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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 4, 11 and 14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, in line 9, “rPPG” should be deleted and replaced with --- remote photoplethysmography (rPPG) ---. Claim 11 is similarly objected to (see line 8).
In claim 4, in the 2nd to last line, ---a physiological parameter--- should be replaced with ---the physiological parameter---. Claim 14 is similarly rejected (see 2nd to last line).
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
With regards to claim 1, the claim sets forth steps of extracting an rPPG signal from the face region so as to calculate a preliminary physiological parameter based on the rPPG signal, extracting an error feature from the face region [wherein, as set forth in claim 2, the error features comprises at least one that is selected from a group consisting of brightness, area of ROI region, area of skin region, SNR, and two color difference components] and conducting an addition operation of the error compensation parameter and the preliminary physiological parameter, thereby generating a physiological parameter. However, the specification does not provide an algorithm and/or steps that perform the above claimed functions in sufficient detail such that one of ordinary skill in the art can reasonably conclude that the inventor possessed the claimed subject matter at the time of filing. Specifically, with regards to “extracting an rPPG signal”, paragraph [0051] of Applicant’s PG-Pub 2024/0057944 sets forth that an rPPG algorithm is used in the calculation of the preliminary physiological parameter and refers to literature document 1 written by de Haan et al. as an example of a CHROM algorithm for the rPPG algorithm. However, there is no statement indicating that de Haan et al. reference has been incorporated by reference, and therefore there is a lack of sufficient detail for the step of “extracting….”. With regards to the step of extracting an error feature, paragraph [0052] of Applicant’s PgPub does set forth that the error feature may be related to facial quality indices and comprises at least one of brightness, area of ROI region, area of skin region, SNR and two color difference components, etc.. However, there is no detail as to how such error features may be extracted from the face region, and thus there is a lack of sufficient detail as to how this function is performed. With regards to the step of conducting an addition operation of the error compensation parameter, Applicant’s specification provides no detail as to what the “addition operation” encompasses (see, for example, paragraph [0057], which simply refers to conducting an addition operation of the error compensation parameter and the preliminary physiological parameter but provides no further detail) and nor are there any formulas/equations which provide a description as to what is meant by the “addition operation” that results in generating a physiological parameter. Therefore, since the specification does not describe the algorithm and/or necessary steps that perform the above claimed functions in sufficient detail, the specification fails to provide sufficient written description support for the above limitations. See MPEP 2161.01, Section I. Claim 11 is similarly rejected.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
With regards to claim 1, in line 14, the limitation “conducts an addition operation of the error compensation parameter and the preliminary physiological parameter”. It is unclear as to whether the “addition operation” is referring to an arithmetic addition/summation or was supposed to mean –additional operation--. A review of the specification does not provide an indication that an addition/summation of the error compensation parameter and the preliminary physiological parameter is performed and nor does it provide a formula/equation such that it appears that the error compensation parameter and the preliminary physiological parameter are summed. The specification only refers to “an addition operation” being performed with no further detail as to what the “addition operation” entails (see for example, paragraphs [0055]-[0057], Figure 6B of Applicant’s PG-Pub 2024/0057944). As such, for examination purposes, it is assumed that reference to “an addition operation” in the claims is referring to – an additional operation---. Claim 11 is similarly rejected.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 7-14 and 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Khwaja et al. (US Pub No. 2018/0314879).
With regards to claims 1 and 11, Khwaja et al. disclose a contactless physiological measurement method and device, comprising:
a camera (110), being disposed to face a user (paragraphs [0015]-[0016], referring to the camera (110); Figure 1);
a modular electronic device (120, 900, computers), being coupled to the camera (110), and comprising a microprocessor and a memory, wherein the memory stores an application program, and the application program including instructions, such that in case the application program is executed (paragraphs [0015]-[0022], [0029], [0073]-[0079]; Figures 1, 9), the microprocessor being configured for:
controlling the camera to acquire an image from the user (paragraphs [0015]-[0016], referring to the optical camera (110) being connected to the client system; paragraphs [0025]-[0026], referring to tracking the face and the optical camera capturing images of particular areas of the face (202); Figures 1-2);
detecting a face region (i.e. 204A-D) from the image (paragraph [0026], referring to capturing images of particular areas of the face (202), wherein the image of the face (202) of the user may be partitioned by bounding boxes (204A-D) that each correspond to a particular ROI; Figure 2);
extracting an rPPG signal from the face region, so as to calculate a preliminary physiological parameter (i.e. blood volume pulse (BVP) or “RR” interval which is the time between heartbeats) based on the rPPG signal (paragraph [0032], referring to remote PPG (rPPG); paragraphs [0025]-[0026], [0028], [0030], referring to measuring the blood volume with each pulse (BVP, “preliminary physiological parameter”) at a particular ROI using PPG, wherein the blood volume may be determined based on calculating the area under the curve (AUC) of the PPG signal; paragraph [0034], referring to the “RR” interval which is the time between heartbeats; Figure 4);
extracting an error feature (i.e. SNR) from the face region, so as to calculate an error compensation parameter (i.e. sub-segments of the PPG waveform that satisfy a threshold SNR) based on the error feature (SNR) and the preliminary physiological parameter (i.e. via comparing the BVP and pulse timing with the expected behavior of a respiratory profile (paragraphs [0032]-[0036], referring to plausible or analyzable sub-segments of the PPG waveform may be defined as sub-segments that satisfy a threshold SNR, wherein the BVP and pulse timing may be compared with the expected behavior of a respiratory profile and valid segments should correspond to characteristics expected out of a measured BVP, such as consistency between timing, amplitude, morphology or respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA); Figures 4-5); and
conducts an addition operation of the error compensation parameter and the preliminary physiological parameter, thereby generating a physiological parameter (i.e. heart rate (HR)) (paragraphs [0030], [0041]-[0043], referring to discarding/removing the implausible pulses which are identified based on BVP and/or RR values (i.e. preliminary physiological parameter) and satisfying a SNR threshold (i.e. “IF SNR is low, the current window (i.e. PPG sample being analyzed) is discarded. Segments may be discarded or corrected…”, which corresponds to an error compensation parameter) and wherein the computing system calculates one or more heartrate measurements based on the physiologically plausible sub-segments, wherein such steps correspond to an “addition[al] operation of the error compensation parameter and the preliminary physiological parameter” (i.e. via removal/discarding of implausible pulses based on the BVP and/or RR values satisfying a SNR threshold), which ultimately leads to the calculation of the heartrate measurements based on the physiologically plausible sub-segments; Figures 4-5).
With regards to claims 2 and 12, Khwaja et al. disclose that the error feature comprises at least one that is selected from a group consisting of brightness, area of ROI region, area of skin region, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and two color difference components Cb and Cr (paragraphs [0032]-[0036], referring to plausible or analyzable sub-segments of the PPG waveform may be defined as sub-segments that satisfy a threshold SNR; Figures 4-5).
With regards to claims 3 and 13, Khwaja et al. disclose that the error feature comprises frequency magnitude (paragraphs [0035], [0041], referring to analyzable sub-segments of the PPG waveform corresponding to a RR-interval that is consistent with the dominant frequency (i.e. frequency magnitude) in the fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the signal).
With regards to claims 4 and 14, Khwaja et al. disclose that the application program consists of a plurality of subprograms (paragraphs [0074]-[0076], referring to the one or more computer systems performing without substantial spatial or temporal limitation one or more steps of one or more of the disclosed methods and referring to the processor including hardware for executing instructions, such as those making up a computer program, and thus each disclosed step would be performed by a subset of instructions (i.e. subprograms) performed by the one or more computer systems; Figures 1 and 9) and the plurality of subprograms comprising: a first subprogram, being compiled to be integrated in the application program by one type of programming language, and including instructions for configuring the microprocessor to control the camera to acquire the image from the user (paragraphs [0074]-[0076]; paragraphs [0015]-[0016], referring to the optical camera (110) being connected to the client system; paragraphs [0025]-[0026], referring to tracking the face and the optical camera capturing images of particular areas of the face (202); Figures 1-2); a second subprogram, being compiled to be integrated in the application program by one type of programming language, and including instructions for configuring the microprocessor to apply a face detecting process to the image, so as to detect the face region from the image (paragraphs [0074]-[0076]; paragraph [0026], referring to capturing images of particular areas of the face (202), wherein the image of the face (202) of the user may be partitioned by bounding boxes (204A-D) that each correspond to a particular ROI; Figure 2); a third subprogram, being compiled to be integrated in the application program by one type of programming language, and including instructions for configuring the microprocessor to extract the rPPG signal from the face region, and then to calculate said preliminary physiological parameter based on the rPPG signal (paragraphs [0074]-[0076]; paragraph [0032], referring to remote PPG (rPPG); paragraphs [0025]-[0026], [0028], [0030], referring to measuring the blood volume with each pulse (BVP, “preliminary physiological parameter”) at a particular ROI using PPG, wherein the blood volume may be determined based on calculating the area under the curve (AUC) of the PPG signal; paragraph [0034], referring to the “RR” interval which is the time between heartbeats; Figure 4); a fourth subprogram, being compiled to be integrated in the application program by one type of programming language, and including instructions for configuring the microprocessor to extract the error feature from the face region (paragraphs [0074]-[0076]; paragraphs [0032]-[0036], referring to plausible or analyzable sub-segments of the PPG waveform may be defined as sub-segments that satisfy a threshold SNR, wherein the BVP and pulse timing may be compared with the expected behavior of a respiratory profile and valid segments should correspond to characteristics expected out of a measured BVP, such as consistency between timing, amplitude, morphology or respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA); Figures 4-5); a fifth subprogram, being compiled to be integrated in the application program by one type of programming language, and including instructions for configuring the microprocessor to calculate said error compensation parameter based on the error feature and the preliminary physiological parameter (paragraphs [0074]-[0076]; paragraphs [0032]-[0036], referring to plausible or analyzable sub-segments of the PPG waveform may be defined as sub-segments that satisfy a threshold SNR, wherein the BVP and pulse timing may be compared with the expected behavior of a respiratory profile and valid segments should correspond to characteristics expected out of a measured BVP, such as consistency between timing, amplitude, morphology or respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA); Figures 4-5); and a sixth subprogram, being compiled to be integrated in the application program by one type of programming language, and including instructions for configuring the microprocessor to conduct an addition operation of the error compensation parameter and the preliminary physiological parameter, thereby generating a physiological parameter (paragraphs [0074]-[0076]; paragraphs [0030], [0041]-[0043], referring to discarding/removing the implausible pulses which are identified based on BVP and/or RR values (i.e. preliminary physiological parameter) and satisfying a SNR threshold (i.e. “IF SNR is low, the current window (i.e. PPG sample being analyzed) is discarded. Segments may be discarded or corrected…”, which corresponds to an error compensation parameter) and wherein the computing system calculates one or more heartrate measurements based on the physiologically plausible sub-segments, wherein such steps correspond to an “addition[al] operation of the error compensation parameter and the preliminary physiological parameter” (i.e. via removal/discarding of implausible pulses based on the BVP and/or RR values satisfying a SNR threshold), which ultimately leads to the calculation of the heartrate measurements based on the physiologically plausible sub-segments; Figures 4-5).
With regards to claims 7 and 17, Khwaja et al. disclose that the physiological parameter comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of pulse, heart rate (HR), Heart rate variance (HRV), blood pressure, respiratory rate, and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) (paragraph [0043], referring to calculating one or more heartrate measurements; Figure 5).
With regards to claims 8 and 18, Khwaja et al. disclose that the camera and the modular electronic device are integrated in an electronic device (paragraphs [0018], [0027], [0029], referring to the electronic device being a mobile phone, tablet computer, etc., and wherein the device incorporating the optical camera may be a smartphone).
With regards to claims 9 and 19, Khwaja et al. disclose that the modular electronic device is integrated in an electronic device, and the electronic device is selected from a group consisting of cloud computing device and server computer (paragraph [0018], referring to cline systems (120) comprising servers (140), etc.; paragraph [0029], referring to electronic devices comprising network or cloud deployed systems; Figure 1).
With regards to claims 10 and 20, Khwaja et al. disclose that the electronic device is selected from a group consisting of desktop computer, laptop computer, all- in-one computer, tablet computer, smart television, smart phone, and video door entry system (paragraphs [0018], [0029], referring to the electronic device comprising a smartphone, tablet computer, laptop computer, personal computer, etc.).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claim(s) 5-6 and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khwaja et al. as applied to claims 4 and 14 above, and further in view of McDuff et al. (US Pub No. 2020/0121256).
With regards to claims 5-6 and 15-16, as discussed above, Khwaja et al. meet the limitations of claims 4 and 14. However, they do not specifically disclose that the fifth subprogram includes a pre-trained error compensation parameter calculating model, such that in case the fifth subprogram is executed, the microprocessor being configured for calculating said error compensation parameter based on the error feature and the preliminary physiological parameter and that the plurality of subprograms further comprises a seventh subprogram, being compiled to be integrated in the application program by one type of programming language, such that in case the seventh subprogram is executed, the microprocessor being configured for applying a model training process to a machine learning model using a pre-collected training sample set, said error feature, said preliminary physiological parameter, and a reference physiological parameter corresponding to the preliminary physiological parameter, thereby producing said error compensation parameter calculating model.
McDuff et al. disclose performing ensembled learning so that a more accurate physiological parameter (e.g., heart rate or breathing rate) based on a recovered physiological signal (e.g., blood volume pulse or respiratory signal/preliminary physiological parameter) may be subsequently determined, wherein a physiological signal measurement module may be trained using a first derivative of a gold standard physiological signal as the training label (i.e. pre-collected training sample set) (paragraph [0025]). For example, the physiological signal measurement module may be trained for multiple additional epochs after convergence is detected, wherein the resulting physiological signals generated at each of the additional epochs may then be processed to determine dominant frequencies and to thereby calculate the physiological parameter (paragraph [0025]; paragraphs [0028]-[0030], [0035]-[0041]). Frequency errors (i.e. eror feature) corresponding to each epoch may be determined by comparing the calculated physiological parameter (i.e. preliminary physiological parameter) with a real measured physiological parameter (i.e. “reference physiological parameter”) (paragraph [0025]; paragraphs [0028]-[0030], [0035]-[0041]). The models of the physiological signal measurement module corresponding to the epoch with the smallest frequency error may then be selected to be subsequently used as the trained physiological signal measurement module (paragraph [0025], note that the smallest frequency error corresponds to the error compensation parameter; paragraphs [0028]-[0030], [0035]-[0041]; Figure 3-4).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have the fifth subprogram of Khwaja e tal. include a pre-trained error compensation parameter calculating model, such that in case the fifth subprogram is executed, the microprocessor being configured for calculating said error compensation parameter based on the error feature and the preliminary physiological parameter and that the plurality of subprograms of Khwaja et al. further comprise a seventh subprogram, being compiled to be integrated in the application program by one type of programming language, such that in case the seventh subprogram is executed, the microprocessor being configured for applying a model training process to a machine learning model using a pre-collected training sample set, said error feature, said preliminary physiological parameter, and a reference physiological parameter corresponding to the preliminary physiological parameter, thereby producing said error compensation parameter calculating model, as taught by McDuff et al., in order to obtain a more accurate physiological parameter (e.g., heart rate or breathing rate) based on the recovered physiological signal (e.g., blood volume pulse or respiratory signal) (paragraph [0025]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's response filed on August 11, 2025 has been fully considered but they are not persuasive to withdraw the rejection as no amendments nor arguments have been submitted. Applicant’s response notes that a CIP application claiming priority to the present applicant has been filed, wherein no amendments have been made and the response was filed to maintain the application in good standing. Therefore, it appears that the lack of arguments and lack of amendments is intentional.
As such, the previous rejection is hereby maintained.
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.
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/KATHERINE L FERNANDEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3798