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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 08/03/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 19 and 20 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.
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 1-5, 7, 9-13, 15, 17-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Awdeh (US Patent Publication Number 2015/0077528 A1) in view of Weber (US Patent Publication Number 2016/0206198 A1).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 1, an image processing device comprising: processing circuitry configured to receive a surgical field image (700) with respect to a patient's eye (Fig. 6 shows the eye), that detects a specific part of the eye in the surgical field image (“¶0073 “corresponding to a patient's cornea or limb”) a display image (700) including a first position indicator (704, 706, 708 and 710 ) including a boundary (702) between a plurality of regions (702 is the boundary between points 704/706 and 708 and 710) of the surgical field image (700) having different display forms generated by modulating a first parameter of the surgical field image in at least one of the plurality of regions such that the display forms of the regions differ across the boundary1 (¶0075 “image 700 may include different image features, such as colors or icons, to differentiate a primary incision point (e.g., 708) from a secondary incision point (e.g., 710)”) a first position indicator indicating a position a predetermined distance away in a specific direction from the specific part (¶0075 “ protractor 702 further including numerical markings defining a circular coordinate... suggested incision points 704, 706, 708, and 710 may guide the surgeon to insert a surgical blade for cutting at a desired location/direction and allow the surgeon to instantaneously reference or check an actual cutting location against the suggested location” and ¶0077 “graphical element 806 representing suggested incision points…. processing unit 4 may determining locations for the graphical element 806 based on a distance to the center of pupil, the arc length of the incision, the depth of the incision), Awedh fails to teach a boundary between a plurality of regions of the surgical field image having different display forms generated by changing image pixel values of the surgical field image to modulate a first parameter of the surgical field image. In a related art, Weber teaches a boundary (¶0048 “lens pieces are generally surrounded by closed edges… coloring the areas enclosed by the edges”) between a plurality of regions (closed edges and areas enclosed by edges as described in ¶0048) of the surgical field image ( ¶0015 “surgical microscope according to the invention comprises at least one digital camera, to which the optical contrast image is fed and which creates a digital contrast image from the optical contrast image and outputs”) having different display forms2 (¶0023 “image processing unit can additionally be designed to represent the locations of increased contrast in the superimposition image by regions highlighted in color or edges highlighted in color”) generated by changing image pixel values of the surgical field image to modulate a first parameter (¶0044 “contain colored markings, for example, which represent the edges detected by the high-pass filter”) of the surgical field image in at least one of the plurality of regions3 ( ¶0044 “Since the eye lens pieces are generally surrounded by closed edges, there is also the possibility of coloring the areas enclosed by the edges in the superimposition image” ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the image processing device, as taught by Awdeh, with the boundary generated by changing image pixel values of the surgical field image, as taught by Weber, for the purpose of providing a way to make it easier for the treating surgeon to find and remove the eye lens pieces (¶0045).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 2, wherein the first position indicator is a curved line (Fig. 7 and 8), indicating the position the predetermined distance away from the specific part (¶0077 “graphical element 806 representing suggested incision points…. processing unit 4 may determining locations for the graphical element 806 based on a distance to the center of pupil”).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 3, wherein the first position indicator (704, 706, 708 and 710) is a line with a constant width (width of the line of does not change in element 704, 706, 708 and 710).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 4 wherein the first position indicator is translucent 4(¶0047 “display may be transparent, semi-transparent, translucent, or semi-translucent, so that the display image is included in what the surgeon can see through the oculars”).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 5, wherein the first position indicator is an emphasizable (¶0080 “The graphical elements may be color coded to allow easy visualization and differentiation”).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 7, wherein the first position indicator (704/806) is an indicator indicated by a display form of a plurality of positionally fixed dots (see dotted lines in fig. 7).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 9, wherein the difference in display form is generated by changing luminance of the surgical field image (¶0047 “surgeon may be able to zoom in or out of an image, adjust the brightness”).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 10, wherein the processing circuitry is configured that receives preoperative information based on a preoperative plan (¶0067 “external data may also include measurements taken prior to the surgery procedure and represent pre-operative anatomical characteristics of the patient or calculation details from the pre-operative measurements”),and generate the first position indicator based on the preoperative information and generates the display image including the first position indicator (¶0075 “incision points may be generated by processing unit 4 based on pre-operative measurements taken before the surgical procedure or based on intra-operative feature detection and measurements performed during the surgical procedure”).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 11, wherein processing circuitry is configured to generate a second position indicator (706) different from the first position indicator (704) and the display image (600,700 800) including the first position indicator (704) and the second position indicator (706).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 12, wherein the second position indicator (706) is an indicator indicating a corneal limbus as the specific part (¶0082 “protractor image showing angular locations of the cornea and the limbus area of the eye”).
Awdeh fails to explicitly teaches, as in claim 13, wherein the second position indicator is an indicator indicating a blood vessel running portion in the eye. However, Awdeh teaches in another embodiment wherein the second position indicator is an indicator indicating a blood vessel running portion in the eye (¶0092 “artificial marks 1802 placed on the patient by the surgeon or other medical staff or specific anatomical features 1804, such as blood vessels”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the image processing device, as taught by Awdeh and Weber, with the second position indicator is an indicator indicating a blood vessel running portion in the eye, as taught by Awdeh, for the purpose of providing a way to identify the marks pre-operatively (before a surgical procedure) based on input received from the surgeon or medical staff (¶0092).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 15, wherein the second position indicator (706) is an indicator extending in a predetermined direction (extending left and right) predetermined by an operator.
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 17, wherein the second position indicator (706) includes a boundary (702) between a plurality of regions of the surgical field image having different display forms generated by modulating a second parameter of the surgical field image such that the display forms of the regions differ across the boundary (¶0075 “image 700 may include different image features, such as colors or icons, to differentiate a primary incision point (e.g., 708) from a secondary incision point (e.g., 710)”), Awdeh fails to teach a surgical field image having different display forms generated by changing image pixel values of the surgical field image. In a related art, Weber teaches a surgical field image having different display forms generated by changing image pixel values of the surgical field image (¶0044 “Since the eye lens pieces are generally surrounded by closed edges, there is also the possibility of coloring the areas enclosed by the edges in the superimposition image”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the image processing device, as taught by Awdeh, with the boundary generated by changing image pixel values of the surgical field image, as taught by Weber, for the purpose of providing a way to make it easier for the treating surgeon to find and remove the eye lens pieces (¶0045).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 19, an image processing method (Fig. 6 and 7) comprising, receiving a surgical field image with respect to a patient's eye (¶0072 “overlaid image 600 displayed by the display device to surgeon during the surgical procedure. Image 600 may include a central region 602 including a representation of the patient images from image source” and Fig. 6 shows the eye), detecting a specific part of the eye in the surgical field image (¶0071 “System 10 may assist the surgeon to carry out the surgical procedure using the overlaid images” and “¶0073 “image 600 may include a circular dial or protractor 612 corresponding to a patient's cornea or limb”) ; and generating a display image (600/800), including a first position indicator (704, 706, 708, and 710) including a boundary (702) between a plurality of regions (702 is the boundary between points 704/706 and 708 and 710) of the surgical field image (700) having different display forms generated by modulating a first parameter of the surgical field image in at least one of the plurality of regions such that the display forms of the regions differ across the boundary 5(¶0075 “image 700 may include different image features, such as colors or icons, to differentiate a primary incision point (e.g., 708) from a secondary incision point (e.g., 710)”) the first position indicator indicating a position a predetermined distance away in a specific direction from the specific part (¶0075 “ protractor 702 further including numerical markings defining a circular coordinate... suggested incision points 704, 706, 708, and 710 may guide the surgeon to insert a surgical blade for cutting at a desired location/direction and allow the surgeon to instantaneously reference or check an actual cutting location against the suggested location” and ¶0077 “graphical element 806 representing suggested incision points…. processing unit 4 may determining locations for the graphical element 806 based on a distance to the center of pupil, the arc length of the incision, the depth of the incision), Awedh fails to teach a boundary between a plurality of regions of the surgical field image having different display forms generated by changing image pixel values of the surgical field image to modulate a first parameter of the surgical field image. In a related art, Weber teaches a boundary (¶0048 “lens pieces are generally surrounded by closed edges… coloring the areas enclosed by the edges”) between a plurality of regions (closed edges and areas enclosed by edges as described in ¶0048) of the surgical field image ( ¶0015 “surgical microscope according to the invention comprises at least one digital camera, to which the optical contrast image is fed and which creates a digital contrast image from the optical contrast image and outputs “) having different display forms6 (¶0023 “image processing unit can additionally be designed to represent the locations of increased contrast in the superimposition image by regions highlighted in color or edges highlighted in color”) generated by changing image pixel values of the surgical field image to modulate a first parameter (¶0044 “contain colored markings, for example, which represent the edges detected by the high-pass filter”) of the surgical field image in at least one of the plurality of regions7 ( ¶0044 “Since the eye lens pieces are generally surrounded by closed edges, there is also the possibility of coloring the areas enclosed by the edges in the superimposition image” ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the image processing device, as taught by Awdeh, with a boundary generated by changing image pixel values of the surgical field image, as taught by Weber, for the purpose of providing a way to make it easier for the treating surgeon to find and remove the eye lens pieces (¶0045).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 20, a surgical microscope system comprising a surgical microscope configured to obtain a surgical field image with respect to a patient's eye (¶0044 “ Image source 3 may be coupled to an external organ or inserted into a portion of the human body, such as, an eye” and ¶0046 “surgical microscope to simultaneously display real-time images of the surgical field overlaid and registered with images of informational and navigational “); an image processing device (Fig. 6 and 7) configured to generate a display image (600); and a display device configured to display the display image (¶0072 “overlaid image 600 displayed by the display device”), wherein the image processing device includes processing circuitry configured to an image input unit that receives the surgical field image (¶0072 “overlaid image 600 displayed by the display device to surgeon during the surgical procedure. Image 600 may include a central region 602 including a representation of the patient images from image source” Fig. 6 shows the eye), a detect a specific part of the eye in the surgical field image (¶0071 10 “System 10 may assist the surgeon to carry out the surgical procedure using the overlaid images” and “¶0073 “image 600 may include a circular dial or protractor 612 corresponding to a patient's cornea or limb”), and generate the display image including a first position indicator (704) including a first position indicator (704, 706, 708, and 710) including a boundary (702) between a plurality of regions (702 is the boundary between points 704/706 and 708 and 710) of the surgical field image (700) having different display forms generated by modulating a first parameter of the surgical field image in at least one of the plurality of regions such that the display forms of the regions differ across the boundary8(¶0075 “image 700 may include different image features, such as colors or icons, to differentiate a primary incision point (e.g., 708) from a secondary incision point (e.g., 710”) the first position indicator indicating a position a predetermined distance away in a specific direction from the specific part (¶0075 “protractor 702 further including numerical markings defining a circular coordinate... suggested incision points 704, 706, 708, and 710 may guide the surgeon to insert a surgical blade for cutting at a desired location/direction and allow the surgeon to instantaneously reference or check an actual cutting location against the suggested location” and ¶0077 “graphical element 806 representing suggested incision points…. processing unit 4 may determining locations for the graphical element 806 based on a distance to the center of pupil, the arc length of the incision, the depth of the incision”). Awedh fails to teach a boundary between a plurality of regions of the surgical field image having different display forms generated by changing image pixel values of the surgical field image to modulate a first parameter of the surgical field image. In a related art, Weber teaches a boundary (¶0048 “lens pieces are generally surrounded by closed edges… coloring the areas enclosed by the edges”) between a plurality of regions (closed edges and areas enclosed by edges as described in ¶0048) of the surgical field image (¶0015 “surgical microscope according to the invention comprises at least one digital camera, to which the optical contrast image is fed and which creates a digital contrast image from the optical contrast image and outputs “) having different display forms9 (¶0023 “image processing unit can additionally be designed to represent the locations of increased contrast in the superimposition image by regions highlighted in color or edges highlighted in color”) generated by changing image pixel values of the surgical field image to modulate a first parameter (¶0044 “contain colored markings, for example, which represent the edges detected by the high-pass filter”) of the surgical field image in at least one of the plurality of regions10 ( ¶0044 “Since the eye lens pieces are generally surrounded by closed edges, there is also the possibility of coloring the areas enclosed by the edges in the superimposition image” ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill of art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the image processing device, as taught by Awdeh, with a boundary generated by changing image pixel values of the surgical field image, as taught by Weber, for the purpose of providing a way to make it easier for the treating surgeon to find and remove the eye lens pieces (¶0045).
Awdeh teaches, as in claim 21, wherein the first parameter is one of color of the surgical field image (¶0075 “image 700 may include different image features, such as colors or icons, to differentiate a primary incision point (e.g., 708) from a secondary incision point (e.g., 710)”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 14, 16 and 18 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.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 6, which includes wherein the first position indicator is a repeatedly emphasized and attenuated indicator.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 14, which includes wherein the second position indicator is an indicator extending in a left-right direction orthogonal to an eye axis of a preoperative image of the eye.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 16, which includes wherein the second position indicator is an indicator indicating a surgical site planned to be operated after current surgery or a past surgical site operated before the current surgery.
The prior art fails to simultaneously teach all the limitations of claim 18, which includes second parameter is different from the first parameter.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Fantone (US Patent Number 4,786,155 A) teaches an image processing device comprising processing circuitry configured to receive a surgical field image.
Haisch (US Patent Publication Number 2004/0109231 A1) teaches an image processing device comprising processing circuitry configured to receive a surgical field image.
Ren (US Patent Publication Number 2018/0168737 A1) teaches an image processing device comprising processing circuitry configured to receive a surgical field image.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOURNEY F SUMLAR whose telephone number is (571)270-0656. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-4pm.
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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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JOURNEY F. SUMLAR
Examiner
Art Unit 2872
18 August 2026
/RICKY L MACK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872
1 Changing the color of 708 and 710 would be considered modulating a first parameter
2 The highlighted region corresponding to increased contrast vs the non-highlighted regions.
3 Coloring areas edges in the image inherently changes the pixel value of the surgical field image
4 The display image would include the first position indicator which is translucent.
5 Changing the color of 708 and 710 would be considered modulating a first parameter
6 The highlighted region corresponding to increased contrast vs the non-highlighted regions.
7 Coloring areas edges in the image inherently changes the pixel value of the surgical field image
8 Changing the color of 708 and 710 would be considered modulating a first parameter
9 The highlighted region corresponding to increased contrast vs the non-highlighted regions.
10 Coloring areas edges in the image inherently changes the pixel value of the surgical field image
Prosecution Insights