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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 – 3 and 14 – 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Falconi (WO 2009/090682 A1 – hereafter “Falconi”).
As per claim 1, Falconi teaches the following:
A micro electrode array (MEA) platform (see pg. 18, lines 14 – 16) comprising:
a cell culture container configured to accommodate a cell culture medium to culture neurons (see pg. 19, line 10);
an MEA comprising an electrode configured to sense the neurons (see pg. 2, lines 5 – 15);
and a temperature control device configured to control a transfer of heat generated by a heating source through a heating wire, based on whether a temperature of the cell culture medium or the electrode matches a reference temperature for the neurons (see pg. 3, lines 5 – 10; pg. 4, lines 5 – 10; pg. 14, lines 24 – 29).
As per claim 2, Falconi teaches “The MEA platform of claim 1, wherein the temperature control device comprises: a temperature sensor configured to detect the temperature of the cell culture medium or the electrode; a heating module configured to heat the electrode or the cell culture medium by the heat generated by the heating source; and a controller configured to control the heating module based on whether the temperature is equal to the reference temperature, and to transfer the heat to at least one of the electrode or the cell culture container through the heating wire” (see pg. 3, lines 5 – 10; pg. 11, lines 15 – 20).
As per claim 3, Falconi teaches “The MEA platform of claim 2, wherein the temperature control device further comprises a cooling module configured to cool at the electrode or the cell culture medium; and the controller is further configured to: drive the cooling module to cool a temperature of the electrode and a temperature of the cell culture medium, in response to the temperature being greater than the reference temperature; and drive the heating module to increase the temperature of the electrode and the temperature of the cell culture medium, in response to determining that the temperature being less than the reference temperature” (see pg. 3, lines 10 – 15; pg. 26, lines 13 – 17).
As per claim 14, Falconi teaches the following:
An method of operating a temperature control device of a micro electrode array (MEA) platform (see pg. 11, lines 25 – 30), the method comprising:
detecting a temperature of at least one of a cell culture medium culturing neurons or an electrode of an MEA configured to sense the neurons (see pg. 19, lines 15 – 20);
determining whether the detected temperature is equal to a reference temperature for the neurons (see pg. 13, line 5);
and controlling a transfer of heat generated by a heating source through a heating wire, in response to the detected temperature not matching the reference temperature (see pg. 22, lines 20 – 25).
As per claim 15, Falconi teaches “The method of claim 14, wherein the controlling of the transfer of the heat comprises: driving a cooling module to cool the electrode and the cell culture medium, in response to the detected temperature being greater than the reference temperature; and driving a heating module comprising the heating source to heat the electrode and the cell culture medium, in response to the detected temperature being lesser than the reference temperature” (see pg. 3, lines 10 – 15; pg. 26, lines 13 – 17).
As per claim 16, Falconi teaches “The method of claim 14, wherein the heating source comprises a variable resistor, and the controlling of the transfer of the heat comprises: determining a difference between the detected temperature and the reference temperature; determining a heating intensity according to the difference; and setting a resistance value of the variable resistor according to the heating intensity” (see pg. 37, lines 25 – 30; pg. 38, lines 5 – 10).
As per claim 17, Falconi teaches “The method of claim 14, wherein the transfer of the heat comprises: determining a difference between the detected temperature and the reference temperature; determining a cooling intensity according to the difference; and cooling at least one of the electrode or the cell culture medium according to the cooling intensity” (see pg. 13, line 5; pg. 3, lines 10 – 15).
As per claim 18, Falconi teaches the following:
A device comprising: a chip installed on a surface of a printed circuit board (PCB) (see pg. 11, lines 15 – 20), the chip comprising a micro electrode array (MEA) configured to sense signals generated by biological matter (see pg. 18, lines 14 – 16), a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the biological matter (see pg. 14, lines 24 – 29), a heating module configured to heat the biological matter based on the temperature (see pg. 3, lines 5 – 10), and a controller configured to control the heating module (see pg. 11, lines 15 – 20);
a cell culture container disposed on an upper surface of the chip, the cell culture container configured to store the biological matter in a cell culture medium (see pg. 33, line 33);
and an interface configured to output the signals (see pg. 11, lines 20 – 25).
As per claim 19, Falconi teaches “The device of claim 18, wherein the heating module comprises a variable resistor disposed under the MEA, and the controller is further configured to vary a resistance of the variable resistor according to a difference of the temperature and a reference temperature for the biological matter” (see pg. 37, lines 25 – 30; pg. 38, lines 5 – 10; pg. 14, lines 24 – 29).
As per claim 20, Falconi teaches “The device of claim 18, further comprising a cooling module configured to cool the biological matter based on the temperature, and the controller is further configured to selectively drive one of the heating module and the cooling module based on a comparison of the temperature with a target temperature for the biological matter” (see pg. 11, lines 22 – 25; pg. 3, lines 10 – 15).
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.
Claims 4 – 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Falconi in view of Rajaraman et al. (US 11,255,806 B2 – hereafter “Rajaraman”).
Regarding claim 4, the claim recites “The MEA platform of claim 1, wherein the MEA platform is packaged in a chip form on a printed circuit board (PCB) using one or more of an interposer and a bonding wire, and the cell culture container is disposed on an upper surface of the chip.”
Falconi fails to teach the MEA platform is packaged in a chip form on a printed circuit board (PCB) using one or more of an interposer and a bonding wire, and the cell culture container is disposed on an upper surface of the chip.
However, Rajaraman teaches packaging an intergrated electrode chip using wire bonding with the cell culture container disposed on the upper surface of the chip assembly (see col. 21, lines 60 – 65; col. 18, lines 3 – 7; col. 11, lines 1 – 15).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the instant application to modify Falcon in view of Rajaraman to package the MEA platform in a chip form on a printed circuit board using wire bonding with the cell culture container disposed on the upper surface of the chip in order to provide a practical and biocompatible packaging arrangement for the MEA platform that allows external electrical access to the electrodes while maintaining a cell culture environment on the chip surface.
.
Regarding claim 5, the claim recites “The MEA platform of claim 4, wherein the heating source comprises an on-chip variable resistor, and the controller is further configured to determine a difference between the temperature and the reference temperature and to set a resistance value of the variable resistor according to the difference.”
Falconi teaches an on-chip variable resistor configured as both a temperature sensor and heater, wherein the controller determines a difference between the detected temperature and sets the resistance value of the variable resistor according to that difference (see pg. 37, lines 25 – 30; pg. 38, lines 5 – 10).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the instant application to modify Falcon in view of Rajaraman to implement the heating source of the packaged MEA platform as an on-chip variable resistor in order to enable precise, localized temperature control of the cell culture medium by adjusting the resistance of the on-chip resistor in response to deviations from the reference temperature.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6 – 13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/MANUEL SALVADOR CASTELLON JR/
Examiner, Art Unit 2855
/JOHN E BREENE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855