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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-2, 5-13 are pending.
Claims 6-11 are withdrawn from prosecution.
Claims 1-2, 5 and 12-13 are currently rejected.
Response to Arguments
The current office action is a second non-final rejection.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection of claims 1, 12 and 13 under 35 U.S.C. 103 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 introduced prior art Li, et al., US 20180184992 A1 discloses a medical imaging system including an imaging apparatus, wherein the imaging apparatus may include a first PET scanner, a second PET scanner, and a driving device. The system may further include a computing device, wherein the computing device may include a controller and a processor. The controller may determine a first scanning location and a second scanning location. The driving device may drive the first PET scanner and the second PET scanner to move to the first scanning location and the second scanning location, respectively. Li teaches all the limitation of claims 1, 12 and 13 as demonstrated below.
Therefore, the claims stand rejected.
Withdrawn Objections
Pursuant of Applicant’s amendments filed 09/22/2025, the objection made to claim 3 has been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claim 13 is 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.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "the method" in line 13. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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, 12, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li, et al., US 20180184992 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Li teaches a positron emission tomography (PET) apparatus ([0052] discloses an imaging system 100 comprising an imaging apparatus 110 and a computing device 120, the imaging apparatus including PET scanners and a computed tomography (CT) scanner),
comprising:
a plurality of PET detector rings that is movable relative to a table top on which a subject is to be laid, in an axial direction of a bore into which the table top is to be inserted ([0094] states that “During the scanning, the control module 320 may perform the scanning on the target object by controlling the CT scanner 510, the PET scanner 521, and/or the PET scanner 522 to move along the axial direction and pass through the target object”);
processing circuitry (processor 260 of [0069]) configured to:
obtain position information of each of the plurality of PET detector rings in the axial direction ([0105] states that “The user may determine one or more PET scanning locations on the CT scout image by a touch screen operation, a button or a key operation, a gesture operation, a voice operation, an eye operation, or the like (e.g., the PET scanning location may correspond to one or more organs in the CT scout image 560)”),
generate display information representing respective positions of the plurality of PET detector rings, based on the obtained position information ([0105] states that “a user may draw one or more identifiers on the CT scout image through the input/output module 340 by clicking and dragging a mouse to determine a PET scanning location. The identifier may include a dot, a circle, a box, or a pattern with an arbitrary shape”. The scout image in fig. 5 (display information) depicts a profile of the patient and annotations or identifiers of the PET scanners 521 and 522), and
display the display information on a display (Reproduced fig. 5 below show the boxes superimposed on a displayed scout image 560. Also, as noted above, [0105] describes a user annotating the scout image 560 though the user interface [0073]); and
input interface circuitry (input/output interface 265 of [0073]) that receives a user instruction for moving one or more of a plurality of ring objects in the display information (Fig. 5, reproduced below, shows rectangular boxes drawn on the CT scout image 560, the boxes corresponding to locations of the PET scanners 521 and 522), the plurality of ring objects individually representing the plurality of PET detector rings ([0073] states that “The input/output interface 265 may obtain information from the user by a handwriting operation, a mouse operation, a touch screen operation, a key operation, a voice control operation, a gesture operation, an eye operation, a voice operation, or the like…The computing device 120 may output a processing result through the input/output interface 265 or transmit a request for obtaining information to the user. In some embodiments, the information outputted through the input/output interface 265 may be in the form of number, text, audio, image, light, vibration, or the like, or any combination thereof”. The output of the processing result comprises the scout image displaying a profile of the patient and boxes representing the PET ring detectors 521 and 522 ), wherein
the processing circuitry (processor 260 of [0069]) is further configured to
after setting positions of the plurality of ring objects, control one or more of the plurality of PET detector rings corresponding to the one or more of the plurality of ring objects to move in the axial direction, based on the obtained position information and the set positions of the one or more of the plurality of ring objects ([0106] states that “ the control module 320 may select one or more PET scanning locations (e.g., by comparing the CT scout image and a CT scanning image of a normal human tissue, the control module 320 may make an identifier on one or more positions with abnormal tissue of the CT scout image). The user may adjust one or more PET scanning locations selected by the control module 320 through the input/output module 340 (e.g., modify the location of the identifier). The control module 320 may receive the operation of the user and determine a PET scanning location based on the received operation of the user. After determining the PET scanning location, the control module 320 may control the driving device 550 to drive one or more PET scanners to move to one or more corresponding PET scanning locations and scan the target object in one or more areas corresponding to the one or more PET scanning locations”), and
update the display information to reflect the moving of the one or more of the plurality of ring objects in the axial direction, and display the updated display information on the display ([0106] further states that “the control module 320 may control the driving device 550 to drive the PET scanner 521, and the PET scanner 522 to PET scanning locations corresponding to z1 and z2, respectively, and scan the chest and abdomen of the patient 540”. The positions z1, z2 comprise the updated positions of the PET scanners, represented by the boxes, at the time of scanning of the chest and abdomen of the patient 540).
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Regarding claim 2, Li further teaches wherein
the processing circuitry(processor 260 of [0069]) is further configured to:
obtain information as to the subject ([0106] states that “the control module 320 may select one or more PET scanning locations (e.g., by comparing the CT scout image and a CT scanning image of a normal human tissue, the control module 320 may make an identifier on one or more positions with abnormal tissue of the CT scout image)”, meaning that a position of the patient’s abdomen is obtained), and
generate the display information representing the positions of the plurality of PET detector rings and the obtained information as to the subject in association with each other ([0105] states that “The user may determine one or more PET scanning locations on the CT scout image by a touch screen operation, a button or a key operation, a gesture operation, a voice operation, an eye operation, or the like (e.g., the PET scanning location may correspond to one or more organs in the CT scout image 560)”).
Regarding claim 12, Li teaches an image generation and display method ([0028] discloses a medical imaging method), comprising:
obtaining position information of each of a plurality of PET detector rings in an axial direction of a bore into which a table top (bed 530 of [0094]) is to be inserted ([0105] states that “The user may determine one or more PET scanning locations on the CT scout image by a touch screen operation, a button or a key operation, a gesture operation, a voice operation, an eye operation, or the like (e.g., the PET scanning location may correspond to one or more organs in the CT scout image 560)”),,
the plurality of PET detector rings being movable in the axial direction relative to the table top (bed 530 of [0094]) on which a subject is to be laid ([0094] states that “During the scanning, the control module 320 may perform the scanning on the target object by controlling the CT scanner 510, the PET scanner 521, and/or the PET scanner 522 to move along the axial direction and pass through the target object”);
generating display information representing respective positions of the plurality of PET detector rings, based on the obtained position information([0105] states that “a user may draw one or more identifiers on the CT scout image through the input/output module 340 by clicking and dragging a mouse to determine a PET scanning location. The identifier may include a dot, a circle, a box, or a pattern with an arbitrary shape”. The scout image in fig. 5 (display information) depicts a profile of the patient and annotations or identifiers of the PET scanners 521 and 522); and
displaying the display information on a display(Reproduced fig. 5 above show the boxes superimposed on a displayed scout image 560. Also, as noted above, [0105] describes a user annotating the scout image 560 though the user interface [0073]); and
receiving, via input interface circuitry (input/output interface 265 of [0073]), a user instruction for moving one or more of a plurality of ring objects in the display information(Fig. 5, reproduced above, shows rectangular boxes drawn on the CT scout image 560, the boxes corresponding to locations of the PET scanners 521 and 522), the plurality of ring objects individually representing the plurality of PET detector rings([0073] states that “The input/output interface 265 may obtain information from the user by a handwriting operation, a mouse operation, a touch screen operation, a key operation, a voice control operation, a gesture operation, an eye operation, a voice operation, or the like…The computing device 120 may output a processing result through the input/output interface 265 or transmit a request for obtaining information to the user. In some embodiments, the information outputted through the input/output interface 265 may be in the form of number, text, audio, image, light, vibration, or the like, or any combination thereof”. The output of the processing result comprises the scout image displaying a profile of the patient and boxes representing the PET ring detectors 521 and 522 ),
wherein the method further comprises
after setting positions of the plurality of ring objects, controlling one or more of the plurality of PET detector rings corresponding to the one or more of the plurality of ring objects to move in the axial direction, based on the obtained position information and the set positions of the one or more of the plurality of ring objects ([0106] states that “ the control module 320 may select one or more PET scanning locations (e.g., by comparing the CT scout image and a CT scanning image of a normal human tissue, the control module 320 may make an identifier on one or more positions with abnormal tissue of the CT scout image). The user may adjust one or more PET scanning locations selected by the control module 320 through the input/output module 340 (e.g., modify the location of the identifier). The control module 320 may receive the operation of the user and determine a PET scanning location based on the received operation of the user. After determining the PET scanning location, the control module 320 may control the driving device 550 to drive one or more PET scanners to move to one or more corresponding PET scanning locations and scan the target object in one or more areas corresponding to the one or more PET scanning locations”), and
updating the display information to reflect the moving of the one or more of the plurality of ring objects in the axial direction, and displaying the updated display information on the display ([0106] further states that “the control module 320 may control the driving device 550 to drive the PET scanner 521, and the PET scanner 522 to PET scanning locations corresponding to z1 and z2, respectively, and scan the chest and abdomen of the patient 540”. The positions z1, z2 comprise the updated positions of the PET scanners, represented by the boxes, at the time of scanning of the chest and abdomen of the patient 540).
Regarding claim 13, Li teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing an image generation and display program ([0151]-[0152] disclose computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable media that performs the method outlined below) for causing a computer (single chip microcomputer (SCM) of [0070]) to execute a method comprising:
obtaining position information of each of a plurality of PET detector rings in an axial direction of a bore into which a table top (bed 530 of [0094]) is to be inserted ([0105] states that “The user may determine one or more PET scanning locations on the CT scout image by a touch screen operation, a button or a key operation, a gesture operation, a voice operation, an eye operation, or the like (e.g., the PET scanning location may correspond to one or more organs in the CT scout image 560)”),,
the plurality of PET detector rings being movable in the axial direction relative to the table top (bed 530 of [0094]) on which a subject is to be laid ([0094] states that “During the scanning, the control module 320 may perform the scanning on the target object by controlling the CT scanner 510, the PET scanner 521, and/or the PET scanner 522 to move along the axial direction and pass through the target object”);
generating display information representing respective positions of the plurality of PET detector rings, based on the obtained position information([0105] states that “a user may draw one or more identifiers on the CT scout image through the input/output module 340 by clicking and dragging a mouse to determine a PET scanning location. The identifier may include a dot, a circle, a box, or a pattern with an arbitrary shape”. The scout image in fig. 5 (display information) depicts a profile of the patient and annotations or identifiers of the PET scanners 521 and 522); and
displaying the display information on a display(Reproduced fig. 5 above show the boxes superimposed on a displayed scout image 560. Also, as noted above, [0105] describes a user annotating the scout image 560 though the user interface [0073]); and
receiving, via input interface circuitry (input/output interface 265 of [0073]), a user instruction for moving one or more of a plurality of ring objects in the display information(Fig. 5, reproduced above, shows rectangular boxes drawn on the CT scout image 560, the boxes corresponding to locations of the PET scanners 521 and 522), the plurality of ring objects individually representing the plurality of PET detector rings([0073] states that “The input/output interface 265 may obtain information from the user by a handwriting operation, a mouse operation, a touch screen operation, a key operation, a voice control operation, a gesture operation, an eye operation, a voice operation, or the like…The computing device 120 may output a processing result through the input/output interface 265 or transmit a request for obtaining information to the user. In some embodiments, the information outputted through the input/output interface 265 may be in the form of number, text, audio, image, light, vibration, or the like, or any combination thereof”. The output of the processing result comprises the scout image displaying a profile of the patient and boxes representing the PET ring detectors 521 and 522 ),
wherein the method further comprises
after setting positions of the plurality of ring objects, controlling one or more of the plurality of PET detector rings corresponding to the one or more of the plurality of ring objects to move in the axial direction, based on the obtained position information and the set positions of the one or more of the plurality of ring objects ([0106] states that “ the control module 320 may select one or more PET scanning locations (e.g., by comparing the CT scout image and a CT scanning image of a normal human tissue, the control module 320 may make an identifier on one or more positions with abnormal tissue of the CT scout image). The user may adjust one or more PET scanning locations selected by the control module 320 through the input/output module 340 (e.g., modify the location of the identifier). The control module 320 may receive the operation of the user and determine a PET scanning location based on the received operation of the user. After determining the PET scanning location, the control module 320 may control the driving device 550 to drive one or more PET scanners to move to one or more corresponding PET scanning locations and scan the target object in one or more areas corresponding to the one or more PET scanning locations”), and
updating the display information to reflect the moving of the one or more of the plurality of ring objects in the axial direction, and displaying the updated display information on the display ([0106] further states that “the control module 320 may control the driving device 550 to drive the PET scanner 521, and the PET scanner 522 to PET scanning locations corresponding to z1 and z2, respectively, and scan the chest and abdomen of the patient 540”. The positions z1, z2 comprise the updated positions of the PET scanners, represented by the boxes, at the time of scanning of the chest and abdomen of the patient 540).
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.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li, et al., US 20180184992 A1 in view of Zhang, et al., US 20160183893 A1.
Regarding claim 5, Li teaches all the limitations of claim 1.
Li further teaches wherein:
the input interface circuitry (input/output interface 265 of [0073]) allows an input of a scanning range of the subject in the display information ([0097] discloses “The detector 510-2 may receive transmitted rays with different intensities to generate the CT scanning data. In some embodiments, the transmitted rays may be associated with one or more scanning parameters of the CT scanner 510. The scanning parameter may include a scanning time, a scanning range, a rotational speed of the CT scanner, a voltage and a current value of a radioactive source, or the like.” The input/output interface 265 allows the input of the scanning parameters including the scanning range on the displayed scout image), and
the processing circuitry (processor 260 of [0069]) is further configured to:
select a scan mode close to the scanning range from a plurality of scan modes including a first mode and a second mode ([0097] further states that “the CT scanner 510 may scan a patient in one or more scanning modes. The scanning mode may include translational scanning, rotational scanning, helical scanning, swing-rotational scanning, or the like, along the axial direction”. [0128] further states that “the PET scanner 1, the PET scanner 2, and the PET scanner 3 may have different structures and/or scan the brain, heart and abdomen positions based on different scanning parameters and obtain the dynamic scanning data of corresponding positions simultaneously”, meaning the scanning mode include scanning parameters related to the PET scanner positions),
display, on the display, the selected scan mode and a possible scanning range according to the scan mode together with the display information ([0073] states that “The computing device 120 may output a processing result through the input/output interface 265 or transmit a request for obtaining information to the user. In some embodiments, the information outputted through the input/output interface 265 may be in the form of number, text, audio, image, light, vibration, or the like, or any combination thereof”, where the outputted information corresponds to the scanning modes and scanning parameters such as the positions of the PET scanners as represented by the identifiers on the scout image).
Li fails to teach the first mode being a mode in which the plurality of PET detector rings is uniformly arranged at predetermined intervals based on a body length of the subject, and the second mode being a mode in which the plurality of PET detector rings is densely arranged for individual regions of the subject in the axial direction.
However, within the same field of endeavor, Zhang teaches a nuclear scanner that includes an annular support structure (12) which supports a plurality of radiation detector units (14), each detector unit including crystals (52), tiles (66) containing an array of crystals, or modules (14) of tiles (see abstract and reproduced fig. 1 below).
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Zhang further teaches a first mode being a mode in which the plurality of PET detector rings is uniformly arranged at predetermined intervals based on a body length of the subject (reproduced fig. 5 below and [0037] describe a spread arrangement of rings of detector units having uniform spacing, with [0037] stating that “The spacing of the detector units 14 can be designed as either uniform or variable based on factors such as the cost of the system, image quality requirement, FOV, the sensitivity profile of the scanner coverage, the design needs for a crystal/ring based cost efficient system, etc. FIG. 5 shows a uniform, spread arrangement of detector units 14 in spaced ranks 92 having annular spaces 94 there between”),
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the second mode being a mode in which the plurality of PET detector rings is densely arranged for individual regions of the subject in the axial direction (fig. 9 and [0042] disclose an arrangement of rings of detector units in which the spacing compensates for reduced scanner sensitivity adjacent to axial ends of the FOV, stating that “The detector units 14 near the center of the imaging region may have a wider gap 122 than the units at the edges 124, 126 of the array”).
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Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to configure Li wherein the first mode being a mode in which the plurality of PET detector rings is uniformly arranged at predetermined intervals based on a body length of the subject, the second mode being a mode in which the plurality of PET detector rings is densely arranged for individual regions of the subject in the axial direction, as taught by Zhang, as such modification would improve the field of view of the scanner while maintaining uniform sampling without reducing resolution, and hence reducing cost of the scanner ([0002]-[0004]). Furthermore, this modification provides for greater data collection at the edges of the FOV 128 which are typically less densely sampled ([0042]). The modification of Li by Zhang would enjoy a reasonable expectation of success as Li is similarly focused on improving the PET scanner field of view in dynamic acquisition for multiple organs ([0003]-[0004]).
Conclusion
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/FAROUK A BRUCE/ Examiner, Art Unit 3797