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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendments to the claims and specification in the submission dated 02/02/2026 in response to the office action mailed 11/05/2025 are acknowledged and accepted. Claims 1, 9-12 and 15 are amended. Claims 16-20 are new. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see paragraph 3 on page 9 of 12 of Applicant’s Remarks, filed 02/02/2026, with respect to the objection to the drawings have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection of the drawings has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see paragraph 4 on page 9 of 12 of Applicant’s Remarks, filed 02/02/2026, with respect to the objection to the title have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection of the title has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see paragraph 5 on page 9 of 12 through paragraph 5 on page 10 of 12 of Applicant’s Remarks, filed 02/02/2026, with respect to the rejection of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. §102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of Gonzalez, US 2015/0032090 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Gonzalez) and Charles, US 2021/0038067 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Charles).
Applicant’s arguments, see paragraphs 1-3 on page 11 of 12 of Applicant’s Remarks, filed 02/02/2026, with respect to the rejection of claim 12 under 35 U.S.C. §102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of Gonzalez, US 2015/0032090 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Gonzalez) and Hallen, US 2022/0020118 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Hallen).
Applicant’s arguments, see paragraph 4 on page 11 of 12 of Applicant’s Remarks, filed 02/02/2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 2-5 and 7-15 under 35 U.S.C. §102 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of Gonzalez, US 2015/0032090 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Gonzalez), Charles, US 2021/0038067 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Charles), and Hallen, US 2022/0020118 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Hallen).
Applicant’s arguments, see paragraph 5 on page 11 of 12 of Applicant’s Remarks, filed 02/02/2026, with respect to the rejection of claim 6 under 35 U.S.C. §103 has been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new grounds of rejection is made in view of Gonzalez, US 2015/0032090 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Gonzalez) and Charles, US 2021/0038067 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Charles).
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 1-11 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gonzalez, US 2015/0032090 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Gonzalez), and further in view of Charles, US 2021/0038067 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Charles).
As to claim 1, Gonzalez teaches a method (Gonzalez, Fig. 6, 600, paragraph [0113], “FIG. 6 shows a flow chart depicting a method 600 for determining an index of refraction of a target material according to many embodiments”) for use by an ophthalmic visualization device in providing ophthalmic visualization of an eye of a patient (Gonzalez, Fig. 2, 2, paragraph [0056], the laser eye surgery system 2 is coupled with the patient eye 43), comprising:
receiving an indication indicative of a material (Gonzalez, Fig. 5A, paragraph [0012], “a method of determining an index of refraction of a material,” paragraph [0108], “the ranging subsystem 46 of the system 2 can be used to determine the indices of refraction of the tissues of the eye 43”) occupying a vitreous cavity of the eye (Gonzalez, Fig. 5B, 510H-510K, VH, paragraph [0013], “the target material comprises an optically transmissive tissue structure of the eye… the optically transmissive tissue structure of the eye may comprise… a vitreous humor,” paragraph [0110], the target focal points 510H, 510I, 510J, 510K, and 510L may be within the vitreous humor VH);
determining, based on the indication, adjustment configurations for adjusting one or more optical elements of the ophthalmic visualization device (Gonzalez, Fig. 5A, 50, paragraph [0109], “one or more of the XY-scan and Z-scan mechanisms of the shared optics 50 may be adjusted in response to the indices of refraction of the structures between the shared optics 50 and the target focal point 510”);
automatically adjusting the one or more optical elements of the ophthalmic visualization device (Gonzalez, Fig. 4, 84, paragraph [0076], “the Z-telescope 84 can be controlled automatically… by the control electronics 54,” paragraph [0082], “the shared optics 50 under the control of the control electronics 54 can automatically generate aiming, ranging, and treatment scan patterns”); and
providing visualization of the eye using the adjusted one or more optical elements (Gonzalez, Fig. 5D, 550, paragraphs [0111]-[0112], “Fig. 5B shows the target focal points being varied along the vertical or Z-axis 156, for example by adjusting the shared optics 50. As shown in Fig. 5C, target focal points 511 may also be varied along the horizontal axes such as X-axis 152 and Y-axis 154,” by varying the target focal points up to three dimensionally a three dimensional gradient index of refraction profile of an anatomical structure of the eye EY may be generated as shown in Fig. 5D).
Gonzalez does not teach the method comprising:
determining, based on the indication, adjustment configurations for adjusting one or more optical elements of the ophthalmic visualization device in an imaging optical path of the ophthalmic visualization device to compensate for optical aberration attributable to the material occupying the vitreous cavity;
automatically adjusting the one or more optical elements of the ophthalmic visualization device based on the adjustment configurations.
However, in the same field of endeavor Charles teaches a method for use by an ophthalmic visualization device in providing ophthalmic visualization of an eye of a patient (Charles, Fig. 3, 300, paragraph [0040], “a vitreoretinal surgery visualization system 300”), comprising:
determining, based on the indication, adjustment configurations for adjusting one or more optical elements of the ophthalmic visualization device in an imaging optical path of the ophthalmic visualization device to compensate for optical aberration attributable to the material occupying the vitreous cavity (Charles, Fig. 3, 140, 110, paragraph [0041], wavefront distortion 140 may be caused after the light from the endoilluminator is reflected from the vitreous and the wavefront distortion 140 present in red, green, and blue wavefronts reflected off eye 301 may be corrected by wavefront correction system 110 to reduce the effects of aberration);
automatically adjusting the one or more optical elements of the ophthalmic visualization device based on the adjustment configurations (Charles, Fig. 1, 110, 111, paragraph [0035], wavefront correction system 110 may include wavefront control structure 111, the wavefront control structure 111 may control and correct the phase of the wavefront distortion 140); and
providing visualization of the eye using the adjusted one or more optical elements (Charles, Fig. 3, 301, 330, paragraph [0041], the wavefront distortion 140 may be corrected by the wavefront correction system 110 to reduce the effects of aberration and my improve the digital image resolution of the digital image of the eye 301 on digital display 330).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Gonzalez with the method of determining, based on the indication, adjustment configurations for adjusting one or more optical elements of the ophthalmic visualization device in an imaging optical path of the ophthalmic visualization device to compensate for optical aberration attributable to the material occupying the vitreous cavity; automatically adjusting the one or more optical elements of the ophthalmic visualization device based on the adjustment configurations of Charles, because doing so improves the image presented to the surgeon and others assisting with vitreoretinal surgery (Charles, paragraph [0023]).
As to claim 2, Gonzalez in view of Charles teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Gonzalez further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the indication is received from a surgical console based on a determination made by the surgical console about the material occupying the vitreous cavity (Gonzalez, Fig. 2, 54-58, paragraph [0064], “the control electronics 54 controls the operation of and can receive input from the cutting laser subsystem 44, the ranging subsystem 46, the alignment guidance subsystem 48, the patient interface 52, the control panel/GUI 56, and the user interface devices 58 via the communication paths 60”).
As to claim 3, Gonzalez in view of Charles teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 2, and Gonzalez further teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the determination is made by the surgical console based on user input provided to the surgical console (Gonzalez, Fig. 2, 56, paragraph [0068], “the control panel/GUI 56 is used to set system operating parameters, process user input”).
As to claim 4, Gonzalez in view of Charles teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 3, and Gonzalez further teaches the method of claim 3, wherein the user input indicates a step of an operation being performed or that is about to be performed using the surgical console (Gonzalez, Fig. 2, 56, paragraphs [0064]-[0065], the control panel/GUI 56 provides pre-procedure planning according to user specified treatment parameters as well as to provide user control over the laser eye surgery procedure… the user interface devices 58 can include any suitable user input device suitable to provide user input to the control electronics 54).
As to claim 5, Gonzalez in view of Charles teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 2, and Gonzalez further teaches the method of claim 2, wherein the determination is made by the surgical console based on performing image detection techniques on images of an operation being performed on vitreous inside the vitreous cavity (Gonzalez, Fig. 2, 54, 43, paragraph [0083], the control electronics 54 can be configured to target the targeted structures in the eye 43… imaging modalities and techniques may be used to determine the location and take measurements, the targeted structures may be within the vitreous humor VH as described in claim 1).
As to claim 6, Gonzales in view of Charles teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 2. Gonzalez does not teach the method of claim 2, wherein the determination is made by the surgical console based on a type of one or more probes being used during an operation being performed using the surgical console.
However in the same field of endeavor Charles teaches the method wherein the determination is made by the surgical console based on a type of one or more probes being used during an operation being performed using the surgical console (Charles, Fig. 3, 300, 306, paragraphs [0040]-[0041], the visualization system 300 includes a surgical microscope 310 and a time sequential color system 120 may be delivered by endoilluminator 305, and light may be delivered by endoilluminator fiberoptic probe 306 through the pars plana of the eye 301).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Gonzalez with the determination is made by the surgical console based on a type of one or more probes being used during an operation being performed using the surgical console of Charles, because doing so improves the image presented to the surgeon and others assisting with vitreoretinal surgery (Charles, paragraph [0023]).
As to claim 7, Gonzalez in view of Charles teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Gonzalez further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the indication is based on a determination made by the ophthalmic visualization device about the material occupying the vitreous cavity (Gonzalez, Fig. 5A, VH, paragraphs [0012]-[0013], the system 2 determines an index of refraction of a target material the target material being a vitreous humor, paragraph [0108], “the ranging subsystem 46 of the system 2 can be used to determine the indices of refraction of the tissues of the eye 43,” paragraph [0110], the target focal points 510H, 510I, 510J, 510K, and 510L may be within the vitreous humor VH).
As to claim 8, Gonzalez in view of Charles teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Gonzalez further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the adjustment configurations indicate an offset relative to a starting position of the one or more optical elements (Gonzalez, Fig. 5B, paragraph [0110], “one or more of the ranging subsystem 46 and the shard optics 50 may be used to determine the positional differences between each of the target focal points and their corresponding actual focal points,” thus, there is an offset in the target focal point and the corresponding actual focal point due to differences in the index of refraction), and wherein the one or more optical elements are automatically adjusted based on the offset (Gonzalez, Fig. 5B, paragraph [0111], Fig. 4, 50, “the shared optics 50 under the control of the control electronics 54 can automatically generate aiming, ranging, and treatment scan patterns,” paragraph [0109], “one or more of the XY-scan and Z-scan mechanisms of the shared optics 50 may be adjusted in response to the indices of refraction of the structures between the shared optics 50 and the target focal point 510”).
As to claim 9, Gonzalez in view of Charles teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 8, and Gonzalez further teaches the method of claim 8, wherein the starting position corresponds to a position when viewing the eye prior to vitreous being removed (Gonzalez, Fig. 5B, 510H-510K, VH, paragraph [0013], “the target material comprises an optically transmissive tissue structure of the eye… the optically transmissive tissue structure of the eye may comprise… a vitreous humor,” paragraph [0110], the target focal points 510H, 510I, 510J, 510K, and 510L may be within the vitreous humor VH, thus the focal point 510H is considered the starting position and because it is within the vitreous humor the focal point 510H is viewed prior to removal of the vitreous humor).
Gonzalez does not teach the method wherein the starting position corresponds to a position that provides reduced optical aberrations when viewing the eye prior to vitreous being removed.
However, in the same field of endeavor Charles teaches a method wherein the starting position corresponds to a position that provides reduced optical aberrations when viewing the eye prior to vitreous being removed (Charles, Fig. 3, 140, 110, paragraph [0041], wavefront distortion 140 may be caused after the light from the endoilluminator is reflected from the vitreous and the wavefront distortion 140 present in red, green, and blue wavefronts reflected off eye 301 may be corrected by wavefront correction system 110 to reduce the effects of aberration).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Gonzalez with the method of determining, based on the indication, adjustment configurations for adjusting one or more optical elements of the ophthalmic visualization device in an imaging optical path of the ophthalmic visualization device to compensate for optical aberration attributable to the material occupying the vitreous cavity; automatically adjusting the one or more optical elements of the ophthalmic visualization device based on the adjustment configurations of Charles, because doing so improves the image presented to the surgeon and others assisting with vitreoretinal surgery (Charles, paragraph [0023]).
As to claim 10, Gonzalez in view of Charles teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Gonzalez further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein determining the adjustment configurations comprises determining the material occupying the vitreous cavity based on the indication (Gonzalez, Fig. 5A, 50, paragraph [0109], “one or more of the XY-scan and Z-scan mechanisms of the shared optics 50 may be adjusted in response to the indices of refraction of the structures between the shared optics 50 and the target focal point 510,” paragraph [0110], the target focal points 510H, 510I, 510J, 510K, and 510L may be within the vitreous humor VH)
Gonzalez does not teach the method wherein determining the adjustment configurations occurs in real time or near real time.
However, in the same field of endeavor Charles teaches a method wherein determining the adjustment configurations occurs in real time or near real time (Charles, Figs. 1-3, paragraph [0025], the adaptive optics system to improve a digital image for vitreoretinal surgery may work in real time).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Gonzalez with the adjustment configurations occurring in real time or near real time of Charles, because doing so improves the image presented to the surgeon and others assisting with vitreoretinal surgery (Charles, paragraph [0023]).
As to claim 11, Gonzalez in view of Charles teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1, and Gonzalez further teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the ophthalmic visualization device comprises at least one of a digital microscope or a stereoscopic visualization camera (Gonzalez, Fig. 2, 2, paragraph [0091], imaging modalities and techniques include, for example, stereo imaging).
As to claim 20, Gonzalez teaches an ophthalmic visualization device configured to provide ophthalmic visualization of an eye of a patient (Gonzalez, Figs. 1 and 4A, 2, paragraphs [0056] and [0060], the laser eye surgery system 2 includes ranging subsystem 46 which utilizes optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging), comprising:
one or more optical elements disposed in an imaging optical path (Gonzalez, Figs. 2 and 4, 50, paragraphs [0056] and [0062], the system 2 includes shared optics 50 which includes an objective lens assembly); and
one or more processors (Gonzalez, Fig. 2, 54, 55, paragraph [0076], the control electronics 54 includes the processor 55) configured to:
receive an indication indicative of a material (Gonzalez, Fig. 5A, paragraph [0012], “a method of determining an index of refraction of a material,” paragraph [0108], “the ranging subsystem 46 of the system 2 can be used to determine the indices of refraction of the tissues of the eye 43”) occupying a vitreous cavity of the eye (Gonzalez, Fig. 5B, 510H-510K, VH, paragraph [0013], “the target material comprises an optically transmissive tissue structure of the eye… the optically transmissive tissue structure of the eye may comprise… a vitreous humor,” paragraph [0110], the target focal points 510H, 510I, 510J, 510K, and 510L may be within the vitreous humor VH);
determine, based on the indication, adjustment configurations for adjusting the one or more optical elements (Gonzalez, Fig. 5A, 50, paragraph [0109], “one or more of the XY-scan and Z-scan mechanisms of the shared optics 50 may be adjusted in response to the indices of refraction of the structures between the shared optics 50 and the target focal point 510”);
automatically adjust the one or more optical elements (Gonzalez, Fig. 4, 84, paragraph [0076], “the Z-telescope 84 can be controlled automatically… by the control electronics 54,” paragraph [0082], “the shared optics 50 under the control of the control electronics 54 can automatically generate aiming, ranging, and treatment scan patterns”); and
provide visualization of the eye using the adjusted one or more optical elements (Gonzalez, Fig. 5D, 550, paragraphs [0111]-[0112], “Fig. 5B shows the target focal points being varied along the vertical or Z-axis 156, for example by adjusting the shared optics 50. As shown in Fig. 5C, target focal points 511 may also be varied along the horizontal axes such as X-axis 152 and Y-axis 154,” by varying the target focal points up to three dimensionally a three dimensional gradient index of refraction profile of an anatomical structure of the eye EY may be generated as shown in Fig. 5D).
Gonzalez does not teach the device configured to determine, based on the indication, adjustment configurations for adjusting the one or more optical elements to compensate for optical aberration attributable to the material occupying the vitreous cavity;
automatically adjust the one or more optical elements based on the adjustment configurations.
However, in the same field of endeavor Charles teaches an ophthalmic visualization device configured to provide ophthalmic visualization of an eye of a patient (Charles, Fig. 3, 300, paragraph [0040], “a vitreoretinal surgery visualization system 300”), comprising:
one or more optical elements disposed in an imaging optical path (Charles, Fig. 3, 160, paragraph [0037], light may pass through lens 160); and
one or more processors (Charles, Fig. 3, 180, paragraph [0035], the wavefront correction system 110 includes processor 180) configured to:
determine, based on the indication, adjustment configurations for adjusting the one or more optical elements to compensate for optical aberration attributable to the material occupying the vitreous cavity (Charles, Fig. 3, 140, 110, paragraph [0041], wavefront distortion 140 may be caused after the light from the endoilluminator is reflected from the vitreous and the wavefront distortion 140 present in red, green, and blue wavefronts reflected off eye 301 may be corrected by wavefront correction system 110 to reduce the effects of aberration);
automatically adjust the one or more optical elements based on the adjustment configurations (Charles, Fig. 1, 110, 111, paragraph [0035], wavefront correction system 110 may include wavefront control structure 111, the wavefront control structure 111 may control and correct the phase of the wavefront distortion 140); and
providing visualization of the eye using the adjusted one or more optical elements (Charles, Fig. 3, 301, 330, paragraph [0041], the wavefront distortion 140 may be corrected by the wavefront correction system 110 to reduce the effects of aberration and my improve the digital image resolution of the digital image of the eye 301 on digital display 330).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Gonzalez with the method of determine, based on the indication, adjustment configurations for adjusting the one or more optical elements to compensate for optical aberration attributable to the material occupying the vitreous cavity; automatically adjust the one or more optical elements based on the adjustment configurations of Charles, because doing so improves the image presented to the surgeon and others assisting with vitreoretinal surgery (Charles, paragraph [0023]).
Claims 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gonzalez, US 2015/0032090 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Gonzalez), and further in view of Hallen, US 2022/0020118 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Hallen).
As to claim 12, Gonzalez teaches a method (Gonzalez, Fig. 6, 600, paragraph [0113], “FIG. 6 shows a flow chart depicting a method 600 for determining an index of refraction of a target material according to many embodiments”) for use by an ophthalmic imaging device in providing ophthalmic imaging of an eye of a patient (Gonzalez, Fig. 2, 2, paragraph [0056], the laser eye surgery system 2 is coupled with the patient eye 43, paragraph [0060], “the ranging subsystem 46 utilizes optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging”), comprising:
receiving an indication indicative of a material (Gonzalez, Fig. 5A, paragraph [0012], “a method of determining an index of refraction of a material,” paragraph [0108], “the ranging subsystem 46 of the system 2 can be used to determine the indices of refraction of the tissues of the eye 43”) occupying a vitreous cavity of the eye (Gonzalez, Fig. 5B, 510H-510K, VH, paragraph [0013], “the target material comprises an optically transmissive tissue structure of the eye… the optically transmissive tissue structure of the eye may comprise… a vitreous humor,” paragraph [0110], the target focal points 510H, 510I, 510J, 510K, and 510L may be within the vitreous humor VH);
determining, based on the indication, a refractive index of the material (Gonzalez, Fig. 5A, paragraph [0108], “the ranging subsystem 46 of the system 2 can be used to determine the indices of refraction of the tissues of the eye 43”); and
generating one or more images or models of the eye based on the refractive index (Gonzalez, Fig. 5D, 550, paragraphs [0111]-[0112], “Fig. 5B shows the target focal points being varied along the vertical or Z-axis 156, for example by adjusting the shared optics 50. As shown in Fig. 5C, target focal points 511 may also be varied along the horizontal axes such as X-axis 152 and Y-axis 154,” by varying the target focal points up to three dimensionally a three dimensional gradient index of refraction profile of an anatomical structure of the eye EY may be generated as shown in Fig. 5D).
Gonzalez does not teach the method, comprising generating one or more images or models of the eye based on the refractive index to compensate for optical aberration attributable to the material occupying the vitreous cavity.
However, in the same field of endeavor Hallen teaches a method for use by an ophthalmic imaging device in providing ophthalmic imaging of an eye of a patient (Hallen, Figs. 1-3, 300-320, paragraph [0072], “a method of optimizing a digital image of the eye to improve digital visualization for ophthalmic surgery”), comprising:
receiving an indication indicative of a material occupying a vitreous cavity of the eye (Hallen, Figs. 1-3, 210, 300, paragraphs [0068] and [0072], the digital image of the eye may include vitreous fog 130 caused by light emitted by the visible light illumination source 155 and reflected off a vitreous 210); and
generating one or more images or models of the eye to compensate for optical aberration attributable to the material occupying the vitreous cavity (Hallen, Figs. 2C, 3 and 4, 120, 310, 400-420 paragraphs [0068] and [0073], the digital image of the eye at the beginning of surgery 203 may also include optical aberration 120 caused by light emitted by the visible light illumination source 155 and reflected off the interior of the eye 101, in step 310, a digital image optimization algorithm is applied to the digital image of the eye to generate an optimized digital image of the eye, the digital image optimization algorithm may be a trained machine-learning model).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Gonzales with the generating one or more images or models of the eye to compensate for optical aberration attributable to the material occupying the vitreous cavity of Hallen, because the optimized digital image of the eye may have less instrument glare, less optical aberration, less vitreous fog, or any combination thereof (Hallen, paragraph [0109]).
As to claim 13, Gonzalez in view of Hallen teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 12, and Gonzalez further teaches the method of claim 12, wherein the indication is received from a surgical console based on a determination made by the surgical console about the material occupying the vitreous cavity (Gonzalez, Fig. 2, 54-58, paragraph [0064], “the control electronics 54 controls the operation of and can receive input from the cutting laser subsystem 44, the ranging subsystem 46, the alignment guidance subsystem 48, the patient interface 52, the control panel/GUI 56, and the user interface devices 58 via the communication paths 60”).
As to claim 14, Gonzalez in view of Hallen teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 13, and Gonzalez further teaches the method of claim 13, wherein the determination is made by the surgical console based on user input provided to the surgical console (Gonzalez, Fig. 2, 56, paragraph [0068], “the control panel/GUI 56 is used to set system operating parameters, process user input”).
As to claim 15, Gonzalez in view of Hallen teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 12, and Gonzalez further teaches the method of claim 12, wherein generating the one or more images or models comprises automatically reconfiguring an imaging module or settings of the ophthalmic imaging device (Gonzalez, Fig. 4, 84, paragraph [0076], “the Z-telescope 84 can be controlled automatically… by the control electronics 54,” paragraph [0082], “the shared optics 50 under the control of the control electronics 54 can automatically generate aiming, ranging, and treatment scan patterns”) with the refractive index associated with the material occupying the vitreous cavity (Gonzalez, Fig. 5D, 550, paragraphs [0111]-[0112], “Fig. 5B shows the target focal points being varied along the vertical or Z-axis 156, for example by adjusting the shared optics 50. As shown in Fig. 5C, target focal points 511 may also be varied along the horizontal axes such as X-axis 152 and Y-axis 154,” by varying the target focal points up to three dimensionally a three dimensional gradient index of refraction profile of an anatomical structure of the eye EY may be generated as shown in Fig. 5D).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gonzalez, US 2015/0032090 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Gonzalez), in view of Charles, US 2021/0038067 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Charles), and further in view of Hallen, US 2022/0020118 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Hallen).
As to claim 18, Gonzalez in view of Charles teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 4. Gonzalez does not teach the method of claim 4, wherein the step of the operation comprises at least one of a vitrectomy step, a fluid-air exchange, a fluid-liquid perfluorocarbon exchange, or a fluid-silicone oil exchange.
However, in the same field of endeavor Hallen teaches a method for use by an ophthalmic imaging device in providing ophthalmic imaging of an eye of a patient (Hallen, Figs. 1-3, 300-320, paragraph [0072], “a method of optimizing a digital image of the eye to improve digital visualization for ophthalmic surgery”), wherein the step of the operation comprises at least one of a vitrectomy step, a fluid-air exchange, a fluid-liquid perfluorocarbon exchange, or a fluid-silicone oil exchange (Hallen, Figs. 1-3, 300-320, paragraph [0047], the method may use a retina arcade alignment template to align digital images of the same eye captured at different stages during surgery and provide an optimized digital image following a vitrectomy).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Gonzalez with the step of the operation comprises at least one of a vitrectomy step, a fluid-air exchange, a fluid-liquid perfluorocarbon exchange, or a fluid-silicone oil exchange of Hallen, because the optimized digital image of the eye may have less instrument glare, less optical aberration, less vitreous fog, or any combination thereof (Hallen, paragraph [0109]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-17, and 19 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.
As to claim 16, Gonzalez in view of Charles teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1. However the prior art fails to teach or reasonably suggest the method of claim 1, wherein the material occupying the vitreous cavity comprises a replacement material introduced into the vitreous cavity during a vitreoretinal procedure.
In particular, Gonzalez teaches a method where an eye surgery system determines the material occupying the vitreous cavity of the eye via the refractive index of the material and automatically adjusts the optics of the system using control electronics to provide visualization of the anatomical structure of the eye. Although Charles teaches a method where a vitreoretinal surgery visualization system reduces the effects of aberration caused by the vitreous material of the eye to improve the digital image of the eye, there is insufficient structural similarities between Gonzalez and Charles to motivate an ordinary skilled artisan to modify the method with the material occupying the vitreous cavity comprises a replacement material introduced into the vitreous cavity during a vitreoretinal procedure as claimed.
Claim 17 is dependent on claim 16 and would be allowable over the prior art of record for at least the same reasons as claim 16.
As to claim 19, Gonzalez in view of Charles teaches all the limitations of the instant invention as detailed above with respect to claim 1. However the prior art fails to teach or reasonably suggest the method of claim 1, wherein the material occupying the vitreous cavity comprises a combination of vitreous and at least one of balanced salt solution, air, gas, liquid perfluorocarbon, or silicone oil.
In particular, Gonzalez teaches a method where an eye surgery system determines the material occupying the vitreous cavity of the eye via the refractive index of the material and automatically adjusts the optics of the system using control electronics to provide visualization of the anatomical structure of the eye. Although Charles teaches a method where a vitreoretinal surgery visualization system reduces the effects of aberration caused by the vitreous material of the eye to improve the digital image of the eye, there is insufficient structural similarities between Gonzalez and Charles to motivate an ordinary skilled artisan to modify the method with the material occupying the vitreous cavity comprises a combination of vitreous and at least one of balanced salt solution, air, gas, liquid perfluorocarbon, or silicone oil as claimed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kumar, US 2022/0387220 A1, Optical Apparatus, relevant to claims 1-15, 18, and 20.
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).
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JENNIFER A JONES
Examiner
Art Unit 2872
/JENNIFER A JONES/Examiner, Art Unit 2872
/THOMAS K PHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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