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 .
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.
Response to Amendment
Regarding the amendment filed 02/17/2025: Claims 1-20 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Objections
Applicant’s arguments regarding the objection to the claims and drawings have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore the objections have been withdrawn.
Rejection Under 35 USC 112
Applicant's arguments regarding the rejection of claims 9-16 under 35 U.S.C. 112 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore the rejection has been withdrawn.
Rejection Under 35 USC 102
Applicant's arguments regarding the rejection of claims 1- 16, 18, and 20 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Blumich et al (Blümich, B., J. Perlo, and FJPiNMRS Casanova. "Mobile single-sided NMR." Progress in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy 52.4 (2008): 197-269., cited in IDS, heretofore referred to as Blumich) have been fully considered and are not persuasive.
Firstly regarding claim 1, Applicant argues: “The feature claimed in claim 1 is a uniform B1 RF magnetic field in the XY plane. Examiner says that in Blumich "the transverse B1 field is substantially uniform in the XY plane (Blumich; Fig 9b, Fig 11, and Pgs 206-207; Blumich teaches the XY field is uniform in the Z direction)".
Examiner cites Fig. 9b… With the utmost respect, Fig. 9b is for the static BO field - not the RF B1 field.” Applicant is correct in asserting that the field in figure 9b is a B0 field, however the Examiner cited 9b for the B0 field limitation in claim 1: “an RF coil having a Bo static magnetic field in the Z direction (Blumich; Fig 9b, Fig 11, and Pgs 206-207; Blumich teaches the XY field is uniform in the Z direction)”.
Applicant further argues: “With the utmost respect, in all of these graphs of Fig. 11, B 1 is not uniform. Fig. 11D clearly showsB1 always descending, never uniform. As a matter of fact, Figs.11B and 1IC (figure 8 and butterfly) are examples of the prior art mentioned in the background, in which the B1 RF magnetic field is not uniform in the XY plane.
Thus, Blumich and the rest of the cited art never teach the feature of the B1RF magnetic field being uniform in the XY plane.”. The Examiner respectfully disagree, while Applicant is correct in asserting figure 11d shows an always descending RF field, that is in the depth or Z-direction, the coils for figure 11b and 11c show at least portions of the B1 field as homogenous in the XY direction (See section 2.4.1 of Blumich; Blumich teaches the figure 8 or butterfly coils can be used). As the claim does not limit the bounds of the portion of the XY field that is uniform, the Examiner reads the uniform portions of figure 11 as reading on the limitation. Therefore the rejection stands.
Rejection Under 35 USC 103
Applicant's arguments regarding the rejection of claims 17 and 19 under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blumich in view of Freytag (US 2008/0084211 A1, heretofore referred to as Freytag) have been fully considered and are not persuasive. See above arguments.
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.
(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- 16, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Blumich et al (Blümich, B., J. Perlo, and FJPiNMRS Casanova. "Mobile single-sided NMR." Progress in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy 52.4 (2008): 197-269., cited in IDS, heretofore referred to as Blumich).
Regarding claim 1, Blumich teaches a coil for NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance)/MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) having X, Y, Z directions (Blumich; Fig 10 and Pg 206; Blumich teaches an NMR with an XYZ field), comprising: an RF (radio-frequency) coil having a Bo static magnetic field in the Z direction (Blumich; Fig 9b, Fig 11, and Pgs 206-207; Blumich teaches the XY field is uniform in the Z direction) and a transverse B1 RF magnetic field in the XY directions (Blumich; Fig 11, and Pg 207; Blumich teaches the XY B1 field is produced by the RF coils), wherein currents in said RF coil are distributed so that the transverse B1 field is substantially uniform in the XY plane (Blumich; Fig 9b, Fig 11, and Pgs 206-207; Blumich teaches the XY field is uniform in the Z direction).
Regarding claim 2, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 1, wherein a volume of interest of said RF coil lies substantially outside said RF coil (Blumich; Fig 10a and Pg 205, Section 2.3.2; Blumich teaches a measurement area outside the coil and magnet).
Regarding claim 3, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 1 wherein the currents that generate the RF magnetic field consist of substantially parallel segments, perpendicular to said static magnetic field (Blumich; Fig 11 and Pg 207; Blumich teaches the RF coils may be arranged parallel).
Regarding claim 4, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 1 wherein the direction of the current in each segment is selected to optimize the B1 field profile (Blumich; Fig 11 and Pg 207; Blumich teaches the RF coils may be arranged to optimize the B1 field).
Regarding claim 5, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 1 wherein the uniformity of the transverse B1 field along the Z axis is optimized for uniformity along the Z axis as well (Blumich; Fig 11 and Pg 207; Blumich teaches the RF coils may be arranged to optimize the B1 field along all axis).
Regarding claim 6, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 1 wherein a volume of interest is well defined in the X, Y and Z planes by at least 80% of total received signal (Blumich; Fig 22 and Pg 212; Blumich teaches the defining the area of the volume with the received pulse gradients).
Regarding claim 7, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6 wherein the volume of interest is optimized so as to receive as uniform B1xy field as possible (Blumich; Fig 11 and Pg 207; Blumich teaches the RF coils may be arranged to optimize the B1 field for uniformity).
Regarding claim 8, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6 wherein the volume of interest is optimized so as to receive the maximal B1xy field possible (Blumich; Pg 203, Section 2.3; Blumich teaches maximizing the received field).
Regarding claim 9, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6 wherein a number of current lines in each of said planes is variable (Blumich; Fig 15 and Pg 212; Blumich teaches the system receives multiple layers with a linear field of lines and each can be set to different amounts).
Regarding claim 10, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6 wherein a number of said planes is variable (Blumich; Fig 15 and Pg 212; Blumich teaches the system receives multiple layers with a linear field of lines and each can be set to different amounts).
Regarding claim 11, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6 wherein a distance between said plances is variable (Blumich; Fig 15 and Pg 212; Blumich teaches the system receives multiple layers with a linear field of lines and each can be set to different amounts and distances).
Regarding claim 12, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6 wherein a distance between current lines in each of said planes is variable (Blumich; Fig 15 and Pg 212; Blumich teaches the system receives multiple layers with a linear field of lines and each can be set to different amounts and distances).
Regarding claim 13, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6 wherein a dimension (width, length or thickness) of each current line in each of said planes is variable (Blumich; Fig 15 and Pg 212; Blumich teaches the system receives multiple layers with a linear field of lines and each can be set to different amounts and distances).
Regarding claim 14, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6 wherein a material of each current line in each of said planes is variable (Blumich; Fig 15 and Pg 212; Blumich teaches the system receives multiple layers and the composition of which can be detected, i.e. liquid solid etc).
Regarding claim 15, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6 wherein a current direction of each current line in each of said planes is variable (Blumich; Fig 15 and Pg 212; Blumich teaches the system receives multiple layers with a linear field of lines which can be controlled via different transmission currents).
Regarding claim 16, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6 wherein a material of a subtracting B2 field containing current lines in any one of said planes is variable (Blumich; Fig 15 and Pg 212; Blumich teaches the system receives multiple layers and the composition of which can be detected, i.e. liquid solid etc).
Regarding claim 18, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6 wherein the plane of the RF coil is rotated away from being perpendicular to the static magnetic field (Blumich; Pg 210; Blumich teaches the RF coils may be rotated to control the sensing area).
Regarding claim 20, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6 wherein the RF coil is part of a multi-coil array (Blumich; Fig 13 and Pg 209; Blumich teaches the RF coil may be arranged in an array).
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 17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Blumich in view of Freytag (US 2008/0084211 A1, heretofore referred to as Freytag).
Regarding claim 17, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6.
Blumich is silent on wherein the RF coil is cooled using a cooling device such as thermoelectric cooling device, liquid nitrogen or helium.
Freytag teaches wherein the RF coil is cooled using a cooling device such as thermoelectric cooling device, liquid nitrogen or helium (Freytag; Fig 3, Par 0018, and Par 0100; Freytag teaches using a coolant and a thermoelectric temperature controller).
Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to use the coil of Blumich with the RF coil cooling of Freytag in order to increase sensitivity (Freytag; Par 0007).
Regarding claim 19, Blumich teaches the coil according to claim 6.
Blumich is silent on wherein the RF coil is in a vacuum state.
Freytag teaches wherein the RF coil is in a vacuum state (Freytag; Fig 3 and Par 0099; Freytag teaches placing the RF coils in a vacuum container).
Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to use the coil of Blumich with the RF coil vacuum of Freytag in order to increase sensitivity (Freytag; Par 0007).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
-Shapiro teaches a single vector in the XY plane for each slice (Shapiro; Par 0033).
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 ADAM S CLARKE whose telephone number is (571)270-3792. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-4pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Judy Nguyen can be reached on (571)272-2258. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ADAM S CLARKE/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/JUDY NGUYEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858
