation originating from a living subject(the graph in fig. 3 indicates average thermal reading indicative of the temperature at an area below a nose of person. Paragraphs 91-96 indicate that temperature measurement from the thermal images indicates a physiological state of the person, such as respiratory rate, chest movement/displacement. While not explicitly stated, the measured temperature, paragraphs 91 and 94, is due to black-body radiation of the person [see paragraph [0026] of Applicant’s PG-Pub which sets forth that all warm blooded living subjects naturally radiate black body heat]);
receiving at a processor of the monitoring device the data from the radar and the LWIR sensor ([0061]);
wherein the processor is configured to run an algorithm to perform digital signal processing on data provided by the Doppler radar and the LWIR sensor to:
monitor passive LWIR sensor output from the passive LWIR sensor ([0067] states that “Referring now back to FIG. 1, at 102, respective datasets are received from each one of multiple remote, non-contact sensors monitoring a person. Each respective dataset may be the output of the respective sensor, for example, a video including multiple frames, sequentially acquired individual still frames, and respective values indicative of other measurements made by the respective sensor. The respective dataset may be the raw output of the respective sensor, and/or output that has been processed to obtain a value”);
determine an aggregate background value of the passive LWIR sensor output ([0072] states that “the combination of time synchronized dataset are analyzed for errors”, the errors comprising interferences ([0047]), “non-correlated portion of datasets” above or below a threshold, “features of the datasets” and compared to predefined non-error and/or error values (e.g., using a set of rules), for example, maximum value, standard deviation, expected patterns”, ([0073]) all of which types of errors is hereby interpreted as background value that is combined);
filter the passive LWIR sensor output based on the aggregate background value ([0075]-[0080] describe different examples of eliminating/filtering datasets with the identified errors, including motion errors. Of note, while the paragraphs outline the various filtering steps as alternatives, they various step belong to the same embodiment) to detect a LWIR-based presence of the living subject based on a detection of the black-body radiation ([0048], [0081]-[0082] disclose generating temperature information [which would provide presence information of the living subject] from thermal, Doppler and radar sensors);
detect, in response to the LWIR-based presence, a radar-based presence of the living subject based on a detection of the frequency change of reflections (“In an example, the first remote non-contact sensor is a thermal and/or visual sensor that captures a sequence of thermal and/or visual images depicting a chest and/or head of the person. The second remote non-contact sensors is a Doppler and/or radar sensor. One or more thermal and/or visual images are analyzed to identify a target location of the chest and/or head of the person depicted therein” [0113]);
generate, in responses to the LWIR-based presence and the radar-based presence, vitals information for the living subjects based at least in part on the black-body radiation and the frequency change of the reflections (see step 108 of fig. 1, [0106] stating that “The physiological parameter may be computed, for example, by a mapping dataset that maps values of the sub-physiological parameters into the physiological parameter (e.g., in a multi-dimensional space), a function, and/or a classifier trained on a training dataset of sample datasets and/or combinations of sub-physiological parameters labelled with the physiological parameter. For example, the value of the physiological parameter is computed based on the values of the sub-physiological parameters, and/or number of rules met. For example, the higher the temperature, and the higher the respiratory rate, and the lower the oxygen saturation, the more likely that the person is infected with the viral illness”); and
output the vitals information and the LWIR-based presence and the radar-based presence for communication to a user interface (“Computing device 204 and/or client terminal(s) 208 include and/or are in communication with one or more physical user interfaces 224 that include a mechanism for entering data and/or viewing data, for example, a touchscreen display used to indicate a new person for analysis, and/or for presenting the computed physiological parameter” [0065]).
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communicating from a first communication module of the monitoring device the presence and vitals information for the living subject to a second communication module of an interface device(paragraph 65 indicates that computing device 204 and/or client terminal(s) 208 include and/or are in communication with one or more physical user interfaces 224 via network interface 222 of paragraph 62. While not explicitly disclosed as a first communication module and a second communication module, communication between the physical user interface 224 and the computing device 204 include hardware and instructions for the stated communication, as is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art); and
presenting on a user interface module of the interface device the presence and vitals information for the living subject (paragraph 65 indicates that the user interface 224 allows viewing of the data).
Lev fails to teach emitting from a radar of the monitoring device a radiofrequency at a specific frequency, and detecting a frequency change of reflections of a plurality of targets which have subtle movements caused by the respiration and/or ballistocardiography from the living subject;
However, Boric-Lubecke teaches systems and methods for determining presence and/or physiological motion of at least one subject using a Doppler radar system having a quadrature receiver (see abstract), including emitting from a radar of the monitoring device a radiofrequency at a specific frequency(paragraph 56 discloses a continuous wave Doppler radar transmitting a single tone signal at a specific frequency), and detecting the frequency change of reflections of a plurality of targets which have subtle movements caused by the respiration and/or ballistocardiography from the living subject(paragraph 56 indicates modulation of the reflected signals from the incident radar due to respiratory and/or heart activity).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure Lev for emitting from a radar of the monitoring device a radiofrequency at a specific frequency, and detecting a frequency change of reflections of a plurality of targets which have subtle movements caused by the respiration and/or ballistocardiography from the living subject, as taught by Boric-Lubecke, which would allow accurate respiratory and/or cardiographic measurements (paragraph 8) with having less noise (paragraphs 7-9).
Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke fails to teach the aggregate background value comprising an aggregation of background values of a background of each image captured by the LWIR sensor; filter the passive LWIR sensor output based on an image mask derived from the aggregate background value to detect a LWIR-based presence of the living subject in at least one image captured by the LWIR sensor based on a detection of the black-body radiation.
However, within the same field of endeavor, Toh teaches a method and system for monitoring sleep of a subject, where the sleep of the subject is monitored using a sensor unit including infrared array sensors for sleep tracking, which is used to track motion and also to detect presence of the subject. Further, the environment surrounding the subject is monitored. See abstract. According to [0008], the method and system include collecting presence and motion data from a sensor unit; transmitting the presence and motion data from the sensor unit to a processing unit; with the processing unit, determining whether the presence and motion data suggest presence of the subject; when the presence and motion data suggest the presence of the subject. [0009] then states “collecting presence data further comprises collecting infrared images and removing inanimate heat sources from the infrared images. The step of removing inanimate heat sources from the infrared images further comprises filtering the infrared images for each pixel across time using a median filter and a moving average filter; finding an average temperature of the infrared images per frame and filtering the average across time using a median filter; finding time and location of inanimate heat sources in the presence data; masking out inanimate heat sources in the infrared images; and setting the temperature of a masked region to the mean temperature of regions not masked.” and hence teaching the aggregate background value comprising an aggregation of background values of a background of each image captured by the LWIR sensor; filter the passive LWIR sensor output based on an image mask derived from the aggregate background value to detect a LWIR-based presence of the living subject in at least one image captured by the LWIR sensor based on a detection of the black-body radiation.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure Lev, as modified by Boric-Lubecke, wherein the aggregate background value comprises an aggregation of background values of a background of each image captured by the LWIR sensor; filter the passive LWIR sensor output based on an image mask derived from the aggregate background value to detect a LWIR-based presence of the living subject in at least one image captured by the LWIR sensor based on a detection of the black-body radiation, as taught by Toh, to improve the accuracy of the presence determination by reducing the noise in the data ([0097]-[0098]).
Regarding claim 14, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 13 above.
Lev fails to teach wherein the Doppler radar is a pulsed Doppler radar or a continuous wave Doppler radar.
However, Boric-Lubecke further teaches wherein the Doppler radar is a pulsed Doppler radar or a continuous wave Doppler radar (paragraph 56 indicates that the Doppler radar is a continuous wave (CW) radar system).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure Lev wherein the Doppler radar is a pulsed Doppler radar or a continuous wave Doppler radar, as taught by Boric-Lubecke, which would allow accurate respiratory and/or cardiographic measurements (paragraph 8) with having less noise (paragraphs 7-9).
Regarding claim 15, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 13 above.
Lev further teaches a memory (data storage device 220 of paragraph 64) configured to store sensor output from the LWIR sensor (paragraph 64 indicates that the data storage stores datasets acquired by the sensors 212, which includes the long IR range thermal sensor of paragraph 61).
Regarding claim 16, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 13 above.
Lev further teaches wherein the LWIR sensor is an imaging sensor presence detector (paragraph 61 indicates that the long IR range thermal sensor captures thermal images, meaning the thermal sensor is an imaging sensor presence detector).
Regarding claim 18, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 13 above.
Lev further teaches wherein the living subject is an infant (Lev indicates in paragraph 100 that the measurements are for 15 year old thin short, and athletic child, or an older 65 year old tall person).
Claim 7 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lev, et al., US 20220007950 A1 in view of Boric-Lubecke, et al., US 20080119716 A1 and Toh, et al., US 20170188938 A1, as applied to claims 1 and 13, respectively above, and further in view of Wang, et al., US 20210274107 A1.
Regarding claims 7 and 17, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claims 1 and 13 respectively, above.
Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh fail to teach wherein the LWIR sensor is a single pixel presence detector.
However, Wang discloses a pixel for an image sensor includes a microbolometer sensor portion, a visible image sensor portion and an output path (abstract), for a long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) image sensor pixel (paragraph 29) wherein the LWIR sensor is taught to be a single pixel presence detector (paragraph 29 indicates that the LWIR is a single pixel sensor).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure Lev, as modified by Boric-Lubecke and Toh, such that the LWIR sensor is a single pixel presence detector, as taught by Wang, as such modification would improve the accuracy of detection while also reducing the cost of the apparatus (paragraph 4).
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lev, et al., US 20220007950 A1 in view of Boric-Lubecke, et al., US 20080119716 A1 and Toh, et al., US 20170188938 A1, as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Schultes, et al., US 20220167850 A1.
Regarding claim 19, Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh teaches all the limitations of claim 13 above.
Lev in view of Boric-Lubecke and Toh fail to teach wherein the first communication module and the second communication module operate on a communication protocol conforming to the WiFiTM standard.
However, Schultes teaches a 3D body scanner of a body (abstract) using radar and infrared cameras and providing first (paragraph 31) and second interfaces (paragraph 34) for communicating acquired data (paragraph 54) wherein the first communication module and the second communication module operate on a communication protocol conforming to the WiFiTM standard (paragraph 31 and 34).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure Lev as modified by Boric-Lubecke and Toh wherein the first communication module and the second communication module operate on a communication protocol conforming to the WiFiTM standard, as taught by Schultes, as such modification would improve the communication of data across the devices (paragraph 8).
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.
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/FAROUK A BRUCE/ Examiner, Art Unit 3797
/CHRISTOPHER KOHARSKI/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3797