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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 2/10/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/17/25, 2/3/26, 4/27/26, 7/10/26 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
Claim 1 recites “an analyzing processor configured to analyze a still image included in the moving image to detect an image of a predetermined site of the anterior eye segment”. In the Specifications, Applicant does not specially define the phrase “still image” though parenthetically associates a “frame” of the moving data with “a still image”. Further, analysis on the still image is disclosed as including “a freely selected region extraction method or technique”, “using brightness thresholding such as binarization”, “feature color extraction” and “segmentation”. These approaches to analysis would be understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art as merely numerical analyses of a data set representing the captured image. Analyses of “a still image included in the moving image” necessarily includes analyses of a single data set in the series of data sets representing a moving image as well as analyses of more than one data set in the series of data sets representing the moving image. In other words, the claim is not particularly limited to the manner by which data is selected for analysis nor the analyses for detecting an image of a predetermined site of the anterior eye segment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
(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 1-9 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US PG Pub. 2018/0098812 to Ootsuki (hereinafter Ootsuki; cited by Applicant).
Regarding claims 1 and 8-9, Ootsuki discloses an ophthalmic observation apparatus, method, and non-transitory computer readable medium (Fig. 1-2, 14-17, 23) for observing an anterior eye segment of a subject's eye in cataract surgery (Figs. 4-5 & 17; [0079]-[0107]), comprising: a surgical microscope (“an observation optical system 62”, Figs. 1-2; [0062]-[0069]) configured to generate a moving image by photographing the anterior eye segment (“front image acquisition unit 64 includes, for example, a video camera or the like”; [0066]; [0103]-[0107], [0190]-[0270]); an analyzing processor configured to analyze a still image included in the moving image to detect an image of a predetermined site of the anterior eye segment (“the lower right part on the outside of a pupil 133 in the drawing is set as a wound creation position 134”, Fig. 4, [0083]; [0103]-[0107]); a target position determining processor configured to determine a target position of the anterior eye segment to which a predetermined treatment is to be applied in the cataract surgery (“the lower right part on the outside of a pupil 133 in the drawing is set as a wound creation position 134”; [0083], [0103]-[0107]), based at least on the image of the predetermined site detected by the analyzing processor ([0083]; [0103]-[0107], [0190]-[0270]); and a display controller circuit (monitor 33 and controller 66, Fig. 1-2; [0083]; [0103]-[0107], [0103]-[0107], [0190]-[0270]) configured to display, on a display device, the moving image and target position information that represents the target position, wherein the analyzing processor is further configured to analyze a moving image generated by the surgical microscope before corneal incision in the cataract surgery to detect an image of a pupil edge of a corneal ring of the anterior eye segment ([0083]; [0103]-[0107], [0190]-[0270]), the target position determining processor is further configured to determine a target position for the corneal incision based at least on the moving image generated before the corneal incision ([0083]; [0103]-[0107], [0190]-[0270]), and the display controller circuit is further configured to display a live image generated in real time by the surgical microscope and the target position information that represents the target position for the corneal incision over the live image (Fig. 4, 17; [0083]; [0103]-[0107], [0190]-[0270]).
Regarding claim 2, Ootsuki discloses the target position determining processor is configured to determine the target position based at least on the image of the predetermined site detected by the analyzing processor and measurement data of the subject's eye acquired in advance ([0083]; [0103]-[0107], [0190]-[0270]).
Regarding claim 3, Ootsuki discloses a measuring unit configured to acquire measurement data of the subject's eye, wherein the target position determining processor is configured to determine the target position based at least on the image of the predetermined site detected by the analyzing processor and the measurement data acquired by the measuring unit (“the posture of the patient's eye on the basis of the results of recognition supplied from the image recognition unit 311 and the preoperative image supplied from the interface unit 67”; [0083]; [0103]-[0107], [0190]-[0270]).
Regarding claim 4, Ootsuki discloses the target position determining processor includes an assessing processor configured to assess influence of the predetermined treatment on the subject's eye based on the measurement data acquired by the measuring unit (“the positions of the corneal range, pupil range, optic disc, fovea, turning angle detection line, sclera, retina, and the like and the distribution of the blood vessels are obtained in advance by means of image recognition or the like on the tomographic image photographed as the preoperative image before surgery”; [0083]; [0103]-[0107], [0190]-[0270]), and the target position determining processor is configured to determine the target position based at least on the image of the predetermined site detected by the analyzing processor and a result obtained by the assessing processor (“the positions of the corneal range, pupil range, optic disc, fovea, turning angle detection line, sclera, retina, and the like and the distribution of the blood vessels are obtained in advance by means of image recognition or the like on the tomographic image photographed as the preoperative image before surgery”; [0083]; [0103]-[0107], [0190]-[0270]).
Regarding claim 5, Ootsuki discloses the target position determining processor is configured to determine, as the target position, a position away from the image of the predetermined site detected by the analyzing processor by a predetermined distance (“the positions of the corneal range, pupil range, optic disc, fovea, turning angle detection line, sclera, retina, and the like and the distribution of the blood vessels are obtained in advance by means of image recognition or the like on the tomographic image photographed as the preoperative image before surgery”; [0083]; [0103]-[0107], [0190]-[0270]).
Regarding claim 6, Ootsuki discloses when a first treatment and a second treatment (cataract and IOL implantation; [0079]-[0087]) are applied to the subject's eye, the analyzing processor performs first detection and second detection, the first detection including analysis of a first still image generated by the moving image generating processor surgical microscope prior to the first treatment to detect an image of a first site of the subject's eye, and the second detection including analysis of a second still image generated by the moving image generating processor surgical microscope prior to the second treatment to detect an image of a second site of the subject's eye, the target position determining processor performs first determination and second determination, the first determination including determination of a first target position that is a target position for the first treatment based at least on the image of the first site, and the second determination including determination of a second target position that is a target position for the second treatment based at least on the image of the second site, and the display controller circuit performs a first display control and a second display control, the first display control including a control for displaying the moving image and first target position information that represents the first target position for the first treatment, and the second display control including a control for displaying the moving image and second target position information that represents the second target position for the second treatment ([0083]; [0103]-[0107], [0190]-[0270]).
Regarding claim 7, Ootsuki discloses a treatment change detecting circuit configured to detect a change from the first treatment to the second treatment (“surgical system 11 performs the guide information presentation process in each mode while appropriately switching the mode”; [0194]).
Regarding claim 11, Ootsuki discloses the measuring unit includes at least one of a wavefront sensor, a corneal topographer, and an anterior eye segment Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) apparatus ([0067]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER J STANFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-3337. The examiner can normally be reached 8AM-4PM PST M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ricky Mack can be reached at (571)272-2333. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CHRISTOPHER STANFORD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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