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 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, 3-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ishii et al. (US 2014/0218034, hereinafter Ishii ‘034).
In re claim 1, Ishii ‘034 teaches a magnetic resonance (MR) receive coil, comprising: at least one MR coil element configured to receive MR signals excited in a subject disposed in an MR imaging device (0063); an antenna comprising the at least one MR coil element or another antenna that is different from the at least one MR coil element; and electronics configured to detect reception of an electromagnetic pulse of interest by the antenna and to perform a coil function based on the detection (0062); wherein the electromagnetic pulse of interest is a radio frequency (RF) transmit pulse generated by the MR imaging device during an excitation phase (46, 0061-0062) or a magnetic field gradient pulse generated by the MR imaging device during an excitation phase.
In re claim 3, Ishii ‘034 teaches wherein the electronics are configured to perform the coil function comprising synchronizing acquisition of MR imaging data using the at least one MR coil element at a time determined based on a time of the detection (0213, 0219, 0306-0308).
In re claim 4, Ishii ‘034 teaches further comprising: a non-transitory storage medium; and a data communication link (0123, 0125, 0129, etc.; wherein the electronics are configured to: receive MR readout instructions via the data communication link and store the received MR readout instructions in the non-transitory storage medium; and perform the acquisition of the MR imaging data in accordance with the MR readout instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium (0054, 0142-0144, 0150).
In re claim 5, Ishii ‘034 teaches wherein the data communication link is a wireless transceiver or a USB port or an optical fiber connector port (0066, 0106, 0108, 0189, 0192, 0194).
In re claim 6, Ishii ‘034 teaches wherein the electromagnetic pulse of interest is an RF pulse generated by the MR imaging device and configured to excite the MR signals in the subject (0063).
In re claim 7, Ishii ‘034 teaches wherein the MR readout instructions include: at least one of a time-to-echo parameter and a repetition time parameter for the acquisition of the MR imaging data (0156).
In re claim 8, Ishii ‘034 teaches wherein the electromagnetic pulse of interest is an RF pulse generated by the MR imaging device and configured to excite the MR signals in the subject (0063), and the electronics are configured to: perform a least one of tuning operations of the MR coil element, image acquisition, and sending a notification to the MR imaging device (0075).
In re claim 9, Ishii ‘034 teaches wherein the antenna comprises the at least one MR coil element (0061, 0062, 0073).
In re claim 10, Ishii ‘034 teaches wherein the electronics include a local clock and the coil function performed based on the detection comprises synchronizing an oscillator frequency of the local clock with a clock of the MR imaging device (0151-0153).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 2 is 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-10 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.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 BO JOSEPH PENG whose telephone number is (571)270-1792. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday: 8:00 AM-5:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ANNE M KOZAK can be reached at (571) 270-0552. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BO JOSEPH PENG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797
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