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 argument on Page 6 regarding the objection to Claim 2 has been fully considered. The objection to Claim 2 is withdrawn in view of the amendments.
Applicant’s argument on Pages 7-8 regarding the rejection of Claims 1, 9, and 14 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kutsuna has been fully considered but is not persuasive under new grounds of rejection as below.
Regarding the rejection of all remaining corresponding claims, applicant’s argument submitted on Page 9 relies on the supposed deficiencies with respect to the rejection of parent Claims 1 and 9. Applicant’s argument is moot for the same reasons detailed above.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 9, and 14 are objected to because of the following informalities: minor error in antecedent basis. The claims should be amended to “[…] based on [[the]] a readout gradient magnetic field […]” in order to establish proper antecedent basis. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 8 is objected to because of the following informalities: minor error in antecedent basis. The claim should be amended to “[…] the generating of [[a]] the three-dimensional radial data acquisition magnetic resonance image […]” in order to establish proper antecedent basis. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 8-10, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Patil et al. (US 20200072928).
Regarding Claims 1 and 14, Patil teaches a volume-selective three-dimensional radial data acquisition magnetic resonance image generating method, ([0001] “The present invention relates generally to k-space trajectories for data sampling in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and, more particularly, to a Cartesian-radial hybrid k-space trajectory for volumetric imaging.”), the method comprising:
a) applying a frequency selective excitation pulse, ([0040] “Radio frequency (RF) module 20 provides RF pulse signals to RF coil 18, which in response produces magnetic field pulses which rotate the spins of the protons in the imaged body of the patient 11 by ninety degrees or by one hundred and eighty degrees for so-called “spin echo” imaging, or by angles less than or equal to 90 degrees for so-called “gradient echo” imaging. Gradient and shim coil control module 16 in conjunction with RF module 20, as directed by central control system 26, control slice-selection, phase-encoding, readout gradient magnetic fields, radio frequency transmission, and magnetic resonance signal detection, to acquire magnetic resonance signals representing planar slices of patient 11.”), and a slab selection gradient magnetic field together to an object ([0039] “The magnetic field gradients include a slice-selection gradient magnetic field, a phase-encoding gradient magnetic field and a readout gradient magnetic field that are applied to patient 11.”);
b) acquiring a signal generated from the object by the excitation pulse and the slab selection gradient magnetic field ([0041] “In response to applied RF pulse signals, the RF coil 18 receives magnetic resonance signals, i.e., signals from the excited protons within the body as they return to an equilibrium position established by the static and gradient magnetic fields.”); and
c) generating a three-dimensional radial data acquisition magnetic resonance image by encoding the echo signal based on the readout gradient magnetic field, ([0041] “The magnetic resonance signals are detected and processed by a detector within RF module 20 and k-space ordering processor unit 34 to provide a magnetic resonance dataset to an image data processor for processing into an image.”),
d) wherein the slab selection gradient magnetic field is configured to change along a direction of a radial trajectory to fill a three-dimensional k-space, ([0053] “The MRI system 100 may be configured to perform a two-dimensional EPI k-space acquisition in order to collect each projection 605, 610, 620. The MRI system 100 may be further configured to perform radial shifts in the phase-encoding (Kr) and slab-encoding (Kz) directions to fill the three-dimensional k-space.”), and to be perpendicular to the readout gradient magnetic field during a radial data acquisition (Figs. 7-9 and Abstract “Each subsequent k-space acquisition includes acquiring an additional set of two-dimensional EPI projections in all of the planes in which an EPI projection was acquired during the first k-space acquisition, each additional set of EPI projections being shifted along a respective plane in a direction perpendicular to the frequency-encoding direction.”).
Furthermore, the cited actions are computer implemented, which necessitate associated computer-readable media, as in [0068] (“an exemplary computing environment 1100 within which embodiments of the invention may be implemented. For example, this computing environment 1100 may be configured to execute an imaging process performed by the MRI system 100. The computing environment 1100 may include computer system 1110, which is one example of a computing system upon which embodiments of the invention may be implemented.”).
Regarding Claim 2, Patil teaches all limitations of Claim 1, as discussed above. Furthermore, Patil teaches wherein the applying of the frequency selective excitation pulse and the slab selection gradient magnetic field together to the object further comprises applying the slab selection gradient magnetic field that is determined to selectively spin-excite a predetermined volume region corresponding to a predetermined field of view ([0055] “The radial shift of the EPI spokes 600 about the central axis 630 provides circular coverage of a generally cylindrical volume. A golden angle radial shift, with a sufficient number of spokes 600, provides substantially uniform circular coverage of the area of interest of the subject. This is known as an isotropic FOV.”).
Regarding Claim 8, Patil teaches all limitations of Claim 2, as discussed above. Furthermore, Patil teaches wherein
a) in the applying to the object, a plurality of slab selection gradient magnetic fields having a slab selection direction corresponding to each axial direction of the three-dimensional coordinate system is applied to the object, ([0052] “the MRI system 100 shifts in the slab-encoding direction (Kz) to stack the samples 200 after an entire sample 200 is acquired (e.g., all of projections 300, 310, 320). In another embodiment, the MRI system 100 may acquire all of the “first” projections 300 first by shifting in the Kz direction after each projection 300. After each projection 300 is captured across the entire Kz dimension, the MRI system 100 shifts in the Ky direction and begins collecting the projections 310. After the projections 310 are collected, the MRI system 100 shifts in the Ky direction again and captures the projections 320.”), and
b) wherein in the generating of a magnetic resonance image, the encoding is performed based on a plurality of readout gradient magnetic fields applied to each axial direction of the three-dimensional coordinate system so as to vertically correspond to the plurality of slab selection magnetic fields (Figs. 2A-2C and Claim 10 “acquiring a two-dimensional echo planar imaging (EPI) projection in a first plane parallel to a frequency-encoding direction; acquiring additional two-dimensional EPI projections in planes that are radially shifted about a center axis parallel to the frequency-encoding direction with respect to the first plane, until a selected number of projections are acquired”).
Regarding Claim 9, Patil teaches a volume-selective three-dimensional radial data acquisition magnetic resonance image generating apparatus, ([0001] “The present invention relates generally to k-space trajectories for data sampling in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and, more particularly, to a Cartesian-radial hybrid k-space trajectory for volumetric imaging.”), comprising: one or more processors, ([0041] “The magnetic resonance signals are detected and processed by a detector within RF module 20 and k-space ordering processor unit 34 to provide a magnetic resonance dataset to an image data processor for processing into an image. In some embodiments, the image data processor is located in central control system 26.”), configured to:
a) apply a frequency selective excitation pulse, ([0040] “Radio frequency (RF) module 20 provides RF pulse signals to RF coil 18, which in response produces magnetic field pulses which rotate the spins of the protons in the imaged body of the patient 11 by ninety degrees or by one hundred and eighty degrees for so-called “spin echo” imaging, or by angles less than or equal to 90 degrees for so-called “gradient echo” imaging. Gradient and shim coil control module 16 in conjunction with RF module 20, as directed by central control system 26, control slice-selection, phase-encoding, readout gradient magnetic fields, radio frequency transmission, and magnetic resonance signal detection, to acquire magnetic resonance signals representing planar slices of patient 11.”), and a slab selection gradient magnetic field together to an object ([0039] “The magnetic field gradients include a slice-selection gradient magnetic field, a phase-encoding gradient magnetic field and a readout gradient magnetic field that are applied to patient 11.”);
b) acquire a signal generated from the object by the excitation pulse and the slab selection gradient magnetic field ([0041] “In response to applied RF pulse signals, the RF coil 18 receives magnetic resonance signals, i.e., signals from the excited protons within the body as they return to an equilibrium position established by the static and gradient magnetic fields.”); and
c) generate a three-dimensional radial data acquisition magnetic resonance image by encoding the echo signal based on the readout gradient magnetic field, ([0041] “The magnetic resonance signals are detected and processed by a detector within RF module 20 and k-space ordering processor unit 34 to provide a magnetic resonance dataset to an image data processor for processing into an image.”),
d) wherein the slab selection gradient magnetic field is configured to change along a direction of a radial trajectory to fill a three-dimensional k-space, ([0053] “The MRI system 100 may be configured to perform a two-dimensional EPI k-space acquisition in order to collect each projection 605, 610, 620. The MRI system 100 may be further configured to perform radial shifts in the phase-encoding (Kr) and slab-encoding (Kz) directions to fill the three-dimensional k-space.”), and to be perpendicular to the readout gradient magnetic field during a radial data acquisition (Figs. 7-9 and Abstract “Each subsequent k-space acquisition includes acquiring an additional set of two-dimensional EPI projections in all of the planes in which an EPI projection was acquired during the first k-space acquisition, each additional set of EPI projections being shifted along a respective plane in a direction perpendicular to the frequency-encoding direction.”).
Regarding Claim 10, Patil teaches all limitations of Claim 9, as discussed above. Furthermore, Patil teaches wherein the one or more processors are configured to apply the slab selection gradient magnetic field which is determined to selectively spin-excite a predetermined field of view to the object ([0055] “The radial shift of the EPI spokes 600 about the central axis 630 provides circular coverage of a generally cylindrical volume. A golden angle radial shift, with a sufficient number of spokes 600, provides substantially uniform circular coverage of the area of interest of the subject. This is known as an isotropic FOV.”).
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.
Claims 3-4 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patil et al. (US 20200072928) in view of Ikezaki (JPH0856916A).
Regarding Claim 3, Patil teaches all limitations of Claim 2, as discussed above. However, Patil does not explicitly teach wherein in the applying to the object, an asymmetric frequency selective excitation pulse or a symmetric frequency selective excitation pulse is applied.
In an analogous RF pulse generation field of endeavor, Ikezaki teaches a magnetic resonance image generating method ([0001] “The present invention relates to an RF (Radio Frequency) pulse generating method and an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) apparatus”), wherein in the applying to the object, an asymmetric frequency selective excitation pulse or a symmetric frequency selective excitation pulse is applied ([0015] “FIG. 5 is an illustration of an asymmetric RF pulse having a temporally asymmetric waveform.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of applicant’s filing to modify the pulses of Patil with the asymmetric pulses taught by Ikezaki because asymmetric pulses reduce the spread of excitation, when compared to symmetric pulses.
Regarding Claim 4, the modified method of Patil teaches all limitations of Claim 3, as discussed above. Furthermore, Ikezaki teaches wherein in the applying to the object, an asymmetric frequency selective excitation pulse is applied, and wherein the asymmetric frequency selective excitation pulse includes a main lobe and includes an asymmetric sine pulse, ([0004] “since the asymmetric RF pulse g2 (t) is a waveform obtained by cutting out the waveform of the sinc function in a finite time, it has a relatively large side lobe and a problem that the shape of the excitation region is deteriorated.”), from which a side lobe following the main lobe is removed (Fig. 3, reproduced below, and [0012] “FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram of a window function for reducing a side lobe of a frequency spectrum, which is an asymmetric window function having a temporally asymmetric waveform.”).
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Fig. 3 of Ikezaki
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of applicant’s filing to further combine the teachings of Ikezaki because the combination results in resolution maintenance of the image without destruction of amplitude and phase information.
Regarding Claim 11, Patil teaches all limitations of Claim 10, as discussed above. However, Patil does not explicitly teach wherein the one or more processors are configured to apply an asymmetric frequency selective excitation pulse or a symmetric frequency selective excitation pulse and the asymmetric frequency selective excitation pulse includes a main lobe and includes an asymmetric sine pulse from which a side lobe following the main lobe is removed.
In an analogous RF pulse generation field of endeavor, Ikezaki teaches a magnetic resonance image generating apparatus ([0001] “The present invention relates to an RF (Radio Frequency) pulse generating method and an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) apparatus”), wherein the one or more processors, (Abstract “computer 7”), are configured to apply an asymmetric frequency selective excitation pulse or a symmetric frequency selective excitation pulse ([0015] “FIG. 5 is an illustration of an asymmetric RF pulse having a temporally asymmetric waveform.”), and the asymmetric frequency selective excitation pulse includes a main lobe and includes an asymmetric sine pulse, ([0004] “since the asymmetric RF pulse g2 (t) is a waveform obtained by cutting out the waveform of the sinc function in a finite time, it has a relatively large side lobe and a problem that the shape of the excitation region is deteriorated.”), from which a side lobe following the main lobe is removed (Fig. 3, reproduced above, and [0012] “FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram of a window function for reducing a side lobe of a frequency spectrum, which is an asymmetric window function having a temporally asymmetric waveform.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of applicant’s filing to modify the teachings of Kutsuna with Ikezaki because asymmetric pulses reduce the spread of excitation, when compared to symmetric pulses and because the combination results in resolution maintenance of the image without destruction of amplitude and phase information.
Claims 5-6 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patil et al. (US 20200072928) in view of Ikezaki (JPH0856916A), as applied to Claims 4 and 11 above, further in view of Johnson et al. (“Optimized 3D Ultrashort Echo Time Pulmonary MRI”).
Regarding Claim 5, the modified method of Patil teaches all limitations of Claim 4, as discussed above. However, the modified method of Patil does not explicitly teach wherein the acquiring of a signal includes: acquiring an echo signal in a ramp period of the readout gradient magnetic field.
In an analogous optimized magnetic resonance imaging field of endeavor, Johnson teaches a volume-selective three-dimensional magnetic resonance image generating method, (Abstract “Purpose: To optimize 3D radial ultrashort echo time MRI for high resolution whole-lung imaging. Methods: 3D radial ultrashort echo time was implemented on a 3T scanner to investigate the effects of: (1) limited field-of-view excitation), wherein the acquiring of a signal includes: acquiring an echo signal in a ramp period of the readout gradient magnetic field (Methods, Human Comparison Study “For trapezoid gradients, the 1 ms duration required a gradient strength of 9.7 mT/m, ~7.5µs/sample, with an 88 µs ramp time.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of applicant’s filing to further modify with the ramp period of Johnson because the modification minimizes artifacts in the image and improves image quality.
Regarding Claim 6, the modified method of Patil teaches all limitations of Claim 5, as discussed above. Furthermore, Johnson teaches applying gridding interpolation to the acquired signal (Methods, Readout Trajectory and Corrections “For gridding reconstructions, COV(s,I) is equivalent to the sampling density correction utilized during reconstruction and is equal to s2 in the case of center-out radial imaging with analytical sampling density compensation” and Methods, Simulations and Phantoms “Images were reconstructed at 0.17 mm isotropic resolution with an optimized gridding routine and analytical density compensation”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of applicant’s filing to further modify with the gridding interpolation of Johnson because the modification provides computationally fast image reconstruction.
Regarding Claim 12, the modified apparatus of Patil teaches all limitations of Claim 11, as discussed above. However, the modified apparatus of Patil does not explicitly teach wherein the data acquisition unit acquires an echo signal in a ramp period of the readout gradient magnetic field.
In an analogous optimized magnetic resonance imaging field of endeavor, Johnson teaches a volume-selective three-dimensional magnetic resonance image apparatus, (Abstract “Purpose: To optimize 3D radial ultrashort echo time MRI for high resolution whole-lung imaging. Methods: 3D radial ultrashort echo time was implemented on a 3T scanner to investigate the effects of: (1) limited field-of-view excitation), wherein the one or more processors acquire an echo signal in a ramp period of the readout gradient magnetic field (Methods, Human Comparison Study “For trapezoid gradients, the 1 ms duration required a gradient strength of 9.7 mT/m, ~7.5µs/sample, with an 88 µs ramp time.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of applicant’s filing to further modify with the teachings of Johnson because the combination minimizes artifacts in the image and improves image quality.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patil et al. (US 20200072928) in view of Johnson et al. (“Optimized 3D Ultrashort Echo Time Pulmonary MRI”).
Regarding Claim 13, Patil teaches all limitations of Claim 10, as discussed above. Furthermore, Johnson teaches wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
a) select the predetermined volume region based on a field of view corresponding to a region of the object to be captured (Introduction “Specifically, we hypothesized that the following techniques would improve the SNR and image quality of 3D radial UTE MRI of the lungs: (1) limited field-of-view (FOV) excitation” and Methods, Limiting the Field of View “The effective flip angle experienced by a short T2 species can be derived from Bloch equations and is well developed for constant amplitude RF pulses (51–54). The excitation performance of selective excitations can be derived utilizing a similar framework. For species with long T1, assuming full recovery, the flip angle is approximately equal to the frequency domain overlap of the Lorentzian distribution and that of the Fourier transform of the RF pulse”); and
b) determine the slab selection gradient magnetic field corresponding to the selected volume region (Methods, Readout Trajectory and Corrections “To facilitate improved design of SNR optimized gradients in a flexible framework, we design gradients with a discrete arc length formulation”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of applicant’s filing to further modify with the teachings of Johnson because the combination allows a user to specifically select the volume region in which to be scanned, which promotes an efficient imaging process, minimizing imaging time for the patient.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 MARIA CHRISTINA TALTY whose telephone number is (571)272-8022. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8:30-5:30 EST.
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/MARIA CHRISTINA TALTY/Examiner, Art Unit 3797
/MICHAEL J CAREY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3795
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